"Do you have any books on [insert illness here]?" Booksellers field this delicate question every day on the sales floor. In the Internet age, that kind of interest has led some consumers to seek out medical textbooks, the Dallas Morning News reported.
According to Sean Faulkner, director at Majors Scientific Books in Dallas, which also has a store in Houston, "A lot of people use Google to try to find information because they think they can find everything on the Internet. . . . We call it the Amazon effect. But, frequently, all they can find is a little description of a book which they bring with them when they visit us trying to find more information."
Majors Scientific Books president Albert Majors McClendon said that even though the bookstores' primary customers are medical students and physicians, "we continually have physicians and hospital librarians refer people here to find more resources. . . . The big difference between our consumer stock and that at major bookstores is that our selections are not fads. We carry books that are recommended by health institutions."
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It's
not proprietary publishing yet, but it's a step in that direction.
Borders Group is selling two books--both Harry
Potter-related--on an exclusive basis. Only on September 1 will the
books, published by Benbella Books, distributed by IPG, be
available to all retailers.
The titles are The Great Snape Debate by Amy Berner, Orson
Scott Card and Joyce Millman, consisting of two texts arguing whether
Severus Snape is a friend or foe of Harry Potter, and The Unauthorized Harry Potter by Adam Troy Castro, "a light-hearted look at all things Harry Potter."
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Like most independent bookstores, Labyrinth Books, which began in New York City near Columbia University and now has a branch in New Haven, Conn., and another opening in Princeton, N.J., is "swimming against the tide" but seemingly in the right direction, according to the Connecticut Business News Journal, which has a detailed profile of the company and owners Cliff Simms, Dorothea von Moltke and Chris Doeblin.
Labyrinth is able to draw upon experience when looking for a niche in academic environments, where Barnes & Noble tends to have a strong presence. "We've been there [Morningside Heights] for 10 years," von Moltke said "We do things differently, so we believe there is room for both of us."
The Journal reported that the "new shop [in New Haven] didn't go over too well with Yale University, since it introduced direct competition to its designated Barnes & Noble bookseller. Even without Yale's support, Labyrinth Books has weathered the storm."
Speaking like a nimble military strategist, von Moltke added that adaptability is a critical tool for success: "We are always looking for sustainability and economic viability, and that requires constant re-thinking and re-invention."
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Beach reads with a literary twist: The Orange County Register argued that this weekend's Literary Orange Festival will serve as Exhibit A in proving that the area is "counteracting the sun-baked image of the county perpetuated by television's the O.C. and Laguna Beach."
A strong literary community has taken root, and the renaissance can be traced in part to a popular and impressive lineup of author readings and lectures at UC Irvine as well as many other local venues. Also helping has been the recent success of Then We Came to the End, the bestselling debut novel by UCI grad Joshua Ferris.
"Years ago, we had to yell and scream, 'We're here. You can send your authors here. People read here,' " said Tracy Keys, executive director of the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation. Authors "have a great time here when they come. They're kind of surprised. . . . They think, Newport Beach, beach town. They don't expect what they find."
The paper also highlighted the May 12 SCIBA bookstore tourism bus tour, which will stop at Martha's Bookstore in Newport Beach, Latitude 33 and Laguna Beach Books, both in Laguna Beach, and Compass Books & Café in Downtown Disney in Anaheim.
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Cool idea of the day: Pegasus & Pendragon Books in Berkeley, Calif., creates special poetry broadsides every year and gives them away to customers during National Poetry Month. Margaret Donovan, managing editor of Tupelo Press, tipped us off to this effort, which she discovered when the bookstore's Amy Thomas wrote asking for permission to use the title poem, "Dancing in Odessa," from Ilya Kaminsky's recent collection for this year's broadside.
"I thought 'How wonderful,' " said Donovan, "Something that makes the customers happy and the booksellers!"
Added Thomas: "We have been making broadsides for several years to give away during poetry month. We have done poems by James Tate, Thomas Centolella, Kenny Damacion, among others, as well as poems by children who were participating in the very wonderful River of Words project. . . . It is one of the happiest things we do."