Diary of a Mad Editor

E-readers are perhaps most innovative creation since log furniture and, while e-readers are helping Amazon expand its publishing business, Barnes & Noble is getting out of direct publishing. That’s right, pretty soon, B&N will not be publishing anymore Barnes and Noble Classics or anything else. It seems the the big book retailers is planning to put all its eggs in one basket and support the Nook Reader. Currently, the Nook, which trails the Kindle in sales, is the most successful thing Barnes and Noble has going for it.  With more bookstore closings on the horizon and its Sterling Publishing arm losing money, the booksellers is mulling over a decision about a Nook spin-off to protect its one true asset from the fallout of its failing business.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the book business, but I’m thinking this move is a bit premature. Consider that Barnes and Noble is a failing business because the economy has been bad and because the retailers customer service sucks.  The economy is improving (slowly, sure, but improving nonetheless). It would be more prudent for the bookseller to address customer service concerns and hire employees who actually know books and literature and pay them a living wage. Because, once the economy improves, Barnes and Noble is in a better position for offer customers services that Amazon cannot because it has no physical stores. Don’t get me wrong, Amazon is great at what it does, but Amazon is already wholly dependent on online and digital sales (they have no alternative).  It is unlikely that Barnes and Noble will ever overtake Amazon in the e-book business. The only thing it has that Amazon doesn’t is brick n mortar stores with real human beings working in them. Barnes and Noble can interact directly, face-to-face with customers. It can provide atmosphere. That’s a significant advantage because, while e-book sales will continue to grow, physical books will never disappear completely and there is something to be said about browsing and shopping for books in a real store and being able to ask questions. Amazon’s lame user reviews are no substitute for real human interaction. That’s why I think it’s premature to bet everything on The Nook, a device that despite its modest success, has yet to prove it’s more than just another alternative to the Kindle.

A while back, I said that even though I was firmly against the “agency model” for pricing e-books, I did not believe that Apple colluded with publishers. Well… as the lawsuit against Apple and the mainstream publishers moves forward, information has come to light to make me rethink my initial conclusion. If we roll up our sleeves, put on a pair of tillman gloves and get to work investigating the matter further, we find that it was an unnamed publishing insider who tipped Grant & Eisenhofer, a law firm hoping to represent consumers in the matter, to the conspiracy. They could be blowing smoke. The “publishing insider” could be full of shit. However, If there is indeed actual proof that there was collusion,  perhaps we can finally put an end to the agency model.