What could book stores look like in the future?

[Pamela Jo]

If everything is online how do readers find books they want to read and purchase them. Book Tok illustrates how much reading is connected with getting to know other readers. It's a sorting hat thing. Reader want to find their kindred spirits.

We may come full circle to the world of my childhood. Without public libraries I would have been totally isolated.

 

[mickleinapickle]

If everything is online how do readers find books they want to read and purchase them. Book Tok illustrates how much reading is connected with getting to know other readers. It's a sorting hat thing. Reader want to find their kindred spirits.

We may come full circle to the world of my childhood. Without public libraries I would have been totally isolated.

Can 'super libraries' survive spending cuts?

Libraries are transforming what they offer, but will that be enough to save them?

www.bbc.co.uk

Can you envisage a future where libraries and book stores combine?

 

[Pamela Jo]

Can 'super libraries' survive spending cuts?

Libraries are transforming what they offer, but will that be enough to save them?

www.bbc.co.uk

Can you envisage a future where libraries and book stores combine?

Maybe. There is an evil plot against public libraries and the post office by those who decided long ago they were socialism. Combining bookstores and libraries would mean libraries were no longer free. That would make me sad.

I think when writers talk about self-publishing they tend to look at at it as a writers problem. When like with any business it needs to begin with the customers. We get side-tracked into thinking that is agents or publishers. But it is readers.

Even if all books are available online it doesn't really satisfy the readers itch as demonstrated by Book Tok. Readers enjoy sharing a book they loved with others who also loved it. It's a life-affirming thing.

 

[TimRees]

If everything is online how do readers find books they want to read and purchase them. Book Tok illustrates how much reading is connected with getting to know other readers. It's a sorting hat thing. Reader want to find their kindred spirits.

We may come full circle to the world of my childhood. Without public libraries I would have been totally isolated.

If you're right, authors need to get a much better deal from libraries.

Yes, when I was a kid I was constantly reading library books. When I was writing my first novel and scripts I spent hours in the library doing research. But, now, as an author with books on library shelves, I think, I'm just providing a service here with very little reward.

Maybe an answer would be that an author has an opportunity to nominate one novel to be available in a library. That way we might collect readers who purchase our other books?

 

[Roz Morris]

If you're right, authors need to get a much better deal from libraries.

Yes, when I was a kid I was constantly reading library books. When I was writing my first novel and scripts I spent hours in the library doing research. But, now, as an author with books on library shelves, I think, I'm just providing a service here with very little reward.

Maybe an answer would be that an author has an opportunity to nominate one novel to be available in a library. That way we might collect readers who purchase our other books?

Yes, libraries are a mixed blessing for authors. On the one hand, they're another way for readers to discover us. On the other, the finances are haphazard.

There's a system called Public Lending Right which pays authors a small amount for each borrow. You register your titles and then get paid for borrows. But not all libraries are on the system. I found this out because my books are in Surrey libraries and I know people borrow them. A librarian there tells me! And there's a guy I met at a book event who told me he'd borrowed my travel memoir three times so far. But I've never been paid anything for borrows of those books. I inquired further and found out that the system only counts some libraries, not others. Clearly that's daft.

 

[Roz Morris]

It's a really interesting question, what bookshops will look like. At the moment they don't really look like sustainable businesses. The online world is an easier place to browse for books, to discover whether they'll be to your taste and then to hunt down the best price. Look on eBay - there are books for a few quid with free delivery.
Perhaps bookstores will carry just new releases, though they can't carry all of them. I used to co-host a radio programme with an independent bookseller and in one episode, I asked him how a bookshop works. He said he had just two bookcases of new releases, the rest was all the generally popular backlist titles that people would expect if they were browsing, plus books of local interest. Also, he wouldn't carry anything that was on sale in Sainsbury's up the road at a massive discount. So his stock was curated, but not exhaustive. However, he could order anything a customer wanted if they asked and he could get it the next day. Still, it would be very hard for him to compete with eBay's offerings.
He's retired now, and probably glad he's not in business any more.
He also used to hold a lot of events, which was a great way to meet readers and discover new books. So he - and I guess bookstores generally - can act as curators. That's something he was excellent at - he'd quiz a customer about their tastes and guide them to a new discovery they'd enjoy. But is that going to keep a business going?

 

[Pamela Jo]

I keep coming back to self publishing - meaning a forum where you sell your own books online. That means open access to kindle machines. That would require a lobbying group with real power like an international union. I appreciate on Amazon I can now buy and read books on my laptop-the Kindle is too small. If libraries would become the portal for authors to sell directly to readers? Or at least borrow? A small fee each time "borrowed" and downloaded. You go there to download the book you want? Or read it?