“It was a dark and stormy night…”
By catherine | July 2, 2009
The winners of the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest have been announced!
Bulwer-Lytton
“What the heck is that?” You may ask yourself. The contest is a fiction parody contest inspired by novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). Bulwer-Lytton was famous for The Last Days of Pompeii and the opening line of Paul Clifford: “It was a dark and stormy night…”
Writers are challenged to produce extremely cheesy, bad opening sentences, with or without puns, for fictional novels. Winners are named for every genre. My personal favorite was from David G. La France in Burbank, CA, who received a miscellaneous “Dishonorable Mention” for this genius opener:
It was a dark and stormy night, dark like the inside of a spare tire in the trunk of a 1957 Chevy sitting up on blocks in a tumbledown barn somewhere in rural Ohio, and stormy like the romance of Pete Kimball and his girlfriend Betty Lou, who used to make out in the back seat of that Chevy when it was new and shiny and the Dell-Vikings were singing “Come Go With Me”; but this is not their story, it just starts out dark and stormy like that.
I have to participate next year.
Topics: Book Collecting, Fun, Reading | No Comments »
Twitter-exclusive Book Hunt a Success
By catherine | June 8, 2009
After 13 days, 11 clues and a lot of re-Tweets, search-savvy Twitter user Michael found the correct book in our first great Biblio Book Hunt: a rare copy of W.H. Auden’s About the House.
Biblio Book Hunt
The rules for the Twitter-exclusive Book Hunt were simple: we picked a rare book and posted a clue about it each day.
With each day the clues got more and more specific, and they were saved for a short time under the search #bbh for folks who stepped into the game after it started on May 27th. First person to reply to us on Twitter with the correct title, author and URL was declared the winner, and received a $200 BiblioBucks gift certificate to our site.
It was a great game, and we got a lot of feedback for the next one, which may be hosted exclusively for our Facebook fans.
Want to play the next one? Simply follow us on Twitter, and join our page on Facebook. And thanks again to everyone who participated in the first Biblio Book Hunt!
UPDATE (June 9, 2009): Sorry folks, but the Auden book has been SOLD. The first lucky winner of the Book Hunt, Michael, purchased that very copy as an addition to his collection!
Topics: Biblio.com, Fun, Marketing | No Comments »
Biblio.com helps town devastated by tornado striving to be the “Greenest Town in America”
By catherine | May 26, 2009
Some of you may already be familiar with NativeEnergy through our partnership with them in our ecosend program. Now we’re going to help build the new Greensburg (Kansas) Wind Farm by offsetting a percent of the estimated carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from our daily operations and order shipments.
On May 4, 2007 an EF-5 tornado leveled Greensburg, destroying 95% of the homes and leaving a path of devastation nearly two miles wide. The community voted overwhelmingly to rebuild and to do so in environmentally responsible ways that would leave a legacy for future generations and serve as an example of a sustainable American community. This commitment has captured attention and support across the nation.
The Greensburg Wind Farm project will create significant economic and environmental benefits for the City as the community continues rebuilding on its path to be “the greenest town in America”. Ten wind turbines will generate 12.5 MW of electricity, which is enough energy to power about 4,000 homes.
Greensburg Wind Farm
We invite everyone to follow its lead and take the same initiative to address climate change by visiting www.NativeEnergy.com. Individuals, organizations, and businesses can learn more about their global warming emissions and steps they can take to reduce and offset their impact – like helping build the Greensburg Wind Farm and other emissions reducing projects.
Greensburg is already the first U.S. city to light all streets with LED lights, the first to have a LEED requirement for all municipal buildings, and a new Business Incubator Building, which hopes to achieve LEED Platinum status.
The wind farm will be located on farmland just southwest of the City. Several farm families will receive direct economic benefits from hosting the turbines.
The City had seen its school enrollment cut in half in recent decades, but now residents see new and compelling reasons for young people to remain, build their lives, and raise their families in this green community.
Topics: Biblio.com, book industry | 2 Comments »
Protesting CPSIA - an activists’ guide for bookstores and libraries
By brendan | May 15, 2009
While some parents might relish saying bye-bye to Elmo, recent legislation is causing parents to have to say bye-bye to affordable childrens' books and classic favorites.
