Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/bus...

No one expects Barnes & Noble to disappear overnight. The worry is that it might slowly wither as more readers embrace e-books. What if all those store shelves vanished, and Barnes & Noble became little more than a cafe and a digital connection point? Such fears came to the fore in early January, when the company projected that it would lose even more money this year than Wall Street had expected. Its share price promptly tumbled 17 percent that day.

Lurking behind all of this is Amazon.com, the dominant force in books online and the company that sets teeth on edge in publishing. From their perches in Midtown Manhattan, many publishing executives, editors and publicists view Amazon as the enemy — an adversary that, if unchecked, could threaten their industry and their livelihoods.

thout Barnes & Noble, the publishers’ marketing proposition crumbles. The idea that publishers can spot, mold and publicize new talent, then get someone to buy books at prices that actually makes economic sense, suddenly seems a reach. Marketing books via Twitter, and relying on reviews, advertising and perhaps an appearance on the “Today” show doesn’t sound like a winning plan.

What publishers count on from bookstores is the browsing effect. Surveys indicate that only a third of the people who step into a bookstore and walk out with a book actually arrived with the specific desire to buy one.

“That display space they have in the store is really one of the most valuable places that exists in this country for communicating to the consumer that a book is a big deal,” said Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, operations and digital for Random House.

In the good idies the sales staff is usually very knowledgeable also.

Our local UBS is run by a guy that used to run an indie till he was run out of business by B Dalton which was run out by Waldenbooks which was run out by Borders, which then went bankrupt. BAM has filled the space, but they seem to have raised their prices as well. B&N is 50 miles away.

Thanks, Barry!
I found the article interesting. I can't deny that buying less print books is the wave of the future and i am a contributor. I hate for the loss of browsing space when bookstores close and wonder at the future of public libraries ratios of print vs. other media expenditures affecting that favorite habit of browsing in the stacks.
That said, I have not patronized B&N much at all since the May 2010 flood closed the one near me, and the mall that finally reopens this coming March looks to not have a B&N (and I can't blame them, though it was a favorite stop when going to see a movie or eating at Macaroni Grill, both reopening. )

The article bemoans the plight of the publishers if B&N goes away, which I find to be a "head in the sand" sort of reaction.

It was a good article, but the issue is much more complex than a couple of new columns can handle. I don;t want to be the guy advocating price supports for the buggy whip manufacturers, but I don't want to hand Amazon a monopoly on a platter either.
I am still holding off on ebooks until they come to agreement with me on what "own" means when I own a book. If I cannot give it away, I do not own it.

True, and very fair point. The ones I have physically downloaded and can physically upload to my Kindle seems like mine to me. The ones on the Cloud, not so much.

Barry wrote: "It was a good article, but the issue is much more complex than a couple of new columns can handle.
I am still holding off on ebooks until they come to agreement with me on what "own" means when I own a book. If I cannot give it away, I do not own it. "

I have fought e-books from the get-go, but am beginning to see that some of the things I want to read are eventually only going to be available to me electronically. Some things are already only available that way so I downloaded the Kindle PC app just so I get some of the short story things, etc that I could only get that way. I don't like the "price fixing" that I foresee for e-readers and I am like Barry in that basically I own NOTHING with an e-reader even though I have parted with my hard earned $$! All that said, I figure by my birthday I'll have one..........more's the pity. And the idea of nowhere to go to browse "real" books?? Unthinkable!

Having published one book, The Last Cactus, as a Kindle edition, I can't complain about the concept in general. In terms of convenience, it's hard to beat the ebooks' availability. My closest library branch closes on March 11th, and our BN closed at the end of 2011, so the greater emphasis on ebooks is being foisted upon me like it or not.

