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Archive for July, 2009:

Not long ago I went to the Festival du Livre in Nice. Set in a park two minutes from the sea, the book festival featured scores of writers, all lined up at tables with their books. As it was summer and the sky was blue, it was blissful to meander from one table to another, talking to writers and buying books.

But no need to imagine. Here is a video of the Nice book festival, including scenes of the sea, a market, writers signing books, even a socialist union demonstration. It was filmed by Valérie Bonnier, a French actress turned novelist. 

How is the book business in France? Well, consider these numbers. France, with a population of 65 million people, has 3,500 independent bookstores. The United States, with 300 million people, has 2,200. France not only has more independent bookstores but, per capita, tops the United States seven to one.

Why? One reason might be France’s “prix unique du livre,” which allows publishers (or in the case of foreign books, importers) to set book prices. Thus, an independent bookstore in a small street in Paris has the same prices as Amazon.com. A maximum 5 percent discount is allowed.

France is not alone. Twelve other countries in Europe have fixed book prices. Switzerland, which had abandoned fixed prices, took the first step toward reinstating them this year.

I was glad to get a chance to see more photos of Orion Books’ “Totally Space Opera” series, designed by Sandra Zahirovic!  They’re over at FaceOut Books, which has an interview with Sandra about her designs. FaceOut is great about taking hi-res photos of well-designed books, and from all angles, not just the front cover (click on the image to go there and see more images).

Sandra says she has been worried about the supposed trendiness of the “cut paper aesthetic.” That that didn’t even occur to me—they’re well executed and don’t rely on the cut/folded paper as a gimmick. And the stark black-and-white palette, high contrast, and bold font help counteract any preciousness associated with origami.

Kudos to Orion Books for not diluting Sandra’s work in the name of “marketability.” Other publishers (U.S. ones especially! It’s so disappointing when the U.K. versions of books look so much cooler than ours) ought to take note—see how you can get good publicity by giving designers creative freedom?

You can see more pictures of the books at The Book Cover Archive.

With the publishing industry immersed in difficult economic times, marketing budgets for new releases have been shrinking. New or relatively unknown authors may feel their works are not getting the publicity they deserve or need, so some have taken matters into their own hands. For instance, I just read an article about writers who visit book groups in order to promote themselves and their works. While this may be taking things into the realm of the extreme, it is, without doubt, pretty darn innovative!

The article, written by Francesca Mari for The Daily Beast, introduces us to author and creative writing professor Joshua Henkin. Henkin has visited some 175 book groups by phone, in person, or via the Internet. As Henkin told Mari, “With 10 people in each group, that’s 1,750 books sold right there.” Positive book reviews alone aren’t enough to ignite sales, so some authors feel enthusiastic participation in promotion is necessary.

Increasing numbers of authors are speaking at book groups, including such well-known writers as Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner) and Robert Alexander. The dynamic between authors and their audiences has shifted a bit as a result, with authors becoming more accessible to readers or perhaps readers believing authors should be accessible. A final point in the article stresses that authors who visit large numbers of book groups aren’t in it just for book sales—”Certainly the initial impetus and the continuing impetus is: sell books,” Henkin notes. “But I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it.”

Amazon, far from an evil behemoth, gives customers what they want: low prices, unlimited choices, and easy shopping from home. Unlike Wal-Mart, which often peddles low-quality products, Amazon sells both the good and the bad, the passing fad and the classic. Try finding a rare book by a Senegalese writer, and you’ll be relieved by Amazon’s deep reach into even the most obscure corners of publishing. So what does that leave to the independents?

Their strong points have always been personal service, informed recommendations, browsing of real books . . . But now, emerging on the fringes of the book world, might be a new weapon for independents, as well as bookstore chains, in their battle with Amazon.

Meet the Espresso Book Machine.

Browse a screen for book titles, read a few pages of a book, and click. The machine will print out a copy of the book in front of your eyes. You think Amazon’s two-day delivery is great? Try instant gratification.

Although not all books are available on it, more will be coming soon. Here is a video about Angus & Robertson of Australia, the first retail chain in the world to adopt the Espresso Book Machine.

In Manchester Center, Vermont, the Northshire Bookstore recently became the first independent bookstore in the United States to have an Espresso Book Machine.

Imagine the independent bookstore of the future. Walk in and browse through shelves of real books. Talk with sellers who know publishing and can suggest titles you would never have found on your own. Still can’t find a physical book to buy? Step up to the Espresso Book Machine, view virtually every book known to humankind, and click.

Amazon, now seemingly unstoppable, is dependent upon an antiquated and environmentally questionable distribution system: trucking books to warehouses, sending packages through the mail. In a world connected by wires and wirelessly, it’s hard to see how that system will survive capitalism’s unforgiving drive toward lower costs.

In the scramble to reinvent bookselling, video advertising is emerging as an industry unto itself. A New York Times essay from January explains that it all began in 2002 when an aspiring romance novelist named Sheila English founded Circle of Seven (COS) Productions, a social media marketing service for books, authors, and publishers. The company—which has trademarked the terms “Book Trailer” and “Book Teaser”—specializes in “creat[ing] an atmosphere that says ‘Books are entertainment.’”

COS has experienced exponential growth since 2006 (12 projects that year, according to the Times; 140 in 2008).  Their services are tailored to a wide range of budgets, from the bargain basement “Cover Story” (the only image is your book cover) for $300, to the “Platinum Teaser” (special titling, effects, photoshop scenes) for $2,500.  (To shoot an author interview, or a full blown trailer with a script and live actors, call for a quote.)  For a taste of the drama and intrigue that COS can create in a 36-second “Level 2 Mini Teaser” ($1,500), check out what they’ve done with Baited (2006), a romance novel by Crystal Green.  (Or for a more literary interpretation of the book video, see what Harper Collins did for Rivka Galchen’s critically acclaimed Atmospheric Disturbances [2008].)

Meanwhile, many authors on shoestring budgets are embracing the guerrilla marketing spirit, posting homemade book videos on YouTube, MySpace, their own websites, and elsewhere online. 

And why not bookstores? Green Apple Books of San Francisco, one of the best-loved independents in the Bay Area, is creating an atmosphere all its own with videos to promote its Book-of-the-Month recommendations. Created “in the lo-fi style” by SF-based French Press Films, these videos feature scruffy-looking but enthusiastic staff members hamming it up in testimonials, “dramatizations,” and “reenactments” related to the featured book. Can videos like these drive foot traffic to Green Apple or increase sales?  Green Apple Commercial #1:  Book of the Month!  (in which staff bolster their endorsement of David Benioff’s City of Thieves with a money-back guarantee) has been viewed nearly 1,200 times since it was posted in June 2008—although the only comment it has inspired (or provoked) is “dorks!”  Still, the videos have some infectious appeal, and they’re getting more sophisticated.  Their latest effort, Green Apple Commercial #7:  Conquest of the Useless!, shot “on location” with bookseller Stephen Sparks doing his best Werner Herzog,  is my favorite:

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