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By Paul Biba

Picture 1.pngAnd an excellent article it is. I’ll just quote her item 3, but you should really read the whole article for a balanced view on some things TOC did right and wrong:

3. Which brings me to:”The Elephants Not in the Room” What does it Mean When you throw a party about the future of books and don’t invite the booksellers or the Readers, for that matter?

Some advice for publishers and TOC organizers: If you want to create a working model for book publishing – consider including the end user as part of the conversation! Speakers and attendees talked about the mysterious entity know as “readers,” but actual book-buying readers were nowhere to be found. Of the sessions that focused on readers, the one I’ve heard best represented those MIA readers was the “Smart Women Read E-Books” panel with Kassia Krozser, Angela James, and Sarah Wendell. Kudos to you gals!

That said, as poorly represented as readers were at TOC, they fared quite a bit better than did booksellers.

What is up with that? Sure – Amazon (if one uses the term “bookseller” quite loosely) got plenty of snarky mention, but I’m talking BOOKSELLERS – you know – those people who sell the books we all work so hard to create… Where were they at TOC? ‘Cuz, if it’s not my imagination, they were absent in droves. And, I don’t think anyone seemed to care.

And that worries me. Was this absence intentional? Does someone’s idea of “change” mean no more booksellers?

 
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