Bookstore Closures

Around the world, bookstores are in trouble.

It started with the bookstores in the US, from sources from the Writer Beware Blog.

But here in New Zealand, Whitcoulls and Borders have gone into administration. In New Zealand that leaves two major chains, Paperplus and Dymocks. That's not counting the second-hand bookstores, which only sell older books instead of the new materials.

Now I've had to do a few things. I have to shop online to buy the product I want -- Dymocks is just too expensive, so they'll have to get there prices right before I start shopping there again. So I'm left with my online choices.

Those choices are: http://www.bookdepository.com/ , which offers them at a cheaper retail price. The only downside to that is that they don't have the New Zealand currency. But if anyone knows the conversion rate of the AUD Australian dollar, they'll be okay. It certainly beats what Whitcoulls and Dymocks have been offering in their stores for years -- and who knows how long Dymocks will be around for?

Then there is www.ziwi.co.nz , which is an online bookstore. Just sells books and doesn't offer ebooks as well, as the book depository does. This website has New Zealand currency and ships around New Zealand quite quickly.

Another option on the ebook side of things is Smashwords, which I think is www.smashwords.com. Now these are authors breaking into the market. I've got some very good reads from these websites downloaded onto my eReader, but unfortunately Smashwords do not offer good, solid books in hand.

What else? Mightape helps, because they have a great range of books but they're more expensive than Smashwords, Ziwi, and the Book Depository combined. However, their service is really good and its something to consider if you're buying books and looking to shop for general items.

So where does that leave me? Am I not going to physically be able to walk into a bookstore anymore to browse, as I like to do sometimes? I'm probably going to have to go to the Library a lot more. Trouble is, that's an hour away by public transport. While PaperPlus is nearby, it doesn't have the selection. It serves as a Stationary/Book/Lotto counter for shoppers everywhere. And today their shelves looked empty. Alarm bells ringing, anyone?

Ferry over your comments, let me know why you think the bookstores are failing.

Cheers,
Nyxix