PRINT: STILL NOT DEAD (INDIE EDITION)

ITEM: Independent bookstores are seeing a resurgence in business, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

The reasons for this vary, from Borders shutting down to savvy use of social media, the growing popularity of the “buy local” movement, and – in some cases – partnering with e-book companies like Kobo. 

The latter is somewhat telling, as new indie bookstores are increasingly being run by people with actual book-business experience (particularly from big-name book chains), and they’ve got some pretty creative ideas on how to keep a bookstore going (even if it means opening a summer camp or a wine bar that will make up for all the books yr not selling).

That’s not to say indie bookstores aren't going out of business. But for book nerds like me, it’s an encouraging trend that more proprietors are finding ways to survive.

Also, there is this:

Sales at independent bookstores rose about 8 percent in 2012 over 2011, according to a survey by the American Booksellers Association (ABA). This growth was all the more remarkable since the sales of the national chain Barnes & Noble were so tepid. "I think the worst days of the independents are behind them," says Jim Milliot, coeditorial director for Publishers Weekly magazine. "The demise of traditional print books has been a bit overblown. Everybody is a little anxious, but they are starting to think they've figured it out for the time being."

Independents are valued more these days by publishers, who need them for their print sales. Their small size and low infrastructure – seen as a liability in the mid-1990s – are also considered an advantage.

And so much for the old meme about how dead-tree books can’t survive in a Kindle world, which I’ve never really believed. I do like e-books, but dead-tree books don’t run out of battery power on the train ride back home.

On a more macro level, it’s also interesting that at least some of this is being credited to a pushback against big chains in favor of local businesses.

I don’t think it spells the death of McDonald’s, Wal-mart or Starbucks by a long shot. But maybe it means that huge chains have pretty much played their hand, and the next generation of entrepreneurs have a better idea of how to compete and co-exist with them that the older mom/pop owners couldn’t work out (or didn’t have the tools to do so). 

That can only be a good thing. I don't necessarily want to see all the big chains go away so much as I’d like to see indie businesses have a better chance of co-existing alongside them. 

Support yr local bookseller,

This is dF

dEFROG ON 45 #52: I PROBABLY DIDN’T EVEN SAY THAT RIGHT AND I REALLY DON’T GIVE A DAMN

By the time Duran Duran came on the scene, MTV was the new way to promote singles, and they were of the first bands to really leverage that and build a successful career on it.

I liked them a lot, and eventually had a copy of Rio, which to this day I consider to be their high-water mark, musically.

Before I got the album, though, I had the 45 of the title track. And the B-side got just as much play as the A-side to the point that I ended up learning how to play the guitar riff for it.

PRODUCTION NOTE: This is the actual B-side version of the song. The album version is slightly different (it's shorter, has a different intro and the guitars are mixed a little louder).

Also, the above version was ripped from an actual 45. So there’s a skip in it. This is how we listened to music in those days, children – with skips in it.

On the roam again,

This is dF