adapting to the digital shift of the publishing world. I wanted to examine innovative business models, keep up to date with indie bookselling news, and visit community bookstores.I had the opportunity to evaluate and analyze a number of new and successful business models. This included bookstores as nonprofits, trendy pop up bookstores, and bookstores that rely heavily on generating revenue from restaurants and cafes as opposed to book sales. Full analysis of these models can be found in greater detail in the linked posts.
Every Friday, I posted what I felt were the most interesting and pertinent news stories related to indie bookselling from the week. In keeping up to date with industry news, I found that more often than not, bookstores that were going out of business did not even have websites.
A major component of my blog was actually visiting bookstores across the country. Following the bookstore tourism model, I would scope out a bookstore I wanted to visit before travelling to a new city. This allowed me to evaluate the store's usage of the web and social media, and correlate it with the things I observed while visiting the store. I was particularly impressed by the efforts of the Tattered Cover in Denver, McNally Jackson in NYC, and Politics and Prose here in DC. Several of the major stores I visited have ebooks available for purchase through their websites. I also visited a couple bookstores whose command of social media was notably lacking. Evaluations of these stores can be found here and here.
Visiting bookstore across the country and writing about them was by the far the most rewarding part of this blog. I've seen Espresso Books Machines, downloaded mobile apps for bookstores, and had interesting discussions with proprietors. My experiences following these bookstores and the trends of the industry have led me to a
number of conclusions. I see that a strong combination of community support, technological adaptations, and innovative business models have helped bookstores like Tattered Cover, Politics and Prose, and McNally Jackson become the strong and successful stores that they are. These are the stores that have partnered with Google eBooks, purchased Espresso Book Machines, mastered social media, and continue to provide their communities with hand-picked book selections and excellent programming. While I have certainly seen and read about many indie bookstores that have proven unable to adjust to the changes in the industry, those like the exceptional shops mentioned who continue to adapt give me much hope for future of independent bookselling.
