Previously, 2017’s Q4 produced dismal results for B&N, probably not helped by there bring no breakout book hit to help propel holidays sales. However, it still may be too soon to say whether or not 2018 will be the same.

Last year’s disappointing numbers led to its heavily criticized dismissal of a majority of Barnes & Noble’s staff. However this year, political themed books seem to be the latest trend in the market as Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” are dominating the bestselling charts. Perhaps these bestsellers are pushing enough copies to help propel Barnes & Noble’s sales numbers and keep them afloat for another year. It has already given them good results for their 2018 Q2 sales period.

But the online book retailer isn’t going down without a fight. In addition to testing out new concept stores, they are unveiling a new ad campaign, just in time for the holidays.

Barnes & Noble has announced that it has had some “acquisition interest” from several parties and has admitted to coming close to officially selling ownership. There is no word currently if Barnes & Noble is proceeding with a sale now.

Read more about Barnes & Noble’s possibly ownership sale at CNBC.

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Indie authors wondered what this meant for Amazon’s former book printer as they announced that they were downsizing Createspace’s staff as well as shutting down the book services they once offered.

Despite Amazon’s plan to merge Createspace with KDP, there is no news of whether KDP will offer the services Createspace once did, such as copyediting, line editing, proofreading, and various other book marketing services in the future.

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Here at Hybrid Global Publishing, our team is comprised of experienced members with a combined number of 75 years in publishing experience, ensuring that your book is a quality work. With collaboration and a team approach, publishing with us is easy as we partner with you on the journey of creating your book.

Don’t travel the muddy waters of publishing on your own and get caught up on understanding on what’s basically a different language; let us go through the red tape for you and unravel its mysteries!

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Barnes & Noble shocked the book industry last month when they unceremoniously fired their CEO for “violating company policy”. The book industry, understandably concerned as this had been B&N’s fourth CEO in five years, has taken it upon themselves to throw out some names of those they think should be considered for the vacant position, including… former President Obama?

The poll, launched by major bookstore industry newsletter Shelf Awareness, was begun to get the opinions of the book industry on who they think could lead Barnes & Noble. And boy, did people have ideas.

The original idea of the poll was to canvass the book industry on who with the necessary experience they think could lead B&N out of their problems. The previous CEOs did not have much in terms of bookselling experience but instead experience in leading retail and sales.

Besides Obama, there were a few other unexpected write-in votes.

In addition to Obama’s nomination, there were other names thrown into consideration. There were a few realistic options pitched, options who actually have bookselling experience, which is something crucial that B&N’s previous CEOs lacked. Certainly, there were a few more wildcard names entered via the write-in option, such as Stephen King, James Patterson, and Donald Trump.

With bestselling authors Stephen King and James Patterson, it’s easy to see why people would nominate them as they have made their careers off of selling their own books and have well documented experience of making money. With Donald Trump… no comment.

Is Obama actually in the running?

Barnes & Noble hasn’t officially commented on whether they will take any of the nominees under consideration (which won’t be until September as many of their executives are on vacation until then), but certainly, the book industry is holding their breath to see weather the next pick will have bookselling experience.

Read more about how the book industry is reacting to who they think should be the new CEO of Barnes & Noble at Quartz.

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Will there be no more major book stores in the US in five years?

The bookseller giant’s founder Leonard Riggio is stepping in again temporarily (he previously stepped in as a temporary CEO the last time one left) to help stabilize matters. Riggio is trying to provide peace of mind to worried publishers by inviting them to private meetings.

These meetings don’t seem to have much details about B&N’s new plans, other than to regurgitate their ideas for new concept stores and smaller locations.

You can see why publishers are concerned.

If Barnes & Noble does go kaput, that will be a loss of 600 bookstores around the country, and the loss of a major distribution sources of books. All there will be left are the countless indie bookstores and the new Amazon Books stores that keep popping up, both of which seem to be doing well enough on their own. But it’s not the same thing as B&N.

Barnes & Noble is still a huge pipeline for publishers, and it’s one of the last great places for book visibility off the web. Publishers have a distribution channel through Barnes & Noble so it’s easy to have their books available in those 600 stores nationwide in a short time. In order to get books available in 600 independent bookstores, publishers would have to have relationships with all of those stores, or be on the same distribution network. It’s much less of a hassle to deal with B&N.

Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble has been floundering as it has been trying to adapt to survive. It has experimented with both opening restaurants in their physical stores and scaling down location size to cut costs

And with the recent news of Walmart joining forces with Kobo to distribute eBooks and eReaders in physical stores, it’s just another nail in B&N’s coffin.

Read more details about Barnes & Noble’s latest conundrum at the Berkshire Eagle.

