Re: Good-bye, Long Tail

["B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@yahoo.com>]

Joe Esposito bsays:

" WSJ is a subscription site."

This article is available from other sources, e.g:
http://tinyurl.com/2r5dua

Bernie Sloan

"Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com> wrote:

Interesting (and long-awaited) article in the Wall St. Journal on 
Borders' decision to reduce the number of titles it stocks in 
favor of giving fewer titles more prominent display. WSJ is a 
subscription site. The article is dated March 12 and is titled 
"Borders Tries About-face on Shclves." The byline is Jeffrey 
Trachtenberg.

>From the article:

"In a radical move aimed at jump-starting sales, the nation's
second-largest book retailer is sharply increasing the number of
titles it displays on shelves with the covers face-out. Because
that takes up more room than the traditional spine-out style, the
new approach will require a typical Borders superstore to shrink
its number of titles by 5% to 10%."

The article goes on to note that tests show that when inventory
is reduced and fewer titles are supported (but more
aggressively), sales rise by 9%. Commentators contacted by the
reporter note that people "don't want choice" and that Borders'
decision will favor larger publishers.

This is the attention economy at work. What a windfall open
access is for Elsevier and Springer.

Joe Esposito