If you’re a Harry Potter fan and you know you’ll go through Potter withdrawal when you finish the seventh – and final – book coming out July 21, then consider another seven-part British kid-wizard series: Septimus Heap. Three books of the series have been published since their debut in March of 2005, the first being Magyk, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. The other two are Flyte and Physik. All are written by British author Angie Sage.
If you like your fiction in the form of movies, fear not. Warner Brothers Studios has picked up the rights to this series, according to The Book Standard. Read all about it.
My wife, Kate, is a Potter fan but after the ordeal of waiting for J.K. Rowling to finish seven books vowed never to get involved with an unfinished series again. Still, when I told her about the Septimus Heap series, she sighed and said, “I should take a look.” She does love ‘er wizards, ‘Arry.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Why Are Book Publishers So Afraid of Used Books?
Did you know that 49% of people who purchased a book online in the last year bought a used book? Alibris commissioned a study back in November, and that’s what their study found. This according to a story in Publisher’s Weekly run in April titled “For Better or Worse, Used Book Sales Grow.”
That number amazes me. Used book stores are never busy, certainly never as busy as the new book stores I visit. The used book sections of new book stores are never as busy as the new book sections, either.
However, it does explain why a local independent bookstore (Schuler Books) has recently decided to add a used book section at two of its brick and mortar locations. They only involve a couple of bookshelves, not a whole section of each store, but still they are devoting space and resources to them. And Barnes and Noble has a good-sized used book section in one of our local stores.
So what’s the story on used books? It makes good sense. The stories won’t have changed just because someone bought and read the book already. The words haven’t gotten old and fallen off the page. And by buying a “pre-owned” book, you’re saving the slaying of a tree to print a new one, plus some space at the local landfill where it would have lain dormant as it slowly decayed. And handling someone’s used book isn’t like wearing someone’s used underwear or smearing on someone’s used deodorant or biting someone’s used dentures. No, most people care well for their books and pass them along lovingly in good condition like a favorite suit or a beloved car. Better, in fact. Many read the book only once and then it sits unscathed on the shelf looking for a new companion. My experience with used books is that unless it’s from the public library, where it passes through many careless hands, a used book is usually in prime condition and as worthy for purchase as a new book.
That may explain why online retailers do a better business in used books than bricks and mortar stores. Amazon.com, Alibris.com, and Abebooks.com, for instance. Roughly 25% to 30% of their sales are used books. Part of that may be that you don’t initially realize you’re buying a used book when you order it. Part of it may be that you want an out-of-print book and the only way to get it is to buy it used. And part of it may be that with everything discounted, saving because it’s used isn’t as apparent as it might otherwise be.
Perhaps that’s why book publishers are so afraid of used-book sales: Why pay full price for new when half price for used will do?
That number amazes me. Used book stores are never busy, certainly never as busy as the new book stores I visit. The used book sections of new book stores are never as busy as the new book sections, either.
However, it does explain why a local independent bookstore (Schuler Books) has recently decided to add a used book section at two of its brick and mortar locations. They only involve a couple of bookshelves, not a whole section of each store, but still they are devoting space and resources to them. And Barnes and Noble has a good-sized used book section in one of our local stores.
So what’s the story on used books? It makes good sense. The stories won’t have changed just because someone bought and read the book already. The words haven’t gotten old and fallen off the page. And by buying a “pre-owned” book, you’re saving the slaying of a tree to print a new one, plus some space at the local landfill where it would have lain dormant as it slowly decayed. And handling someone’s used book isn’t like wearing someone’s used underwear or smearing on someone’s used deodorant or biting someone’s used dentures. No, most people care well for their books and pass them along lovingly in good condition like a favorite suit or a beloved car. Better, in fact. Many read the book only once and then it sits unscathed on the shelf looking for a new companion. My experience with used books is that unless it’s from the public library, where it passes through many careless hands, a used book is usually in prime condition and as worthy for purchase as a new book.
That may explain why online retailers do a better business in used books than bricks and mortar stores. Amazon.com, Alibris.com, and Abebooks.com, for instance. Roughly 25% to 30% of their sales are used books. Part of that may be that you don’t initially realize you’re buying a used book when you order it. Part of it may be that you want an out-of-print book and the only way to get it is to buy it used. And part of it may be that with everything discounted, saving because it’s used isn’t as apparent as it might otherwise be.
Perhaps that’s why book publishers are so afraid of used-book sales: Why pay full price for new when half price for used will do?
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Books by Cellphone? Thanks, Borders!
