E-book discovery by readers has been much in the news lately, and it's definitely an issue for authors, especially those who are self-published. While readers continue to find their next great book in online stores, some still browse brick and mortar bookstores. Wouldn't it be nice if they could find and buy e-books in a store? No, not showrooming Books-A-Million to buy a book on Amazon. Buy actually buying the e-book in the store, so that the author and the store both make money on the deal. Bitingduck Press has an answer. It's still new, so don't look for it yet...

Bittersweet news came out this weekend that Nicholas Hoare, a landmark Toronto bookstore, is set to close April 1, 2013. The store is known for its eclectic stock and elegant interior, and has been in operation in three different cities, at various junctures, since 1971. The shocker? This article on the closure says there isn't actually any 'untoward' reason for the closure—no 'competition from big chains will destroy us all' or 'Amazon is killing the little guys' or 'ebooks are causing the death of print.' It's simply that Hoare's lease was up for renewal and Mr. Hoare had a choice to...

TeleRead posted earlier about an idea that was floated by Victoria Barnsley, a HarperCollins CEO, during a recent NPR interview: the idea of charging people for the privilege of browsing in bookstores. The idea was that they'd pay to browse, and then go home and order online from the vendor of their choosing. The analogy Barnsley gave with this was that of a high-end clothing store—say, for wedding dresses—charging a nominal trying fee that is taken out of the cost of your purchase. But I think that analogy is a faulty one, and I think the true analogy demonstrates why 'pay...

My recent exploration of the failing of Barnes & Noble attracted many comments, some of which surprised me. To me, it was a simple issue of, 'If you won't sell to people, how can they buy?' But I had some food for thought from some of our readers, and I think the problem merits some further exploration. Here are my top off-the-beaten-track Barnes & Noble Failure Conspiracy Theories. Do some (or all) of them account for Barnes & Noble's dismal sales? 1. Barnes & Noble is targeting takeover partners, not customers. This one came to me via my Beloved, who reads ... but makes...

It’s the week before Christmas, and the post office and local stores are full of people I’ve never seen before. Where do they shop the rest of the year, these folk? Do they live in suspended animation till December? I can only surmise that the warmer weather here in Oz wakes them up, like locusts, just to clog the supermarket aisles and make buying a postage stamp a two-hour operation. But at least they got me thinking about one of the nicest and most often overlooked aspects of purchasing e-books—you don’t have to relate to the other customers. Not that bookstore...

The Bookseller is reporting today that the European bookstore chain Waterstones will be offering the Kindle Paperwhite for sale—in-store—before the end of October. This should come as welcome news to anyone based in Western Europe who's been planing on buying a Paperwhite, but hasn't actually placed an order for the device through Amazon. According to The Bookseller post, "Amazon.co.uk has told customers that orders placed today for the Paperwhite model would not be expected to ship until the week of [November 12] 'due to popular demand' [for the device]." According to a Waterstones rep, the standard Paperwhite model will be retailing in its...