Advisory Board member Michael Weinstein’s article “Reports of the Bookstore’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated” was recently published by BookBusiness magazine. The article discusses the future of bookstores, touching on their place in the publishing industry and future business model. Below are two excerpts that describe what Weinstein feels will become of bookstores:
“There’s been a great deal of conjecture lately about the future of the bookstore: What will happen to the B&N stores (especially if they do plan to reduce the number of stores)? What about independent bookstores? Will Amazon crush bricks-and-mortar stores out of existence? Oh, lordy, will there even be such a thing as a bookstore!?!?”
“Part of me wants to suggest that we take the emotional hot button of the “nobility” of the bookstore (particularly the local independent variety) out of the discussion and just talk cold/hard facts. But I don’t think we can. I think there are enough people out there that see (and feel) the value of the experience (as Sturdivant wrote), who want and NEED bookstores to exist, to contribute enough to keep them going.”
Click here to read the full article!