The BookThinker Newsletter ISSN 1547-9501 137, 24 August 2009

The BookThinker Newsletter 137 Special Report 1 7 September 2009 Special Announcements   Letters to the Editor From David Greif Response from Karin Bergsagel After publishing our interview with Alibris CEO Brian Elliott several weeks ago, bookseller David Greif wrote me a detailed response expressing his disagreement with a forum letter we had published along with the interview - written, you may recall, by BookThink's News Editor Karin Bergsagel. Since David's letter was primarily a response to Karin's thoughts, I asked Karin if she would respond to David's letter, and the result follows.   BookThink's Author Profiles An Interview with Lizzie Skurnick Also today, Media Editor Catherine Petruccione is back with an in-depth interview with author Lizzie Skurnick, whose recently published book, Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, is a celebration of authors she and other women loved in their formative years. I think you'll find this interview especially informative about what's actually going on with young readers today and why - and what impact this may have on the future of bookselling.     The BookThinker Newsletter 137 Update August 31, 2009 Update Announcements   Bookselling in the 21st Century Part 2: Before Looking Ahead, Look Back to Make Sure the Ship Isn't Sinking Today, our recently-launched Bookselling in the 21st Century series resumes with an account of my recent experiences purchasing textbooks for my son's college classes. Quite an adventure, I'd say, and it represented a sort of microcosm of what ain't working in present-day bookselling - and, in turn, suggested what needs to be fixed if we intend to sell books successfully in the coming years. (If you missed Part I, click here.)   Book Repair for BookThinkers How to "Repair" Warped Boards Next up is a book repair how-to. Would repairing a warped board in under a minute appeal to you? If so, read on.     From the Editor     Alibris and BetterWorldBooks Strange Bedfellows? An Interview with Alibris CEO Brian Elliott I'd originally intended to run Part II of the series we launched last week on bookselling in the 20th century, but, as sometimes happens, things come up. This time it was a surprisingly heated response to a new partnership launched by Alibris and BetterWorldBooks. A contingent of Alibris booksellers were displeased, to say the least, and so it seemed reasonable to go to straight to the source - Alibris - for some clarification. In addition to my interview with CEO Brian Elliott, we've included some pertinent thoughts of BWB co-founder Xavier Helgesen and BookThink News Editor Karin Bergsagel.

Recent BookThinker Issues

The BookThinker Newsletter
136 Update
August 17, 2009

Update Announcements

Help Wanted Needed Hiring Help for Your Bookselling Business Bookseller Michael Burnley makes a guest appearance today. He's here to discuss something that doubtless most booksellers, even if they never get around to doing it, at least think about from time to time - hiring help. His detailed overview addresses the important factors you'll need to consider.

Bookselling in the 21st Century Part I: Adapt or Die? Also today, I'm launching a new series of articles on a topic that some of you might be uncomfortable thinking about, let alone reading about - the actual state of the bookselling biz as opposed to what we wish it was. Or what it used to be, for that matter. Part I is a short introduction to the series, and subsequent parts will suggest possible strategies going forward.