Something useful may be coming soon to your cellphone: According to MarketingWeek, "Borders is to become the world's first bookseller to distribute content to mobile phones. The retailer will send sample chapters to customers' phones free of charge before books are released and a the book can then be purchased in-store for a discount of up to 20% using a barcode." The article didn't say whether this will happen in the U.S., the UK, or where.
Here's my suggestion to Borders and publishers: Send the text from book jackets and leafs. Cellphones are not a good format for book pages! Maybe a few sample paragraphs, but not pages! I guess I'll take a wait-and-see attitude before I fully judge, but I can't imagine wading through all that text on a small screen. Even an iPhone is going to make reading a book on a screen very hard (see article below).
Still, I like the idea of receiving book recommendations on my cellphone. Maybe as an e-mail that I receive by way of my cellphone.
I couldn't find confirmation of this story on any Borders Stores Web sites, which is curious.
Here's my suggestion to Borders and publishers: Send the text from book jackets and leafs. Cellphones are not a good format for book pages! Maybe a few sample paragraphs, but not pages! I guess I'll take a wait-and-see attitude before I fully judge, but I can't imagine wading through all that text on a small screen. Even an iPhone is going to make reading a book on a screen very hard (see article below).
Still, I like the idea of receiving book recommendations on my cellphone. Maybe as an e-mail that I receive by way of my cellphone.
I couldn't find confirmation of this story on any Borders Stores Web sites, which is curious.
Security Tight for Arrival of New Harry Potter Book
"The release of J.K. Rowling’s last outing with her creation at one minute past midnight on Saturday July 21, will be the culmination of the most fraught operation in publishing history," says The Book Standard. "Boxes have been chained shut, barbed wire has been uncoiled and satellite tracking systems for delivery vans have been double-checked," says London's Times. Book stores across the world probably haven't received their shipments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows yet, but when they do their bulky cardboard boxes will likely be padlocked into secure rooms where even staff won't see them until the magical moment of release arrives.
Lest you think you can collar a bookseller the day before the big event -- or even an hour before -- to sneak off with your copy to avoid the crowds, don't even think about it. Booksellers are bound by contract to wait until just after midnight on July 21 to release to the public.
If a store breaks such a contract with a publisher, they face lawsuits and stiff fines -- possibly even blacklisting -- from the publisher! Every big release book comes with what the book industry calls its "lay down date." That's the first date the store can put the book out on public display for view or sale. That's why when you ask your favorite bookseller about an upcoming new book and they tell you it's coming out "tomorrow" and you ask if they will kindly sell it to you today, the answer is always no.
By the way, I see that Amazon.com will allow pre-order of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by noon ET on July 17 for "release-date delivery". Barnes and Noble requires pre-order by July 16 for July 21st delivery in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
Lest you think you can collar a bookseller the day before the big event -- or even an hour before -- to sneak off with your copy to avoid the crowds, don't even think about it. Booksellers are bound by contract to wait until just after midnight on July 21 to release to the public.
If a store breaks such a contract with a publisher, they face lawsuits and stiff fines -- possibly even blacklisting -- from the publisher! Every big release book comes with what the book industry calls its "lay down date." That's the first date the store can put the book out on public display for view or sale. That's why when you ask your favorite bookseller about an upcoming new book and they tell you it's coming out "tomorrow" and you ask if they will kindly sell it to you today, the answer is always no.
By the way, I see that Amazon.com will allow pre-order of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by noon ET on July 17 for "release-date delivery". Barnes and Noble requires pre-order by July 16 for July 21st delivery in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Books on iPhone?
"Publishers Ponder Putting E-books on iPhone" says the headline in a Publisher's Weekly article. "Not so fast!", says Apple. Publishers are interested, but Apple has plenty on its plate already with this year's most popular consumer electronic device, just released. Said PW in today's article, "Book publishers have been resistant to digital reading in the past, and text just doesn't show off the iPhone's multimedia functionality the way full-motion video and color photographs can. So book publishers will have to wait their turn. Nevertheless, publishers said that while Apple has yet to approach them about content, that day is coming."
I have my serious doubts about this as a format for books. Although I have yet to put my hands on an iPhone, what I've seen in TV ads make me wince when I think of trying to read a book on one. Think about all that scrolling! You hate to scroll a Web page now, what are you going to do with a page of book text? Furthermore, Web paragraphs tend to be shorter and more compact; book paragraphs are longer, wider, and more dense. It's going to be Hell reading a book on any PDA or other electronic device. How will it handle various fonts? Will you need to scroll side to side as well as top to bottom? Will you be able to adjust font size to make text easier to read and how will that affect scrolling? Will you be able to light the surface to make it easier to read in the dark? Will your eyes get as tired reading the iPhone as it does a regular computer monitor screen, which is already tiring to read?