I've used Borders, Dalton & Waldon over the years, until they all closed. There is a B & N nearby, but I don't go that often. I buy fiction e-books, because I've never really saved them. I have no one to share with and my storage space is limited. I do keep NF, for I have used them in looking up something. Some are out of stock and never re published. I do shop a catologue, Edward Hamilton. They carry fiction and NF at discount prices. http://edwardrhamilton.com/
No matter the quantity ordered from them, all shipping is $3.50.
As far as vinyl records going out style, many artists are releasing albums in both CD and vinyl.
Some technology is good, can't tell you how many ruined 4 and 8 track tapes I've gotten rid of and how many of them I used to see littered along roadways.

Brakedrum wrote: "I've used Borders, Dalton & Waldon over the years, until they all closed. There is a B & N nearby, but I don't go that often. I buy fiction e-books, because I've never really saved them. I have ..."

Regarding music, I have read several articles over the last few months that predict by the end of this year Best Buy, Walmart & Target will no longer be carrying CDs. Everyone downloads their music anymore and I must admit to being guilty of that myself! I can pick and choose the songs I want and not have to buy a whole album that might have a lot of stuff I don't really like.

Melodie wrote: "Regarding music, I have read several articles over the last few months that predict by the end of this year Best Buy, Walmart & Target will no longer be carrying CDs. .."

Hmm, I wonder how that will impact B&N. They have a fairly good-sized music department.

Melodie wrote: "Brakedrum wrote: "I've used Borders, Dalton & Waldon over the years, until they all closed. There is a B & N nearby, but I don't go that often. I buy fiction e-books, because I've never really sa..."

Well, I like my Best Of xxx Oldies Cds. I but them from Oldies.com for a cheap price.

I might not get to B&N as much as I used too. but if they were gone I would really miss them. I still love walking into one and walking around. Being in contact with them a extra amount this week at one point really hating them. then it turning around and liking them again. I learned that when you call the 800 number it's NJ you are talking too. didn't realize that. on their stuff they email you it says NYC and Arizona the second is their warehouse hub. I asked a week ago when I was in there before the problems if they had any good deals on the in store stuff. coupons and such. it used to be when you went in with your nook and clicked on in store always had a thing for a free coffee or so much off a book but I was told they haven't been doing much of that as in the beginning to get the people into the store. ha at the time I always said maybe if they had a way you knew what some of these deals where before going to the store they might get more people in. I think the girl said something about books being lower priced now. well still I'm finding ebooks still past the $9.99 price. people were complaining no coupons for discount on the nooks. well I got one in the mail so maybe that it charging. still no discounts using the card though.
It might take me 45 minutes to get to my B&N. I do miss the borders being so close for those just because trips. those were less than 5 minutes up the highway depending on it you caught the 2 or 3 lights going there.
There was a few stores indie stores closing because of them in the last few years. I asked the women who owns the UBS at the shore about staying open and such. she said the people who come to her still come to her and that she's okay. There is a B&N down in the area. The women who owns the bookstore in town down there she has enough stuff going on this time of year that she always keeps busy.

Donnajo wrote: "I might not get to B&N as much as I used too. but if they were gone I would really miss them. I still love walking into one and walking around. Being in contact with them a extra amount this wee..."
I have never liked B&N. My store was Borders. But I'm a Kindle fan for two big reasons: convenience - I can get books instantaneously with my pajamas on. And the ability to adjust the font of the Kindle so my tired eyes can actually see the print. I bought a paperback recently and just about couldn't read it.

Cathy:
The ability to adjust the font on my Kindle is a big plus in my view as well. I find myself enjoying the back lit screen of my Fire for similar reasons. I love trying samples of books from the convenience of home. I love borrowing library books on it.
A big convenience is that since one of my Kindles is always with me, if the book I am reading is on Kindle, so is my book. Not in another room, not at home, in the car or "not sure where it is", it is right there ready to be read anywhere. ;)
Cathy wrote: "And the ability to adjust the font of the Kindle so my tired eyes can actually see the print. I bought a paperback recently and just about couldn't read it. "

I took my Kindle to work a couple of weeks ago and plugged it in to recharge while I was working. When I left, I took the Kindle and the wire with me, but the plug is separate and I mistakenly left it behind. That meant that I couldn't recharge my Kindle until I returned to work four days later. It occurred to me at that point that printed books don't need to be recharged. You can read them without any additional equipment.

