BA launches Digital Guide

17.05.10 | Victoria Gallagher in The Bookseller

The Booksellers Association has launched a Digital Guide to Multi-Channel Bookselling for booksellers, designed to maximise opportunities to reach e-book customers.

The manual, which is free to all BA members, will explain a variety of digital issues including websites, audiobooks, e-books, e-readers, print-on-demand, social networking, tweeting, blogging, and internet marketing.

Sharon Murray, president of the BA, said: "E-book sales outstripped audiobooks sales for the first time this year in the US, iPads are selling faster than iPhones, the iBookstore arrives at the end of the month, and the Google cloud is set to float our way in the summer.

"Times change. We booksellers have to reach out and understand what can be done and the role technology can play in it. As a sector, I believe we have to get involved in selling new formats, or run the risk of being by-passed."

Hard copies of the manual will be handed out at the Book Industry Conference which begins today (17th May). It can also be downloaded as a pdf from the BA website.

The title has been commissioned by Linda Bennett, who set up Gold Leaf in 2001 to carry out business development and research for the bookselling, publishing, library and academic communitie