Industry Voices

ABA President Steve Bercu looks back at some of the good news from 2014 and offers important reminders about the upcoming Winter Institute, changes to credit card processing that all booksellers should be aware of, and more.

At the Miami Book Fair International panel discussion “Do Monsters Live in Our Laptops?,” book industry experts, including ABA CEO Oren Teicher, discussed whether the promise of digitization as a democratizing force has instead led to large corporations dominating the book industry.

ABA CEO Oren Teicher makes one last appeal to booksellers to get involved in and make the most of Indies First and Small Business Saturday.

ABA bookstore members received an important e-mail update about Indies First on Small Business Saturday from ABA Vice President/Secretary Betsy Burton on Tuesday, November 11.

In a New York Times op-ed dated October 19, economist Paul Krugman contends that Amazon.com is not so much a monopolist, but a “monopsonist, a dominant buyer with the power to push prices down.”

New Republic editor Franklin Foer struck a nerve. His article “Amazon Must Be Stopped” — in which he argued that Amazon’s monopolistic actions needed to be addressed by a robust regulatory state — garnered a tremendous, “fairly polarized” reaction from readers.

In an October 9 cover story, the New Republic editor Franklin Foer likens Amazon to the monopolies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but says it’s a newer “species” of monopoly, one that needs to be addressed by a “robust regulatory state.”

ABA President Steve Bercu shares insights from his recent trip to the Beijing International Book Fair and encourages members to make the most of Indies First as they ramp up for the holidays.

On September 17, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal published a letter calling for e-fairness from Richard Howorth, the owner of Square Books. The letter was written in response to an article that noted Mississippi is one of 10 states most reliant on sales taxes as a share of revenue.

Award-winning author A.S. King delivered these inspiring remarks at the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference on Sunday, September 21. King’s latest novel for young adults, Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future, will be published next month.

Randy Smith, co-owner, with Ann Baumgartle, of Indiana’s Destinations Booksellers, explains in a letter to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression why he thinks it is important to fight censorship and what he’s doing about it.

Earlier this summer, Annie Philbrick of Bank Square Books talked with The Book Report Network’s Teenreads about becoming a bookstore owner, the store’s role within the coastal community, and her favorite — and least favorite — parts of the job.

ABA’s CEO shares highlights from the recent Member Satisfaction Survey and thanks the participants in a recent symposium convened by ABA to inform its strategy decisions.

In his bimonthly letter, ABA President Steve Bercu encourages members to keep the Hachette-Amazon dispute on the “front burner” and to take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate what makes indies different.

Kobo’s president and chief content officer, Michael Tamblyn, talks about Kobo’s engagement with the U.S. market, the role e-books can play in independent bookstores, customer preferences regarding e-reading devices, and more.