Borders news wasn't completely unexpected to me. It was fairly well known for a while that they were struggling. And while the publishing landscape is definitely changing, I heard something the other day that made me think twice about the industry and how it reaches the readers: Readers don't find books by browsing; readers find books through word of mouth.
I don't know about you, but for me, it's a fifty-fifty split. I find just as many books by browsing the shelves at the local library or Barnes and Noble. I love both, for different reasons. The cover art, the crisp pages, the dogearred copies, the smells -- just to name a few.
I have an ereader, but it doesn't beat the thrill of holding the latest book in the series and peeking at the last page to make sure that the hero makes it. It doesn't beat browsing my own shelves and finding a old favorite to read for the afternoon.
Nothing really replaces the bookstore. While Borders made a business decision, it affects readers.
What do you think? Is it word of mouth or browsing that leads you to the next read? Leave a comment to let us know where you sit on the issue.
2 comments:
I'm with you. It's about a 50/50 split. For the word of mouth finds, any online bookstore will do, but for browsing, I haven't found an online place that beats a good walk down the aisles of a brick-n-mortar. Since they're closing my closest Borders, I guess I'm just going to have to live with it.
I confess, I'm a bibliophile. I love books. I love the smell and feel of a brand new book. I'm not interested in the eletronic readers for that reason.
I find my next read from all kinds of sources. It could be a blog, news article, friend, or just walking by the display. There are authors that I will buy the first day their work comes out. Some of these authors I found just by walking around the bookstore or the library.
I have a stock of favorites that I go to when I run out of something to read. I do ration them so that I'm not reading them all the time.
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