See where I'm headed? People will prefer reading a book on paper. Mark my works ... on paper.
I have my serious doubts about this as a format for books. Although I have yet to put my hands on an iPhone, what I've seen in TV ads make me wince when I think of trying to read a book on one. Think about all that scrolling! You hate to scroll a Web page now, what are you going to do with a page of book text? Furthermore, Web paragraphs tend to be shorter and more compact; book paragraphs are longer, wider, and more dense. It's going to be Hell reading a book on any PDA or other electronic device. How will it handle various fonts? Will you need to scroll side to side as well as top to bottom? Will you be able to adjust font size to make text easier to read and how will that affect scrolling? Will you be able to light the surface to make it easier to read in the dark? Will your eyes get as tired reading the iPhone as it does a regular computer monitor screen, which is already tiring to read?
See where I'm headed? People will prefer reading a book on paper. Mark my works ... on paper.
Could Potter Plotter Make It Number 8?
Never say never, say Harry Potter fans in the U.K. According to a story today in The Book Standard, ' "There has never been a writer like J.K. Rowling. And there has never, ever been a character like Harry Potter. Millions, perhaps billions of us love reading his adventures, and we never want them to end." The site hopes to get 1 million names on its petition before the July 21 release date of Deathly Hallows.' Their hope is that author J. K. Rowling will do what she's vowed not to do and write more Harry Potter stories after the release this month of book number 7.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Book Review: the beautiful miscellaneous by Dominic Smith
I like an eclectic range of books, including stories about science, so the beautiful miscellaneous by Dominic Smith seemed to be a good bet when I saw it in the bookstore. I skimmed its pages before buying it and I was intrigued by the description on the jacket leaf.
It started off slowly for me, but soon I was engaged in the storyline, fascinated by the characters and the basic plotline. But then little details got in the way. For instance, Nathan, the main character, and his father go to Manitoba to observe a solar eclipse. Nathan says, “We watched the moon drift toward the rising sun.” That’s not possible. The moon moves between the Earth and the Sun so the dark side of the moon faces the Earth. Nathan wouldn’t have been able to see the moon move toward the sun! A nit? Perhaps. However, Nathan lives in Wisconsin somewhere near Madison, yet his descriptions suggest nothing unique to that area, so it could have been almost anywhere. Other parts of his description seem spot-on, so why not in these areas, too?
In the story, Nathan is in an accident and dies briefly. He comes back to life but lives in a coma for a time, then returns to consciousness. In doing so, he is given a new gift. It is in this description that author Dominic Smith shows his greatest gifts as a writer and where I found the most enjoyable reading. The center of the book contains some pretty amazing imagery, some very fine writing.
The basic story is about the conflict between Nathan and his father, and his parent’s desire to have a son with gifts of genius. When he receives gifts of genius, Nathan has been so resentful of his parents that he can’t focus on using the gifts productively but peters them away on self-indulgent flights of fantasy during which there is no personal growth. In this respect, the beautiful miscellaneous becomes a “coming of age” story, although I don’t think a very uplifting one.
It started off slowly for me, but soon I was engaged in the storyline, fascinated by the characters and the basic plotline. But then little details got in the way. For instance, Nathan, the main character, and his father go to Manitoba to observe a solar eclipse. Nathan says, “We watched the moon drift toward the rising sun.” That’s not possible. The moon moves between the Earth and the Sun so the dark side of the moon faces the Earth. Nathan wouldn’t have been able to see the moon move toward the sun! A nit? Perhaps. However, Nathan lives in Wisconsin somewhere near Madison, yet his descriptions suggest nothing unique to that area, so it could have been almost anywhere. Other parts of his description seem spot-on, so why not in these areas, too?
In the story, Nathan is in an accident and dies briefly. He comes back to life but lives in a coma for a time, then returns to consciousness. In doing so, he is given a new gift. It is in this description that author Dominic Smith shows his greatest gifts as a writer and where I found the most enjoyable reading. The center of the book contains some pretty amazing imagery, some very fine writing.
The basic story is about the conflict between Nathan and his father, and his parent’s desire to have a son with gifts of genius. When he receives gifts of genius, Nathan has been so resentful of his parents that he can’t focus on using the gifts productively but peters them away on self-indulgent flights of fantasy during which there is no personal growth. In this respect, the beautiful miscellaneous becomes a “coming of age” story, although I don’t think a very uplifting one.
I expected some revelation at the end of the book, some epiphany for Nathan. It never comes. In fact, the ending was personally disappointing for me. A huge build up that flattens out into nothing. I wish I could say it was otherwise.
Update:
I wrote to Dominic Smith about the lunar eclipse problem and he said he would change it for the paperback printing.
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