by Don Leeper | May 11, 2016 | Book Distribution, Book Production, Publisher Case Studies
Norton Stillman has been a keystone of the book business in Minnesota for fifty-four years. In 1962 he started The Bookmen with his cousin Ned Waldman. The Bookmen became the major book wholesaler in the Upper Midwest, as well as supplying customers nationally. Later...
by Don Leeper | Apr 8, 2016 | Book Distribution, Opinion, Publisher Case Studies
The Bookmobile folks are not the only book people at 5120 Cedar Lake Road. Abraham and Associates, Stu Abraham’s well-known commission sales group, and Nodin Press, a long-time regional and literary publisher run by Norton Stillman, both office here as well. I...
by Don Leeper | Mar 7, 2016 | Book Distribution, Opinion, Print Positive
The book business is baroque in its complexity. Traditional publishers sell their titles to indie bookstores, bookstore chains, and online bookstores, but they also sell to wholesalers, who in turn sell to—guess who—indie bookstores, bookstore chains, and online...
by Don Leeper | Mar 2, 2016 | Art Book Printing, Book Distribution, Book Production, Opinion, Print Positive
In a recent post, Mike Shatzkin argued that book publishers ought to face up to the necessity of “standardization.” But what would actually be gained–and what lost? I’ve heard this argument before, usually from smart people in the book business who...
by Don Leeper | Feb 22, 2016 | Book Distribution, Book Production, Print Positive
At a recent conference, we displayed our wares—beautiful printed art books—while across the aisle from us, Yale University Press displayed their beautiful printed art books (though in a much larger booth!). To anyone not in the book business, this is a confusing...
by Don Leeper | Feb 1, 2016 | Book Distribution, Book Production, Opinion
The Next Big Tech Thing is virtual reality (VR) along with its technical sibling, augmented reality (AR). The New York Times, Google, Apple, Facebook and others are plunging in big time. Over $1 billion was invested in 2015 alone to gain a foothold in what is...