Archive for March, 2009
Next Entries »Amazon sued over Kindle
Friday, March 20th, 2009The Discovery Channel is suing Amazon over the Kindle for patent infringement, claiming they invented the concept of encrypting a book to be sold digitally over the internet. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I’m usually the dorky uncle wearing the “I (Heart) David” shirt in the classic David-vs-Goliath fight, but [...]
Where can I donate books?
Friday, March 20th, 2009// One of the most common questions we get from customers and booksellers alike is “where can I donate my used books?” So, I thought I’d take a moment to offer some suggestions for the bibliophile looking to lighten his or her shelves. Donating your books can be a wonderful way to make a difference [...]
Used Books Recession Proof?
Monday, March 16th, 2009Chris Volk at Bookfever has put together an interesting, short survey of booksellers and how the recession is affecting them. To summarize: booksellers are reporting average sales 10.6% lower than the prior year. On Biblio, we’re definitely seeing used book sales weaker than we anticipated for booksellers, but the average bookseller’s sales on Biblio are [...]
Books & Booze–profitable business, or pending hangover?
Friday, March 13th, 2009Asheville’s latest addition to the bookstore scene is Battery Park Book Exchange, and offers a wide range of books in a great downtown setting. They operate two floors of books, shelved around rooms decorated with couches, Oriental rugs, quality lamps–and a champagne bar? I almost couldn’t believe it. I’ve never seen a bookstore that offers [...]
Graphic Books Finally Join NY Times’ “Bestseller” Lists
Friday, March 13th, 2009As an avid comic fan, I was pleased to see the announcement of graphic novels to the New York Times Bestseller list this morning. They’ve compiled the lists into three categories: hardcover, softcover and Manga. Catch the lists and then check out available copies of Watchmen by Alan Moore–which stands at #3 in hardcover and [...]
Indie bookstores have “one up” on commercial chains
Friday, March 13th, 2009In an article yesterday by AZ (Arizona) Night Buzz, independent bookstores in Arizona are continuing to fight the good fight against commercial chains such as Barnes and Noble and Borders by taking a new approach: specializing their stock. For instance, one of the surviving bookstores in Tuscon, Clues Unlimited, primarily offers new and used mystery [...]
Kindle is Heir-Apparent to Betamax
Friday, March 13th, 2009They really just don’t get it. In a move to prevent the possibility that someone could use the Kindle to buy e-books from (gasp!) a retailer other than Amazon, the same had its attorneys contact MobileRead and demand that they remove some user posted scripts that effectively “unlocked” the Kindle so that it could be [...]
Web 2.0 may not be evil after all…
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009OK — I have to admit that I’ve long been more than a bit sceptical about social networks and the whole web 2.0 fad. Mainly, I’ve long suspected that there is a direct and inverse relationship between how quick and easy it is to broadcast any old thought that pops into your head and the [...]
The Scanning Age; or, a primer on the Corporate State
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009A recent article in the New York Times talks about Google’s so-called “pursuit” of copyholders on the books they are digitizing. This is part of the settlement announce last October that effectively legalizes Google’s blatant trademark infringement. As part of the settlement, Google is given the green light to violate one’s trademark as an author, [...]
Eaten any good books lately?
Friday, March 6th, 2009Bern Marcowitz (co-author of Care and Feeding of Books) is fond of pointing out that the Torah & Bible both talk about eating books no less than five times. This got me thinking about the recent books I’ve read – how would they taste?
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