“How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/

“After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
supervillain are celebrating its success."

"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
for market share.”

Hat tip to:
https://drudgereport.com/

Lynn

In article <t3dfp1$rvs$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>“How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>
>“After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
>are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
>supervillain are celebrating its success."
>
>"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
>states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
>strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
>for market share.”
>
>Hat tip to:
> https://drudgereport.com/
>
>Lynn

Well good.

However I admit that I am mostly an ex-customer. Pretty much everything
except for comic strip collections and other visual books (and some
references) goes straight to the kindle.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/

[snip]

The article says:

"Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
you see on a stroll through the thriller section.

No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
agents and publishers of all sizes."

I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.

In article <0f60bf36-7d9c-424d-b783-ac60ed96e974n@googlegroups.com>,
Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com> wrote:

>I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.

Certainly back when I was actively buying a lot of books, that was
mostly how I found them. I would go into the Book Fair[1] with a
list, and come out with a stack of maybe 20 or 30 books, most of which
were not on the list but I just happened to stumble across.

-GAWollman

[1] New England Mobile Book Fair, which was not mobile, and was
technically a book jobber that happened to also be open to the pubic.
It was crammed into an old warehouse building that was probably a
firetrap. The building was divided into three: paperback, hardcover,
and remainders; the remainders were divided by subject but the
paperback and hardcover sections were mostly alpha by title, grouped
by publisher/distributor. (There were some subject sections and a
dedicated set of pallets for the NYT bestsellers.) They had a
reputation for never returning anything, and didn't have a
computerized inventory, so you'd go in looking for, say, an Oliver
Sacks book, go to the Knopf hardcovers, and see three copies of the
thing you wanted and one or more of everything else Knopf had
published in the last five years or so, including things that were out
of stock everywhere else. The company was sold about a decade ago now,
and reorganized their stock to be more like a traditional bookseller;
I don't think they're in the same location any more because that real
estate became much too valuable.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wollman@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

On 16 Apr 2022 05:25:32 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

>In article <t3dfp1$rvs$1@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>“How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>
>>“After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
>>are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
>>supervillain are celebrating its success."
>>
>>"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
>>states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
>>strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
>>for market share.”
>>
>>Hat tip to:
>> https://drudgereport.com/
>>
>>Lynn
>
>Well good.
>
>However I admit that I am mostly an ex-customer. Pretty much everything
>except for comic strip collections and other visual books (and some
>references) goes straight to the kindle.

I'm pretty much the same way. The only paper books I buy these days
are the Girl Genius from the kickstarter and I do that mostly to
encourage the Foglios to keep at it.

On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>
> [snip]
>
> The article says:
>
> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>
> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>
> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.

I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for. So I browse the
SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
shelf to look at. Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
walk out with 2 or 3 books.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 16 Apr 2022 05:25:32 GMT, ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
<tednolan>) wrote:

>In article <t3dfp1$rvs$1@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>“How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Heroâ€?
>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>
>>“After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
>>are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
>>supervillain are celebrating its success."
>>
>>"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
>>states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
>>strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
>>for market share.�
>>
>>Hat tip to:
>> https://drudgereport.com/
>>
>>Lynn
>
>Well good.
>
>However I admit that I am mostly an ex-customer. Pretty much everything
>except for comic strip collections and other visual books (and some
>references) goes straight to the kindle.

Indeed.

As Egon said, "Print is dead".

And he said it in 1984.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 10:11:27 AM UTC-4, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> > https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
> [snip]
>
> The article says:
>
> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>
> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>
> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.

Although I actually purchase more online, I prefer the in-person method
(with the caveat that covers do not influence what I buy). I use online
tools to help me decide -- and often, ultimately to order -- but nothing
beats the in-person experience for generating reasonable possibilities.

