Instead of pleading for readers to buy a book to save big publishing, maybe big publishing should be trying to find out what those readers really want, how they want it delivered, and at what price.

With that kind of data you can build a business model that works.

I predict that sales of printed books from major trade publishers to continue the slide recorded so far this year. Meanwhile, the self- and micro-publishers (like our own Slipdown Mountain Publications LLC will survive and even grow as we strive to adapt to what our customers actually want and how they want it.

And most of that growth and profit will remain under the radar of the publishing industry because it is not included in any of the recognized industry statistics.

Please save me from people who whine, “Oh, please buy a book from us, any book at all, to save us from losing money or going out of business.”

That’s a losing attitude. Just ask the many indie bookstores going under every year.

As far as what moonrat says, is there not an agreed upon time frame for returns. I thought you were not allowed to return a book unless it was in the store for six months ?

That said, will definitely be hitting the bookstore this w/e.

Best,
mb

Here’s an experiment: Can you give an idea of the unit sales difference between something like Blogging for Dummies vs the ProBlogger.net book? There you have one of THE biggest brands in publishing against, basically, a guy with a website (but with a direct relationship with his readers). If you can’t give numbers, can you give % difference? Something like that?

If you want to get a book this weekend, I’ll suggest Seth Godin’s ‘Tribes’. It’s awesome!