As people are beginning to realize, the recent passage of CPSIA has deep ramifications for education and literacy, reducing access to books in stores, libraries and charities. Hardest hit are the economically disadvantaged children among us. Here are some ideas to help get started in protesting and raising support for the repeal of this disastrous bill.
- Libraries and book stores: outrage your patrons and customers. You know those shelves left empty when you were forced to pull all those childrens’ classics? Resist the temptation to refill them with shiny, new, “safe” books. Leave them empty. In fact cross them with orange caution tape. Add a note telling people that due to government legislation, their children can’t have those books. Leave a stack of 3×5 action cards for them, explaining the unfortunate effects of the bill and giving them information for contacting their representative, etc.
- Libraries and book stores: Or, leave them full - so patrons and customers can see all the books they can’t have, and cross them with tape.
- Book stores: Hold a black market sale on childrens’ books to raise awareness and funds for your local library (they’re gonna need them to replace all those books). Rules are simple. You buy the book (and all proceeds go to the library). You don’t get the book. Absurd, you say? Exactly.
- Library patrons: Here’s one suggestion I got off the Twitter-wire via @raymondpirouz: start a guerrilla style campaign. Grab said stack of 3×5 cards and march out to your local library. Make sure you’ve written “This book is illegal” in big scary letters on the front. A skull and crossbones would be a nice touch. Put relevant calls to action on the back. Slip a card into every childrens’ book you can find that was printed before 1986.
- Online booksellers: Upload all of your childrens’ books everywhere you list with your descriptions changed to something to this effect: “Not for sale. Due to recent legislation, the U.S. government has determined that this item is illegal, and cannot be made available to children. Contact your U.S. representative for more information.” I don’t know how other marketplaces will support this, but I can promise you that Biblio will back you 100% - in fact, if we get enough booksellers protesting this way, maybe we could put together a whole dedicated section to all of the childrens’ books that we’re not going to sell you.
- Everyone: petition your representative to amend or repeal CPSIA.
There is a chance to have this law changed, and some very strong grassroots support underway. But, there is also opposition - mostly brought on by alarmist news media playing the are-you-really-sure-the-hot-dog-from-the-ballpark-is-safe game. As you know, though, powerful grassroots movements have to start with ordinary, concerned citizens and small businesses and organizations, not with 40 point headlines in the mass media. Please add your own ideas and play a part (however small) in raising awareness and preventing this legislation from snapping shut the covers on the educational opportunities of children everywhere.
Topics: Bookselling, Reading, libraries | 4 Comments »
Shop local used bookstores - online
By brendan | May 11, 2009
Find an independent used bookstore near you!
(and shop their books online - or off)
We’ve long meant to provide a way that customers can search the combined inventory of their local independent used bookstores online. We’re pretty pleased to have that pet project off the ground over at Biblio.com - even if only for U.S. bookstores at present. So, head on over to Biblio.com, find local used bookstores near you, and search their combined inventory online. I promise its very geekycool for book people.
Whether you buy books online using Biblio.com, or head down the road and visit their shops, we want you to join us in supporting independent bookstores! Don’t forget to bookmark the page for future use, or share with your friends!
And, if you’re looking for local, independent new bookstores, be sure to bookmark the ABA’s IndieBound, too.
Topics: Book Collecting, Reading | 1 Comment »
The Big Kindle; a Bibliophile’s Prognosis
By brendan | May 7, 2009
The Buick got bigger. Amazon announced yesterday the release of the new, large format Kindle, specifically designed to appeal to students. Unfortunately, I think that its doomed to fail in the college market - at least on its own merits for three intertwined reasons.
As a reader, a book industry guy, and an at-least-one-course-a-year student for the past 19 years, I can appreciate the potential of e-books - especially in lieu of big, expensive, heavy textbooks (which is basically a nasty little racket with many universities in clever collusion). However, I don’t think I’m off the mark in declaring this one a complete dud.