Tony

In article <t3eor6$ang$1@dont-email.me>,
Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> The article says:
>>
>> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
>> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
>> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
>> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>>
>> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
>> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
>> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
>> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>>
>> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
>
>I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
>been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
>years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
>don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for. So I browse the
>SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
>shelf to look at. Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
>walk out with 2 or 3 books.
>

Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
I've read in the last few years any other way.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

J. Clarke wrote:
> Ted Nolan wrote:
>>Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>"How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero"
>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>>
>>>"After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
>>>are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
>>>supervillain are celebrating its success."
>>>
>>>"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
>>>states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
>>>strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
>>>for market share."
>>>
>>>Hat tip to:
>>> https://drudgereport.com/
>>
>>Well good.
>>
>>However I admit that I am mostly an ex-customer. Pretty much everything
>>except for comic strip collections and other visual books (and some
>>references) goes straight to the kindle.
>
> I'm pretty much the same way. The only paper books I buy these days
> are the Girl Genius from the kickstarter and I do that mostly to
> encourage the Foglios to keep at it.

Paper's best for me to read stories and index audio books. eBooks are
superior for searches and copy-and-paste excerptions.
There's a dual dichotomy with my sheet music. Paper works best to
figure out fingering while eBooks eliminate awkward paper page flips at
recitals.
This excerpt from the J Am Med Inform Assoc touches on the "why:"

"Health information technology: fallacies and sober realities"

The paper persistence problem was recently explored at a large
Veterans Affairs Medical Center where EHRs have existed for
10 years. Paper continues to be used extensively. Why? The
paper forms are not simple data repositories that, once
computerized, could be eliminated. Rather such 'scraps' of paper
are sophisticated cognitive artifacts that support memory,
forecasting and planning, communication, coordination, and
education. User-created paper artifacts typically support patient-
specific cognition, situational awareness, task and information
communication, and coordination, all essential to safe quality
patient care. Paper will persist, and should persist, if HIT is not
able to provide similar support.

Danke,

--
Don.......My cat's )\._.,--....,'``. https://crcomp.net/reviews.php
telltale tall tail /, _.. \ _\ (`._ ,.
tells tall tales.. `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:50:08 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <t3eor6$ang$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
> >On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
> >> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> >>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> >>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
> >>
> >> [snip]
> >>
> >> The article says:
> >>
> >> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
> >> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
> >> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
> >> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
> >>
> >> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
> >> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
> >> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
> >> agents and publishers of all sizes."
> >>
> >> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
> >> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
> >> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
> >
> >I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
> >been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
> >years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
> >don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for. So I browse the
> >SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
> >shelf to look at. Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
> >walk out with 2 or 3 books.
> >
>
> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>

I'm a bit envious - I've ordered so many different things for so many
different people, that the best recommendations I get from Amazon
are still at the level of "hey - buy #3 in <series>" when I just bought #5. :(

Tony

On 4/16/2022 10:54 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> The article says:
>>
>> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
>> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
>> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
>> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>>
>> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
>> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
>> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
>> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>>
>> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
>
> I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
> been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
> years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
> don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for.  So I browse the
> SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
> shelf to look at.  Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
> walk out with 2 or 3 books.

Me too. And my daughter too. My wife surfs at our excellent library
and is a frequent catch and releaser.

Lynn

On 4/16/2022 11:50 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <t3eor6$ang$1@dont-email.me>,
> Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>> On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>> The article says:
>>>
>>> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
>>> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
>>> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
>>> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>>>
>>> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
>>> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
>>> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
>>> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>>>
>>> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>>> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>>> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
>>
>> I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
>> been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
>> years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
>> don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for. So I browse the
>> SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
>> shelf to look at. Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
>> walk out with 2 or 3 books.
>>
>
> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
> I've read in the last few years any other way.

I get a few books from Amazon but a lot of books from here.

