I still remember when bookstores were the size of your average Starbucks coffee shop, there was no Borders, Barnes & Nobel or Chapters (up here in Canada) and department stores, drug stores and even hardware stores didn’t carry books like they do today.Â
But now we see that Borders is gone, Barnes & Nobel will eventually disappear and the Indigo bookstores up here in Canada are turning more and more of their store into merchandise such as giftware, cards and so forth.Â
Interestingly, many people who buy books will not buy 1 single title from a bookstore this year.Â
In my case, I have always been a voracious reader of non-fiction, my purchases from a retail bookstore have gone down to perhaps 10% of what they used to be mainly because:
 a) I can find them online faster
b) I can find long-tail material in ebooks, reports or subscription sites that is more current and better than traditionally published books
c) Many of the titles I want I can’t find in bookstores anyway and
d) Even when I do, they are more expensive than I can get elsewhere.Â
But as a writer of non-fiction, informational material (ebooks, books, reports, subscription sites, etc…) and helping others bring their knowledge, experience and passions to market via InfoMarketer’sZone – I recognize fully that the opportunity for both writer/entrepreneur and reader/customer is INCREDIBLY larger than the traditional publishing/bookstore model could ever support.Â
The “long-tail” of information is here…and we can all benefit from both sharing and consuming this long-tail information.Â
This reality is here and will only grow tremendously in the coming months and years.Â
Not to say many of us have given up the experience of going into a bookstore – so what does that mean?Â
In my mind, the door is wide open to go back to smaller, niche-focused, highly personalized bookstores that are organized around the “experience” of finding material you are interested in.Â
So, have we gone from Small to Big and now back to Small again?