- Price/value. At $489, there is simply no value for a student. Why would I buy a Kindle for $489 to download textbooks from Amazon (only, mind you) when I can head over to Dell and buy a full laptop for $449 and download textbooks from CourseSmart - which is almost guaranteed to be cheaper since its a partnership owned by the major textbook publishers - meaning students bypass Amazon as a middle man? And, you can do <gasp> other things on it, like take notes! Solution for Amazon, then? Reduce the price on the Kindle. But then they run afoul of another problem, below:
- Not remotely cool. If you can’t deliver on price/value, then you have to have a certain cool factor - ala Apple - to compete in the college market. Amazon simply doesn’t possess anything in the way of cult-of-personality branding, and the Kindle (which I still maintain looks like a mid-eighties Buick) kind of makes them look like Uncle Buck. So they have zero equity in this bin; couple that with a price reduction, and they end up pretty common and uncool and, as a result, with negative cool equity that makes the Kindle look like wearing a pair of Wrangler jeans to a club (which you had to catch a ride to in your dusty old uncle’s Buick).
- Not the direction technology is going. And students are further down this path than most. The trend right now is smaller and smaller devices that allow you to multitask anything anytime from one device. Having a device that’s locked down to a single purpose really doesn’t help students achieve what they want. There’s a reason no one carries around 1) an MP3 player, 2) a cellphone, and 3) a camera jammed into their pockets. They want fewer devices doing more, not more devices doing less! In fact, these days, I often leave my laptop behind when I travel in favor of my smartphone.
So my prognosis is that we will see very limited adoption of the large format Kindle in the college market, even far less than the adoption in general of the regular Kindle. Unless Amazon manages to find themselves some kind of inside track and preferential distribution contracts and/or support from the faculty members within the university system. Simply put, I don’t think that the Kindle is remotely capable of standing on its own in the college textbook market, at least not without a good bit of back-scratching and good ole’ boy friends at our institutions of higher learning.
Much more likely for the future of the e-book in the college market is digital delivery to a laptop or smartphone, IMHO.
Topics: Reading, book industry | 2 Comments »
Introducing Biblio UK
By brendan | May 4, 2009
We’re very pleased to announce that we have quietly snuck the new Biblio UK site out the back door of our skunkworks!
The new site is focused largely on serving European customers who are looking to source second hand and antiquarian books “locally” from the UK or other parts of Europe.
While a few other companies already operate used book marketplaces in the UK, we’ve tried to do things a little different. We didn’t want to create a cross-the-Atlantic “twin” of our main “dot com” site with a different domain extension, different default currency, but the same choice of books and booksellers.
Instead, the new site primarily features books from European book dealers. The total number of books available won’t be the full 50 million as on Biblio.com (which will continue to serve as our international marketplace). But, we think that in a time of rising shipping prices and increasing concern about the environmental impact of one’s purchase decisions, European customers will find it refreshing to have access to inventory more specific to their needs and location without having to hunt through page upon page of books shipping out of non-European countries.
We’ve also used to opportunity to expand the payment choices we are able to offer customers to include European cards such as Maestro, Switch, Solo, and Electron. We’ve also added the ability for customers to pay by direct bank draft and Google Checkout (available with some sellers).
Of course, our new UK site does share many other things with Biblio.com, including:
* the same core technology, including our fast and full featured second hand book search
* our rare and antiquarian book room, in this case, featuring rare books primarily from UK sellers
* the same exact standards among our fine book dealers
* the same high commitment to personal customer service and satisfaction
* our carbon neutral shipping program, whereby we use a percentage of every purchase to support renewable energy research and development
* our dedication to communities, by which we designate of a portion of our profits to support literacy and education, both at home and in South America
We’ve also taken the opportunity to rebuild some major parts under the hood - but I’ll spare you the details. Suffice to say we’ll be even better equipped down the road to continue growing our little business and our mission of providing the best possible service and products to discerning readers, collectors, booksellers, and all our other friends out there in the independent book community!
Your comments, feedback, ideas: more than welcome as always. And thank you again for your continuing support of Biblio, independent bookstores, and the causes we stand for!