Lynn

In article <cd4bb8fc-d9bc-440c-b802-b356cc6a109cn@googlegroups.com>,
Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:50:08 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <t3eor6$ang$1...@dont-email.me>,
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>> >On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>> >> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> >>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>> >>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>> >>
>> >> [snip]
>> >>
>> >> The article says:
>> >>
>> >> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
>> >> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
>> >> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
>> >> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>> >>
>> >> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
>> >> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
>> >> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
>> >> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>> >>
>> >> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>> >> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>> >> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
>> >
>> >I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
>> >been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
>> >years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
>> >don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for. So I browse the
>> >SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
>> >shelf to look at. Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
>> >walk out with 2 or 3 books.
>> >
>>
>> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>>
>
>I'm a bit envious - I've ordered so many different things for so many
>different people, that the best recommendations I get from Amazon
>are still at the level of "hey - buy #3 in <series>" when I just bought #5. :(
>
>Tony

Yeah, this is definitely a thing. It seems like it would be pretty easy
to take the things I've bought out of the recommended feed, but I guess
it's not worth the money to them to make it happen. (As, from what
I've heard, it's not worth their while to fix Comixology).
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Sat, 16 Apr 2022 17:21:12 -0000 (UTC), Don <g@crcomp.net> wrote:

>J. Clarke wrote:
>> Ted Nolan wrote:
>>>Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>"How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero"
>>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>>>
>>>>"After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
>>>>are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
>>>>supervillain are celebrating its success."
>>>>
>>>>"In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50
>>>>states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as
>>>>strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest
>>>>for market share."
>>>>
>>>>Hat tip to:
>>>> https://drudgereport.com/
>>>
>>>Well good.
>>>
>>>However I admit that I am mostly an ex-customer. Pretty much everything
>>>except for comic strip collections and other visual books (and some
>>>references) goes straight to the kindle.
>>
>> I'm pretty much the same way. The only paper books I buy these days
>> are the Girl Genius from the kickstarter and I do that mostly to
>> encourage the Foglios to keep at it.
>
>Paper's best for me to read stories and index audio books. eBooks are
>superior for searches and copy-and-paste excerptions.
> There's a dual dichotomy with my sheet music. Paper works best to
>figure out fingering while eBooks eliminate awkward paper page flips at
>recitals.
> This excerpt from the J Am Med Inform Assoc touches on the "why:"
>
> "Health information technology: fallacies and sober realities"
>
> The paper persistence problem was recently explored at a large
> Veterans Affairs Medical Center where EHRs have existed for
> 10 years. Paper continues to be used extensively. Why? The
> paper forms are not simple data repositories that, once
> computerized, could be eliminated. Rather such 'scraps' of paper
> are sophisticated cognitive artifacts that support memory,
> forecasting and planning, communication, coordination, and
> education. User-created paper artifacts typically support patient-
> speci?c cognition, situational awareness, task and information
> communication, and coordination, all essential to safe quality
> patient care. Paper will persist, and should persist, if HIT is not
> able to provide similar support.
>
>Danke,

This is why I used OneNote--I can scribble all over the page if I want
to, and it will even try to convert my scribble to searchable text.

On 4/16/2022 2:44 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> On 4/16/2022 11:50 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <t3eor6$ang$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Dimensional Traveler  <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>>> On 4/16/2022 7:11 AM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>>> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
>>>>> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [snip]
>>>>
>>>> The article says:
>>>>
>>>> "Buying a book you’re looking for online is easy. You search. You
>>>> click. You buy. What’s lost in that process are the accidental finds,
>>>> the book you pick up in a store because of its cover, a paperback
>>>> you see on a stroll through the thriller section.
>>>>
>>>> No one has quite figured out how to replicate that kind of incidental
>>>> discovery online. It makes bookstores hugely important not only for
>>>> readers but also for all but the biggest-name writers, as well as for
>>>> agents and publishers of all sizes."
>>>>
>>>> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
>>>> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
>>>> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.
>>>
>>> I'm don't know if this qualifies as "accidental finds" but there have
>>> been times (when I had the money, big qualifier over the last several
>>> years) where I've gone to a book store because I want a SF/F book but
>>> don't know exactly what kind of story I'm looking for.  So I browse the
>>> SF/F section, looking at titles and authors and pulling some off the
>>> shelf to look at.  Sometimes I still don't buy anything but often I'll
>>> walk out with 2 or 3 books.
>>>
>>
>> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>> record.  Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>
> I get a few books from Amazon but a lot of books from here.
>
> Lynn

Book recommendations. I do buy most of my books from Amazon nowadays.