Shomeret wrote: "I took my Kindle to work a couple of weeks ago and plugged it in to recharge while I was working. When I left, I took the Kindle and the wire with me, but the plug is separate and I mistakenly lef..."

that can be a problem- and you're totally right about a book not needing to be recharged, shom- although i find that my kindle holds a charge for about a month with the wireless turned off.

Good point Shomeret! Which is why we will always need print books on paper as well as electronic versions or audio books, etc.
Like Sherry, I also have never had an issue with my Kindle battery. I do charge the Fire more often, but I leave the wireless on for that one. With it off on my K2, I can go a month or more and even then, the charge takes about 15 minutes to top it off. Not to mention I have chargers for my Kindles all over the place to be ready! ;) My old Blackberry chargers as well as some for older digital cameras work great with the Kindle! Only Apple has to have a unique chargers, but then they work across Apple devices too, so that also helps.
Shomeret wrote: "I couldn't recharge my Kindle until I returned to work four days later. It occurred to me at that point that printed books don't need to be recharged. You can read them without any additional equipment. "

Shomeret wrote: "I took my Kindle to work a couple of weeks ago and plugged it in to recharge while I was working. When I left, I took the Kindle and the wire with me, but the plug is separate and I mistakenly lef..."

How true, Shomeret! One of the reasons I will NEVER give up my print books...until I am absolutely forced to! I do plan on buying a Kindle Fire sometime in the spring. But I really intend to use it for the things I can only get electronically that I really want to read. With practically everything I read, I can still buy paper & ink books brand new, then sell them on eBay when I'm done with them and come out way cheaper than if I'd bought electronics books for an E-Reader. Plus the fact that with an e-book I never owned anything anyway!

Ann wrote: "Good point Shomeret! Which is why we will always need print books on paper as well as electronic versions or audio books, etc.
Like Sherry, I also have never had an issue with my Kindle battery. I..."

good point, ann. i use the charger for my droid to charge my kindle sometimes.

I love to live in the past and present then as I also love roaming bookstores and while on the train trying to catch a glimpse of the cover a person is reading. But I also love how I can have a book the minute it comes out via my kindle and not have to go to the bookstore and look for the book or ask someone for assistance and stand in line. And if you get the kindle app, the book your reading is available even when you don't have your kindle with you.

So, Jasmine, is the glass half-full or half-empty?

Dan: it sounds like both!
Jasmine - great description of the dichotomy we feel about the different formats for reading material -- ebooks and print or other media - we are drawn to all of them at different times (or all the time) ;)
Daniel wrote: "So, Jasmine, is the glass half-full or half-empty?"

a few weeks ago when I was at B&N to waste time I bought 1 book. this past week I was there it was 3 small journals. I looked for one older book I want to read they didn't have it. I almost bought a small battery type ihome speaker for my ipod touch decided against it until I tried the speaker I bought at brookstone a few years ago thinking I could use it at the shore and never did. tried it today couldn't get it to work. so going back this week to buy the other speaker using again alittle bit of my christmas gift certificate. I've changed so much with buying books. even for the nook with all the free ones I get from B&N and also epubs from friends. I can usually find whatever books I want sooner or later. I worry that my B&N will close it's really one of the mega ones. But they still get alot of customers.

DJ: Hopefully the smarter of the booksellers with bricks and mortar stores will figure out how to stay abreast of what consumers want and provide print books for many years. It is a challenge though, especially when you go in looking for something specific and end up having to buy online if you do go with print because what you wanted isn't in stock.
Even Amazon has figured that out with all of their other product offerings. The times are changing and retailers simply have to adapt. I expect used bookstores to become more important for print transactions - more affordable anyway too. My SIL in NC has a new used bookstore where their BAMM closed recently. She says it is very busy.
Donnajo wrote: "a few weeks ago when I was at B&N to waste time I bought 1 book. this past week I was there it was 3 small journals. I looked for one older book I want to read they didn't have it. "