Salt Lake Tribune Article

Looks like the Trib has a brief article on the Seagull/Deseret Book situation.

It looks like the whole thing can be boiled down to a misuse of posters.

"As a premier brand, we provide all sorts of merchandising and marketing opportunities, such as posters and displays. They don't and haven't taken advantage of those (opportunities)."

If only Seagull had used those posters, this whole situation could have been avoided.

A few more thoughts...

A few more thoughts on the Deseret Book/Seagull controversy.

I'm sure that both publishers, DB Publishing and Covenant, wish that stores would put their books at eye level, and on the displays and on the end caps. I think this is a critical problem with the LDS publishing world - the two biggest publishers own the two biggest bookstore chains. I think there should be a separation between publisher and retailer. Let good books that are interesting and well written be put at eye level, not just because the publisher has a bunch of books back in the warehouse that they need to get rid of.

You can bet that an independent bookstore will get to know their customers, and push what they think will sell, not what the publisher wants them to sell (as is the case now with both DB and Seagull).

One thing I do find interesting... I am pretty sure that DB has a policy of matching prices at other bookstores. As of Aug 1., they will no longer have to meet Seagull's prices, because Seagull won't have prices! It's a very easy way to make more money, but the question is will the money gained by this move make up the money lost from the revenue that comes in from Seagull.

It is true...

I wrote to Deseret Book and they verified that they will no longer be selling to Seagull Book and Tape. Keith Hunter, VP of sales and Development, said that ""Deseret Book and Seagull have a long-standing difference in views regarding how Deseret Book products should be merchandised, promoted, and treated"

In other words, Seagull sells DB stuff for cheaper, and DB has to either match the price, or lose business.

It's all madness, and I hope it ends soon.

I hope this isn't true...

When I wrote my first book, the local Deseret Book bought 12 copies. They tucked them away on a back shelf, but within 4 weeks, despite the poor location, there were sold out. Since I was interested in how well my book was doing, I often would drop in to see if more books had been ordered, and if they were also selling.

But the strange thing is that the Deseret Book never ordered more of my books. They sold the original 12, and then never got any more in.

I used to ask the sales clerks if they were getting more, and they assured me that they were 'on order', but they in the 6 months that I checked, they never once got another one of my books.

Deseret Book didn't publish my book, so apparently they weren't interested in selling it.

Now there are rumors floating around that Deseret Book is resorting to heavy handed, monopolistic tactics. According to the rumor, Deseret Book will no longer allow Seagull Book and Tape to sell their products.

Deseret Book is hoping that by making customers come to their stores, they will run Seagull Book and Tape out of business. Since it's Seagull book and tape that sells Covenants' materials, I guess their hope is that Covenant will also go out of business, and this will leave them as king of the LDS publishing world, and they can sell their books for as much as they want.

Competition is healthy for the consumer because they always get a good price. Competition is healthy for the producers because they are forced to find better and more efficient ways to produce. The only people competition is not good for are those who want to make a whole lot of money without having to actually do any work.

Here is hoping that the whole thing is a rumor. Because if it's true, my second book may never see the light of day.

Steal This Book

Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book has been made into a wiki. You can now go and help 'update' According to an article on wikipedia, Hoffman's book contains advice on how to grow marijuana, "how to start a pirate radio station, live in a commune, steal food, steal credit cards, prepare a legal defense, make pipe bombs, and obtain a free buffalo from the US Department of the Interior".

I've always wanted a buffalo. Because I do love my chips.

Wiki Lit Review

I've been spending a lot of time on a review of the literature on wiki technology. I just finished it last night. It seemed a waste not to put a paper on wikis in anything other than a wiki, so if you're feeling bored, and I mean really bored, bored enough that you want to curl up with a literature review on wikis, then feel free to mosey on over to the review.

Oh, and without question, feel free to edit it in any way you'd like. My grade depends upon your assistance. :)

I'm six months ahead of the curve...

OK, so I usually don't toot my own horn, but that is because I rarely have anything to toot about. But 6 months ago I mentioned in a blog post that it would be a good idea for directors to record a commentary of their movie, and then let people download the track, take it to a theater, and listen while they watch.

Looks like Clerks II will be the first movie to have this functionality. You will be able to download a commentary free from iTunes, and then go and watch the show.

Does that mean Kevin Smith has been reading my blog?