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Readers of eBooks on non-designated eReaders may be doing their eyes a disservice as studies have shown time and time again that their iPad, other tablet, or smartphone screens are not good for long term browsing. Studies show that reading books on eReaders are healthier for your eyes and prevent long term damage compared to reading books on other types of screens, especially for the developing eyes of children.

The reason being for this is that Kindles and other eReaders made using eInk are designed to specifically look like paper, and their screen are not constantly refreshing like computer and most tablet screens do. While you don’t consciously notice this refresh rate during your browsing, your eyes definitely do, and this is what causes eyestrain when you look at your screen for too long.

The University of Toledo‘s recent research shows that the blue light on these digital screens also killing our eyes. Moreover, as we stare at these screens, we blink less which also causes dryness and can lead to infections and further damage

So are our eyes doomed?

We are now realizing the long term risks of staring at screens every day for too long. People are starting to have significant vision loss at earlier and earlier ages as they get older, and as we spend more time looking at our phones and our tablets, it can’t just be a coincidence.

This comes after news that audiobooks have an overall beneficial impact on your mental health. The conclusion? Everyone who wants to live a well rounded and healthy life needs to have more books of all formats into their lives. And don’t forget to take plenty of breaks to rest your eyes.

Check out more information on why eReaders are healthier for you and your eyes at the Good eReader and at Slate.

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Not too long ago, Walmart announced a partnership with Kobo, a major player on the eBook field on the international level that had yet to properly maintain a presence in the US, what with Amazon and Barnes & Noble dominating the market.

However, the retailing giant recently announced through their website they will begin to start selling both eReaders and eBooks officially on August 21st through their website and they will also carry eReaders in their physical stores as well.

As they are not creating and licensing their own internal eBook store, Walmart is not starting off from square one with no eBooks in stock.

As the American partner for Kobo, Walmart shoppers will be able to have immediate access to Kobo’s expansive repertoire of books instantly, and this library includes more than just titles from traditional publishers. Walmart shoppers will also have access to Kobo’s indie published books.

Indie authors may not necessarily objecting to this news.

A positive possibility of this enterprise is that indie authors may see higher sales if they distribute their books through Kobo, as this expands their reach further. And the more places available to buy a book equals more sales. More revenue streams is always a good thing for authors.

This latest venture will have Walmart competing directly with Amazon and their Kindle, as well as Barnes & Noble with their Nook.

Walmart is already the second best bookseller in America, albeit of print books, so this is a natural next step for them. They seem to be eager to test their toes in the eBook market and going head-to-head with Amazon. However, they do not seem to be too particularly worried about how this will affect their print book sales.

Will you be buying Walmart eBooks?

Check out more information at the Good eReader.

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In fact, the backlash to this proposal was so huge and unexpected that Forbes even had to remove the offending article.

Therein lies the fact that Millennials (22 to 37 year olds) and Generation Z (the 21 and younger crowd) the are utilizing libraries at lower rates than their predecessors.

However, this passionate outcry just goes to prove that young people do not consider libraries to be overrated, but truly value the useful services they provide to society.

If anything, it goes to prove that the book is far from dead among young people.

Read more at GeekWire.

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Given that people are spending more and more time using their eyes to look at screens every day, listening to audiobooks give them a chance to rest their overworked eyes while they use their ears to work their brain.

There may be also a social component to it as well, as we are literally listening to another person’s voice when we listen to audiobooks and it may stimulate our subconscious need to connect with people, social creatures that we are.

With the news that audiobooks can be great for our health, they will undoubtedly grow more popular with more and more people.

Read more about how audiobooks can be beneficial for your health at the Good eReader.

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Clearly the mostly music streamer is broadening their horizons, as they already are a huge distributor for podcasts now and they have recently signed a deal with Bloomsbury Publishing to distribute a small number of their audiobooks.

Unlike eBooks, audiobooks still seem to be a level playing field as Amazon does not hold a majority stake in them with Audible as they do with Kindle. Therefore, there are many competitors to Amazon who hold huge spaces in the audiobook realm and it is why Google and Kobo are making big splashes as they also enter the playing field.

Read more about how this can be both beneficial for readers/listeners as well as Spotify and Scribd at the Good eReader.

The post Spotify is in negotiations for an audiobook deal appeared first on Strauss Consultants.

According to the Nielsen UK Books & Consumers survey, print book sales have gone down about 3% from the previous year, while audiobook sales rose 12% since 2016.

Publishers are beginning to shift their focus on this growing segment of the book industry, in an effect to combat the slow growth everywhere else.

Even Google and Walmart have been upping their reach across the book industry, preparing to disrupt Amazon’s stronghold over its majority hold over both eBook and audiobook sales. And with these conglomerates strategizing and focusing on this once neglected industry, Amazon may finally face some real competition.

Read more about the nitty gritty audiobook details about audiobooks at The Bookseller.

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