Why the future of bookstores is the key to understanding the future of publishing

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@Naypinya on the future of publishing:
«It’s worth considering what it would mean to lose Barnes & Noble in two years. Some of the impacts are obvious: even as in-store visits and book sales per square foot decline, bookstores offer one of the last best places to browse for books. And even declining print sales are valuable to an industry whose viability is precariously perched on the assumption of continuing substantial print sales. The loss of bookstores would undoubtedly encourage a shift to online retailers, particularly Amazon, for both print and digital formats. And existing clauses locking down royalties at 25 percent start to seem achingly deficient when costly distribution networks established to facilitate book drops and returns are replaced by localized short-run and print-on-demand production».
Been Down So Long

@MikeShatzkin, as usual, got interesting points:
«One distracting fact for analysts considering this question has been the apparent slowdown in the growth of ebook sales, suggesting that there are persistent print readers who just won’t make the switch. The encouraging fact is distracting because it is incomplete as far as predicting the future of shelf space at retail, which is the existential question for the publishers, wholesalers, and bookstores (and, therefore, by extension, for legacy authors too). We need to know about changes in the division of those sales between online and offline to really have a complete picture. If ebook takeup slows down but the online buying shift doesn’t, the bookstores are still going to feel pain».
The future of bookstores is the key to understanding the future of publishing

Then you should read an interesting recap:
What is the Future of Bookstores? 25 Influential Authors Weigh In

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