Merely handing over the business to the digitally enlightened is not the answer, just as pretending digital will not happen was not the answer. We spend far too much time trying to disintermediate and disrupt and maybe not enough realising time that the present can have a place in the future.
Having spent a week last month, preparing and manning the
Bibliophile stand at the Queen’s Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace, I was
encouraged by the power of the physical book. There are only two booksellers
with a perstigious Royal Warrant and being the only one selected to be on show in the
expansive palace gardens, was a great honour for my wife’s 30 year old business
Bibliophile.


There was Freddie, who as a 9 year old, engaged instantly
with the DC Comics and Beano tomes on offer. During the concert break he even
came back with his parents to talk to our comic and film expert, Steve, on the
Green Lantern and other heroes.
There was Marion who was not content with raiding the
shelves once and came back for seconds. She said that it was easy to spent
hundreds of pounds on books at 50% off and with free delivery. When she came
back again for a third time, she had to admit she was a book addict and long may we continue to
feed that lovely and rewarding habit.
Learning that physical and digital can complement each other
and that the often neglected short form can be rejuvenated in the digital age, is what books are about. We have to rebalance the market, the organisations and
relationships with it, the focus of certain genres, the way we do business but
in doing so we must listen and move with the marketplace itself.
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