This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Feature US market Letter from America


AMAZON WILL BUY Goodreads for an eventual price of around $200m. Barnes & Noble is pressuring publishers on terms and pulling titles. Random House has hit “fifty shades” of record profit and is heading for July nuptials with Penguin to bolster “relevance” and “scale” and to “strengthen the position of publishing in the value chain of the book”, according to c.e.o. Markus Dohle (hint: compare with Amazon). Te gossip mill is working overtime, so it’s good to canvass a few thoughtful publishing leaders (post-Department of Justice world, not for attribution) to put things in context. First, Goodreads. In February, Te


Bookseller reported that co-founder Otis Chandler gave one of the best talks at O’Reilly’s Tools of Change conference. Chandler openly provided information from recent member surveys, in response to an open call to publishers in which he had asked what they wanted to learn. He was well aware that he was giving publishers something they desperately want—real user data— and politely admonished that they were “not doing nearly enough to use Goodreads quotes to sell and promote their books”. Tere was a three-way subtext.


Beyond the good work of evangelising for books and reading, Chandler also wanted something: to establish a brand that would grow more powerful; a business that would be profitable; and implicitly—but the message was very clear—to win friends and influence people by reinforcing the image of independence, willingness to share, and thus the difference with Seattle. It was the un-Amazon. Yet undoubtedly, at the time of the


ToC talk, Chandler must have been negotiating with Amazon. Te twitterati cries of betrayal,


gloom and monopolistic hordes descending were immediate. Despite protestations that many things will


16 THE BOOKSELLER DAILY AT LBF | 16 APRIL 2013


Te Nook has double Apple’s share of the market


stay the same, inevitably some will change, whatever promises have been made. What will happen to the multiple retailer buy buttons? What will happen to the trust that existed between publishers and the independent Goodreads? As one publisher noted, “if Amazon is smart they will let Chandler be himself. Tey know they are not good at discovery and marketing. Tey can integrate with Kindle, help him with software and metadata, but the minute they turn Goodreads into Amazon, it’s valueless.”


Nook is down, not out Now to B&N. “It has always put pressure on terms, always wanted more,” as a publisher who has dealt with the company for decades put it. B&N put the screws on in the superstore wars of the ’90s. Now, through the showrooming phenomenon—not its fault— and neglecting its merchandising roots—definitely its fault—it feels backed into a corner and is putting the screws on again. It’s a different variation, but what’s new? To those who have confidently


predicted that the Nook will fizzle into oblivion and are counting down to B&N’s demise, the same publisher answers: “People seem to forget the remarkable fact that Nook has double


Riggio: ‘doesn’t need hugely deep pockets’


Apple’s market share. B&N is thinking about the Nook’s potential for use as an educational device. It’s not dead.” As for the stores, “B&N got


distracted but it’s not too late to get ‘undistracted’. Never underestimate Mr Riggio. If the Nook business is spun off under William Lynch, Riggio doesn’t need hugely deep pockets and can get some leverage to turn the stores back into bookstores rather than Nook displays, to get the environment right, to merchandise again. Of course stores will close— the US is way over-stored in general. All these big retail chains have to do a clearing-out.”


Chandler: Will Amazon utilise his strengths?


Te publisher points out that had


digital sales kept up the growth rate of a while ago, we would be facing a very different, far more serious decline in physical stores. Instead, the indie shops have gained 8% in market share. If the increase in digital reading stops, there will be enough footfall to keep stores alive for decades. He adds: “It appears that as many


people are leaving the digital reading ecosystem as are going in. Most devices people seem to be buying now are upgrades. Tose buying are matched by those leaving to go back to reading paper.” Tere are a few other signs of hope


from the publisher’s perspective. First, “Amazon’s publishing operation has only managed to sign three big books, and all have bombed.” Second, “self-publishing has been tremendously empowering for authors. Yet as it grows, most of these books do not sell. It isn’t a problem for publishers. In fact, it’s a nice discovery tool, the ultimate Darwinian mechanism, with a few rising to the top.” Finally, “book publishing is in a better state than newspapers, for sure. We are adjusting. Tere have been changes but not massive layoffs. Tings haven’t yet turned ugly.”


Gayle Feldman on what Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads means for the trade, and how Barnes & Noble’s troubles will have retailing repercussions


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24