Using Amazon

People cringe at the idea that I use and encourage my staff to use Amazon to hunt and find books – why? They’re simply the best damn search engine for books (and pretty much anything else). But, I even step further out there to the chagrin of my peers – I like to buy from them with frequency! How else can you pick up really obscure new and used books, music, or foreign snow globes that my customers want, get them shipped free freight, make 40-60 percent, and yearly get a free plane ticket or two from all those frequent flier miles – thanks Amazon. I love to hate you – but you’re a heck of a tool. Jeff Bezos in my mind is a modern day retail genius! There’s also Alibris, Powells, and Google, these are all the new tools of the modern surviving Indie bookstore. So if we’ve got that game down what’s the next threat on the horizon? Readership as a whole is alarmingly low – but most of those figures haven’t changed much over the years despite the sadness that brings to the heart of any bookseller young or old. No, our next threat is certainly the current generations of the eReader...