Lynn

In article <jc0adsFolelU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>
>Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>I've read in the last few years any other way.

They used to pitch "finds" at me, *N*O*N*E* of which I was ever
interested in buying. Their algorithm seemed to consist of "Oh,
you bought Book X from us, that was science fiction, we recommend
you also buy Books A, B, C, D, through about U, which are our
current best-sellers classified as science fiction."

One, maybe, of which I might have picked up in The Other Change
of Hobbit (sit illae terra levis) and put down again, and the rest
of which were written by writers I don't read or whose reviews I
had read on this group and concluded, "Well, James liked it, but
I don't think I would, and I'm not going to gamble its purchase
price on it, or maybe just "Ewww."

But they haven't sent me any suggestions in years. Perhaps it's
been too long since I bought any of their best-sellers. The few
I've bought in recent years, I saw reviewed elsewhere, such as
_Auntie's War,_ about the BBC during WW2, and _The Ghost Map_,
about the cholera outbreak in London in 1854, that was quelled by
removing a single pump handle (fascinating, but not for the
squeamish).

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 9:11:27 AM UTC-5, Ahasuerus wrote:

> I wonder how many readers prefer "accidental finds" based on things
> like covers to the current online discovery tools: blogs, forums,
> Amazon/Goodreads reviews, rankings and recommendations, etc.

I liked having close bookstores for buying gifts. I would find things that I wouldn't have thought to search for online. For myself these days, my reading is pretty much all e-books. I have many sources of information, including here when people want to talk about books, searches of the library catalog, various others.

Brian

On 4/16/2022 6:00 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <jc0adsFolelU1@mid.individual.net>,
> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>>
>> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>
> They used to pitch "finds" at me, *N*O*N*E* of which I was ever
> interested in buying. Their algorithm seemed to consist of "Oh,
> you bought Book X from us, that was science fiction, we recommend
> you also buy Books A, B, C, D, through about U, which are our
> current best-sellers classified as science fiction."
>
> One, maybe, of which I might have picked up in The Other Change
> of Hobbit (sit illae terra levis) and put down again, and the rest
> of which were written by writers I don't read or whose reviews I
> had read on this group and concluded, "Well, James liked it, but
> I don't think I would, and I'm not going to gamble its purchase
> price on it, or maybe just "Ewww."
>
> But they haven't sent me any suggestions in years. Perhaps it's
> been too long since I bought any of their best-sellers. The few
> I've bought in recent years, I saw reviewed elsewhere, such as
> _Auntie's War,_ about the BBC during WW2, and _The Ghost Map_,
> about the cholera outbreak in London in 1854, that was quelled by
> removing a single pump handle (fascinating, but not for the
> squeamish).

CBS / Paramount has a new series called "Ghosts" about a young couple
rehabbing an upper New York State mansion the wife inherited and she can
see the ghosts "living" on the property. There are a bunch of Cholera
victim ghosts "living" in the basement. They yell at her husband every
time he works on the water heater. They would be funny but, cholera
victims.
https://www.cbs.com/shows/ghosts/

The actress playing the wife was the former lead of iZombie and many
other works since she was 5 (The Piano).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_McIver

Lynn

On 16 Apr 2022 at 18:57:55 BST, "Tony Nance" <tonynance17@gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:50:08 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>>
>
> I'm a bit envious - I've ordered so many different things for so many
> different people, that the best recommendations I get from Amazon
> are still at the level of "hey - buy #3 in <series>" when I just bought #5. :(
>
> Tony

It's kind of astonishing how bad Amazon recommendations are, given they
not only have a decade of purchase history but also my product searching
and browsing history.

