A New Frontier

Independent ebookselling and the Google experience

From the time the Google Ebooks initiative was announced, one of its most-anticipated features has been the opportunity it offers for any bookstore anywhere to deliver ebooks to its customers. As Google rolls out this capability country-by-country worldwide, booksellers all over the world will be deciding whether Google is their on-ramp to the ebook superhighway.

The panel discussing this at our conference will feature three US booksellers who have signed up for the Google program along with the official of the American Booksellers Association who has been the liaison with Google and the internal shepherd of the initiative for ABA. These panelists will give our conference attendees the benefit of their many months of experience: working out their relationship with Google, deciding how to work Google eBooks in with their own branding and web offering, training their staff, making pricing decisions, and, perhaps most important of all, marketing this new capability to their customers and persuading them to “shop locally” for their ebooks.

Charlotte Abbott
Publishing Journalist and Digital Strategy Consultant

Charlotte Abbott coaches authors and agents on creative and results-driven applications of emerging e-publishing tools and services. Her workshops are grounded in her 20 years in the book industry, as a senior editor at Publishers Weekly and an acquiring editor at HarperCollins and Avon Books, as well as her fascination with digital reading and communities, which began with the first wave of e-books in 1999.

Find her on Twitter (@charabbott), where she moderates #followreader chats with industry innovators on Fridays from 4-5pm ET.

Matt Norcross
Owner, McLean & Eakin Booksellers, Petoskey, MI

Matt Norcross is the owner of McLean & Eakin Booksellers with his wife, Jessilynn Norcross. Since 2005, Matt has been a member of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association Board of Dirrectors, having served as GLiBA’s treasurer and, most recently, vice president. He has also served on ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council.

Christine Onorati
Owner, WORD, Brooklyn, NY

Christine is the owner of WORD, Greenpoint Brooklyn’s independent bookstore. Before opening the store in March of 2007, Christine operated a small bookshop on Long Island, after graduating with an English Degree and working in publishing for several years. WORD is a general-interest bookstore selling new books for both adults and children, with a thriving event program and online presence. Christine lives in Greenpoint with her husband and young son.

Shana Schneider
VP and CMO, Just the Right Book!, RJ Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT

Shana N. Schneider is the VP and Chief Marketing Officer of Just the Right Book!, a startup offering a subscription based reading recommendation service and is affiliated with RJ Julia Booksellers. Schneider was previously the Deputy Director of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, which helps Yale students start innovative, scalable new companies. Prior to her work at Yale, Schneider worked in television as a co-founder and producer for Agape Productions, a startup entertainment company, and TV Guide, where she worked on shows that aired on FOX, VH1, and Food Network. She is a board member of New Haven Reads.

Len Vlahos
Chief Operating Officer, American Booksellers Association

Len Vlahos, a 19-year veteran of the American Booksellers Association, has served as ABA’s communications director, e-commerce director, education director, and is currently the Chief Operating Officer. Len has worked for Internet marketing pioneer Yoyodyne, and for Kratz & Co. public relations. Prior to joining ABA, he worked in independent, chain, and university bookstores.