In Britain, Borders UK has gone into administration, as they call bankruptcy, and the other big chains, most notably Waterstone’s, are not asking for whom the bell tolls. Meanwhile, in the US, both Borders and Barnes & Noble both posted quarterly losses, and, according to the AP, both “forecast a difficult holiday season, saying competition from discount chains and online retailers is stiffening.”
Having whiled away many a pleasant hour in various outposts of these chains, I am sad to hear of their problems, and the prospect of losing pleasant shopping experiences in well-lit, well-designed, welcoming spaces is most dismaying–although, truth be told, it would be more dismaying, if the chains hadn’t used their powerful economies of scale in a similar way to drive out so many independent book shops. The net effect of this was bringing the boom or bust mentality which governs film and TV and Broadway–something needs to be an immediate hot, or it’s on to the next thing–into the world of 
books. The old practice of slowly nuturing authors as they grew in talent and ability under the financial protection of lucrative reference books and crossword puzzle books and so, which had been one of the glories of the sleepy world of publishing, is long gone. Authors need to be an immediate it, and the lucky ones who have attained that status become name brands and get to keep publishing. That’s why you can still read the new Ludlum, even though Robert Ludlum has been long dead.
It’s sad to contemplate the death of the bookstore, but in this way, it follows what netflix is doing to theaters and what online shopping is doing to stores. Civilization’s greatest achievement has been the city, but all this makes me wonder whether three decades from now, cities will even exist.
That many branded authors can and do still sell their books independently of major bookstore chains is an indication of the future for books. In order to be noticed you have to have some mileage. That is why I chose to publish my own books under my own brand. But as for cities, I suspect the trend will be toward online shopping with only outlet kiosks, and not the full service bookstores we have come to expect like Borders and Barnes & Noble. The dinosaurs are falling. It may be that it pays to be small for the future, which is why mom and pop used bookstores will continue to thrive.
The preceding comment was submitted by the writer Theresa D. Moore, the author of a series of science fantasy adventure novels and non-fiction books, which can be found on the site antellus.com. In this climate, it is certainly a very good thing that writers like Theresa are happy that self-publishing provides them a way with expressing themselves and reaching an audience.
i am taking tutorial about self-publishing because it is also a good way of making money.,'”
i think that self-publishing is a tedious task because this would reuqire several skills that need to be mastered over time””‘