If you "follow" an author they'll email you when s/he has a new book
listed, that's by far the most useful recommend you'll get from them.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"Everyone generalizes from one example. At least, I do."
-- Steven Brust

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 7:15:35 AM UTC-4, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:
[snip]
> If you "follow" an author they'll email you when s/he has a new book
> listed, that's by far the most useful recommend you'll get from them.

I find their "customers also bought items by" emails to be reasonably
accurate. Here is a recent example:

New from Terry Mixon

Customers Also Bought Items By
JN Chaney
Terry Maggert
Glynn Stewart
Christopher G. Nuttall

That's a decent spectrum of relevant authors.

On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
>
> “After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
> are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
> supervillain are celebrating its success."

B&N was certainly not seen as a villain when they opened their College Station, Tx store
in the late 1990s. With only one other store selling new books in the town (Hastings) it was most welcome.

I was there opening night. A friend bought books on python, perl, C++ and tripled his salary in
a couple of years.

Just sitting here, I can see Tuft's "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information" which I got there (wish I'd had it twenty years earlier, though).

William Hyde

On Sat, 16 Apr 2022 23:53:23 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 4/16/2022 6:00 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <jc0adsFolelU1@mid.individual.net>,
>> Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>>>
>>> Amazon certainly pitches "finds" at me, and they have a decent track
>>> record. Certainly I never would have ended up with a lot of what
>>> I've read in the last few years any other way.
>>
>> They used to pitch "finds" at me, *N*O*N*E* of which I was ever
>> interested in buying. Their algorithm seemed to consist of "Oh,
>> you bought Book X from us, that was science fiction, we recommend
>> you also buy Books A, B, C, D, through about U, which are our
>> current best-sellers classified as science fiction."
>>
>> One, maybe, of which I might have picked up in The Other Change
>> of Hobbit (sit illae terra levis) and put down again, and the rest
>> of which were written by writers I don't read or whose reviews I
>> had read on this group and concluded, "Well, James liked it, but
>> I don't think I would, and I'm not going to gamble its purchase
>> price on it, or maybe just "Ewww."
>>
>> But they haven't sent me any suggestions in years. Perhaps it's
>> been too long since I bought any of their best-sellers. The few
>> I've bought in recent years, I saw reviewed elsewhere, such as
>> _Auntie's War,_ about the BBC during WW2, and _The Ghost Map_,
>> about the cholera outbreak in London in 1854, that was quelled by
>> removing a single pump handle (fascinating, but not for the
>> squeamish).
>
>CBS / Paramount has a new series called "Ghosts" about a young couple
>rehabbing an upper New York State mansion the wife inherited and she can
>see the ghosts "living" on the property. There are a bunch of Cholera
>victim ghosts "living" in the basement. They yell at her husband every
>time he works on the water heater. They would be funny but, cholera
>victims.
> https://www.cbs.com/shows/ghosts/
>
>The actress playing the wife was the former lead of iZombie and many
>other works since she was 5 (The Piano).
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_McIver

You _had_ to give me a reason to look didn't you. Just couldn't
resist.
>
>Lynn

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 6:15:35 AM UTC-5, Jaimie Vandenbergh wrote:

> It's kind of astonishing how bad Amazon recommendations are, given they
> not only have a decade of purchase history but also my product searching
> and browsing history.

While certainly far from perfect, I find the recommendations to be reasonably aligned with my history and interests. Many I have investigated further.

Brian

On Sunday, April 17, 2022 at 3:39:31 PM UTC-4, William Hyde wrote:
> On Saturday, April 16, 2022 at 12:13:25 AM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> > “How Barnes & Noble Went From Villain to Hero”
> > https://dnyuz.com/2022/04/15/how-barnes-noble-went-from-villain-to-hero/
> >
> > “After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs
> > are down — and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a
> > supervillain are celebrating its success."
> B&N was certainly not seen as a villain when they opened their
> College Station, Tx store in the late 1990s. With only one other
> store selling new books in the town (Hastings) it was most welcome.
[snip]

I suspect that it would be useful to unpack the passive voice, i.e. "was seen".