It is hard to have a conversation about the state of bookselling these days without discussing the topic of e-books. Whenever those discussions come up at the store, my thoughts go back to the main question at hand:
"What is the value of a book? Are books beloved because of their physical nature or because of their content?
At Bookshop, we don’t view it as an either/or situation. We love books for both reasons. Our first love is sensory--the smell of books, the weight of it in our hands, how it feels to discover a new book you never knew about as you browse through the aisles of a physical bookstore.
This is why there is a place for independent bookstores now and in the future. The second reason we love books is because of the way the content of books can change an opinion, a relationship, or even a life. We know that this is something that will continue to exist even if the book is delivered electronically.... Bookshop Santa Cruz would like to play an increasing role in the e-book market because we want to serve our customers no matter how they 'consume' their book content. In the next few months, we hope to launch our new e-bookstore in partnership with Google Editions, providing millions of titles at competitive prices....
"E or not... either way we will continue to be obsessed about books. If you are obsessed too, come see us. We look forward to getting the perfect book into your hand--or your device."
--Casey Coonerty Protti is the owner of Bookshop Santa Cruz, and her piece above is an excerpt taken from the store's book blog. Do have a look at their blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment