Bound for an independent future

After nearly a decade of independent stores falling under the crushing weight of big box stores and retail Internet, IndieBound.com is bringing Main Street back to life.

Launched last week the new interactive community is packed with a variety of options to connect from the usual profile building to becoming an affiliate to banners and blinkies for blogs and Web sites and of course books, coffee spots, and other independent retailers and businesses. Memberships is free and for each favorite indie place tagged as a personal favorite or added to the site garners points towards gifts.

The American Bookseller’s Association’s expanded IndieBound.com’s, formerly BookSense.com, reach beyond bibliophiles to help people who love independent stores connect across the United States. IndieBound.com’s goals are for people to share and find independently-owned businesses by connecting indie-conscious people with local business, according to an e-mail announcement inviting members to sign up.

Some of IndieBound.com’s new features include:

· Sitewide search. Just type anything into the "Search IndieBound.org" box on the right side of every page, and away you go! This searches IndieBound.org pages, stores, community members, articles, and more.
· Manually Arrange Your Friends & Favorite Indie Stores. Now community members can sort their friends & favorite stores to appear in the order they choose. Just click on "ARRANGE/EDIT MY FAVORITES" or "ARRANGE/EDIT MY FRIENDS LIST" on your profile page.
· Stores Shared by Each Member. Each profile page (including your own) now includes a button you can click to see stores shared by that community member, as well as how many fans and reviews each has.

Got an indie retail story to share? IndieBound.com is accepting submissions until September 30 for stories about what makes independent retail so great. Stories can be submitted with "My Indie Experience" in the subject line to staff@indiebound.org.

For more information, visit IndieBound.

What is a blurb worth?

Can you put a price tag on a blurb? Apparently you can.

Blurbings LLC, a new book publishing marketing Web site, is out to “provide authors the opportunity” to obtain “acknowledgement” and “recognition” for their “creative works,” according to the company’s mission statement on its Web site.

Founded by writers, according to the Web site, Blurbings was created to ease the “arduous and costly process of book promotion.” How does Blurbings do that? By easing the weight of the cost to authors to purchase a blurb, which Blurbings’ founders estimate is between $14 and $23. Granted, it is noted printing of galleys, packaging, and mailing fees is included in this estimate.

There’s a secret to obtaining blurbs. While Rachel Donadio pointed out in the Aug. 15 New York Times Book Review essay, He Blurbed, She Blurbed, that “blurbs are more often than not from the writer’s best friends, colleagues, or teachers, or from authors who share the same editor, publisher or agent,” in the small an self-publishing world this is only partially true.

In the small and self-publishing world, blurbs cost tired eyes from pulling together a list of friends, acquaintances, and industry professionals (i.e. writers who have written similar subjects and anyone whom might benefit from the book) and finger cramps (if you work on an old typewriter or don’t know how export contacts from Outlook or Access to Excel or how to use mail merge) from typing a request to read a chapter or two of the forthcoming book, if not an entire galley, and a follow up phone call or e-mail or two to check in about receiving their esteemed commentary.

Blurbings claims to “eliminate the hassle of finding prospective authors,” but professional and even part-time writers and small publishers are already plugged into their genre and particular subject (i.e. writer’s already know who the esteemed colleagues in their niche are). So, depending on how plugged in and how technologically savvy a small publisher or self-published author is the total cost to do-it-yourself is possibly two to eight hours (just to be generous) and however much the Web and book designer charge. Cost of packaging and production, might be more expensive these days—not due to rising paper prices—but due to technology. The cost drops the more efficient and effectively the savvy small and self-published author is with utilizing resources, especially the Internet’s various fast and low-cost marketing and communication tools from e-mail to social networking sites.

Blurbings seems to be a one-time cost that isn’t integrated into the rest of the book marketing structure and tools an individual writer or small publisher should already have established or at least in the works of being established. Today’s small publisher or self-published author, if they are smart, should already be utilizing technology from print-on-demand to Internet campaigns, which are eco- and pocket book-friendly, so Blurbings founders’ jumping on the environmental bandwagon aren’t doing anything that small publishers and self-publishers haven’t been doing since desktop publishing came to the small press market, but it’s nice that they will “plant a tree” for every order of a “Seeker Package.”

Blurbings is a nice idea, but it is uncertain if it will take off. First of all, the organizers of Blurbings don’t even identify themselves, so how do writers really know Blurbings is organized by fellow writers? Second, the company doesn’t have a sample list of writers who have contributed commentary about the books currently on the site. Third, there isn’t a way to track or distinguish if the potential reviewer commenting on a book is qualified to do so. This can lead to problems, as, Donadio wrote, “Asking for blurbs—and being rejected—can lead to the kinds of hurt feelings and fallings-out more common in romance” and that is among close contacts.