Topics: Book Collecting, Bookselling, Marketing, Rare Book Picks, libraries | No Comments »
Usedbookcentral announces it will close; citing PCI compliance
By brendan | May 4, 2009
Longtime independent book marketplace Usedbookcentral released an announcement over the weekend that it would be closing its site after seven years, citing the pressures imposed by the credit card industry with regards to PCI compliance.
PCI compliance has become an enormous burden on businesses worldwide, but particularly on small businesses. I speak from experience when I say that the resources needed to comply with PCS/DSS standards are not at all easy to come by for a small company of ten. I can’t imagine what its like for a company of just a couple of folks. Not only that, but for us at least, some of the policy decisions we are forced in to as a result can sometimes have the unpleasant side effect of making us look like the bad guys to some of our booksellers. (Not that we blame booksellers for getting upset at these changes. We hate this stuff, too! But, unfortunately, PCI compliance is an albatross that the credit card industry is magnanimously draping across the shoulders of the whole industry, and no one is immune from the regulations nor the penalties)
At the heart of it is this: 1) The storage, even temporary, of the CVV code is now absolutely prohibited, and 2) the storage and subsequent retrieval of sensitive card holder information by third parties is also in violation.
Simply put: this means that sites who have previously allowed book sellers to retrieve credit card details left by customers cannot continue to do so, without facing very real penalties from our very heavy-handed friends Vinny Visa and Manny “The Maestro” Mastercard.
What penalties? Try up to $500,000 and permanent revocation of one’s merchant account (as in for as long as both you and Vinny shall live).
So clearly, some very tough decisions, and I do respect Usedbookcentral’s decision. I’m certain they agonized over it for a very long time. Its not an easy thing to close a business.
And, I must say, I’m saddened to see them go.
While Usedbookcentral has been a competitor of Biblio’s since our own beginnings, it was with no joy that we heard this announcement. We are disheartened to see one of the few remaining independent book sites leave, and although I never met Jeff Moore (the founder of Usedbookcentral), by all reports he’s a terrific guy.
The absorption of abebooks by Amazon.com last fall resulted in not only abebooks, but Bookfinder, Chrislands, and Fillz becoming wholly owned subsidiaries of Amazon (you can read my public reaction to that news on BookPatrol). Since that time, the need for independents in the market has never been greater - if we want to preserve competition and choice for book sellers and book buyers on the internet. To that end, while we compete with sites like Usedbookcentral, ZVAB, Antiqbook, or even Alibris (to name a few), we also want them to thrive and succeed. The loss of any independent book site or company is a loss to the entire book community, and further weakens the ability of the independent bookseller to remain independent and provide competitive pricing, choice, and products to customers.
Please join me in wishing Jeff and his team well in their future endeavors, and in appreciation for the years they put in working on behalf of all of us in the independent book business.
Topics: Bookselling, book industry | 1 Comment »
Ebury seeking the next McMurtry or Dunning?
By brendan | May 4, 2009
Ebury Publishing in the UK (Random House subsidiary) is kicking off a contest to uncover the talents of a bookseller/writer (open only to booksellers in the UK). They are asking for the first 5 pages of a draft.
Cool idea - most booksellers I know are/were/could be writers of some caliber and imagination, and they may well uncover the next John Dunning or Larry McMurtry.
But I’m a little less than blown away by the prizes:
Grand prize: “the chance of having an extract published on our new book club website, editorial advice from one of our editors, along with a bottle of champagne and a signed copy of We Can’t All Be Astronauts.” ?
Runner up: “a signed copy of We Can’t All Be Astronauts.” ?
Am I reading that right? Surely I’m missing something. Seems a little… err… lame. With all due respect to the author of We Can’t All Be Astronauts, I’m not convinced this would convince me to cough up the postage necessary to send the five pages to them.
Topics: Bookselling | No Comments »
Penny Arcade on Book 1.0
By james | April 30, 2009
Penny Arcade Comic
With the kindle’s buzz and iTunes ever expanding world, I often wonder if booksellers will be using this tactic in the future. It is a tongue in cheek kind of comic, but in all seriousness, what will the future generations think of shelves? Or is this why the minimalist interior design is taking off. No real point just a couple of random bits that I mull over while drinking my coffee, and reading a dogeared paperback.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
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