Direct to Consumer Sales

An increase in sales of print books, a growing disaffection with e-tailers and the burgeoning trend of “enhanced” bookshops has led many trade figures to branch out into running bricks-and-mortar stores, with the synergy between the seemingly disparate sides of the business not to be understated. Book sales rep David Segrue, who launched independent sales…

Next week I’ll be attending IDPF DigiCon in Chicago on May 10th and 11th. Now boasting a new name and location, DigiCon looks to tackle many challenges within the book industry brought on by rapidly changing technology. Sessions ask forward-looking questions like: How can publishers reimagine the ebook as an open and cross-platform experience? How…

When it comes to Shelfie's ebook/print bundles, it's pretty clear how consumers and publishers benefit; one gets a discount on their digital purchase, and the other gets a reader's email address (marketing opportunities). But there's one question no one seems to be asking: how do bookstores benefit?

In the world of email marketing, experts constantly talk about the importance of adding new subscribers, increasing open rates, and boosting click rates. The internet is littered with articles on these topics. But, are these the best metrics to gauge success? If email marketing is supposed to help generate book sales, could we be majoring…

Last week Amazon announced its first quarter sales for 2016. Sales increased 28% to $29.1 billion. CEO Jeff Bezos credited this jump to the popularity of Amazon devices, including Amazon Fire, Fire TV Stick, and Amazon Echo. Bezos said in a press release that, “Amazon devices are the top selling products on Amazon. . .…

There are few other things more soothing to people of a certain type—myself included—than leisurely browsing their favorite neighborhood bookstore. In San Francisco, my favorite store is Green Apple Books, on 9th Avenue in the Inner Sunset district, right by the Golden Gate Park. Walking between those tall stacks of books under the warm store…

Although little is known about the handful of new concept stores Barnes & Noble has said it plans to open this year, at least one of them is springing up outside of New York City. The book chain is moving forward on what appears to be one of its first concept store locations in Westchester…

Editor's Note: On April 20th, Book Business' sister brand Publishing Executive will be hosting a free webinar that will explore the new revenue streams publishers are developing through paid, online learning. The webinar "Seizing the Online Learning Revenue Opportunity" will feature presentations from magazine publishers, but the lessons on audience development and digital content monetization…

Bookstores like Third Place Books and Harvard Book Store have long used POD equipment such as the Espresso Book Machine to supplement their stock of print books, and now one French bookstore is taking that idea to extremes. The AP reports, and Les Echos confirms, that publisher Presses Universitaires de France has opened a new…

Ebook windowing is a technique designed to prevent ebooks from cannibalizing print book sales. The original thinking went something like this: Release a new title in print format only, thereby preventing e-cannibalization. The result? Frustrated consumers. If you’re an ebook reader there’s nothing worse than realizing a digital edition doesn’t exist for that new book…