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barbara cohen

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I was a bookseller in mostly antiquarian books. I would love a discussion about the disintegration of the book world - bookshops, libraries

I have seen dramatic shifts in the antiquarian bookselling business and in publishing. I fear for the future "brick and mortar" bookshop as more and more stores close, including the behemoths like Borders and Barnes and Nobel - the rise of the "print on demand" (POD) which has jeopardized sales of real books and destroyed the value of simply good out of print books which have been rendered worthless.

I'm interested in the question from other booksellers as well as book buyers who buying habits have clearly changed.

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Topics: antiquarian bookselling bookselling
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    edward long 100+

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    Aug 7 2012: Shops devoted to the selling of only new books have largely disappeared here in Arizona, USA. Used book sellers are flourishing. I think it's the economy. New books became so expensive they would have seen a sharp decrease in sales even if the Internet hadn't replaced them as the cheapest way to buy new books. But the best way to save money is to buy books from used book stores. These stores buy and sell books. The demand for hardcopy literature seems alive and well to me.

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