Dead Men Walking

I read this piece this morning. For those not inclined to follow suit, I'll summarize. Brick and mortar booksellers, even large ones, such as Barnes and Noble, have a tough row to hoe. Competition from Amazon and digital books are slowly rendering book stores obsolete. 

Interesting article. Even more interesting were the dozens of comments and argument following the article. I found the various bookstore owners comments humorous. Folks, there is no debate; bookstores are on the way out. Let me explain.

There are three reasons why people buy a book.

Convenience: In this case the buyer knows the book that they want, and they want it now. Digital purchases win this battle hands down. For example, I discovered D. J. Molles The Remaining a little over a month ago. Five minutes after my discovery, I was reading the first page.

Granted, if I was standing in the bookstore aisle, with my hand on the spine, I could get a hard copy almost as quickly, but that is rarely the case. And oh, by the way, The Remaining is a digital only book, so it has no spine on a bookstore shelf, but that is a topic for later.

Price: All other things being equal, most people opt to pay a lower price. Digital books will trump physical stores most every time when price is the critical factor. For example, Dan Brown’s Inferno costs $29.95 if you buy the hard copy off the Barnes and Noble shelf or $12.99 for the digital version. Guess which one I’m getting? Actually, you couldn't pay me to buy either one, but that’s another story. 

Used books are the pricing exception. You can pick up a used copy of Inferno on eBay for $.99 plus $4 shipping. A nice price, but then again, that price isn't available in a brick and mortar store.

Serendipitous Discovery: Perhaps there is a better phrase for this. Back in the pre-Amazon (or Barnes and Noble online, for that matter) days, I used to find many of my favorite authors by browsing the science fiction (or whatever) section at Barnes and Noble, Waldenbooks, or Books a Million. That is certainly still an option (not for Waldenbooks), although Barnes and Noble’s science fiction section mainly consists of Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, David Weber, and George R.R. Martin books/clones of their books.  But why wade through the hundreds of books that I don’t care about when Amazon will suggest several books I do care about based on my last read? If I like The Remaining by D.J. Molles, then Amazon will suggest Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Borne. Both great books.

Final analysis? Brick and mortar books stores are dead men walking. They do nothing better than online resellers. Internet sellers’ digital books are more convenient and often less expensive. Used hard copies of the same books can be bought more cheaply through eBay, or even Amazon and Barnes and Noble online. Finally, Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s matching algorithms make browsing like novels a piece of cake.

Yeah, Amazon doesn't have a couch where you can sip coffee while you thumb through a potential buy, but wouldn't you really rather do that at home?  If not, you better do it quick, while there are still book stores to do it in.