Thurs. 7/12/12 The (Big) New Kid on the Block

The (Big) New Kid on the Block
Amazon is expanding its operation to offices in Kendall Square. We thought this would be the perfect time to look at how it became a behemoth in the bookselling industry and how some our our local, independent bookstores are surviving in spite of Amazon’s global reach.

Steve Wasserman knows a lot about the publishing and bookselling industry. He’s been a literary agent, he was the former editor of the Los Angeles Times Book review, and he’s now editor-at-large for The Yale University Press. He recently wrote an in-depth piece for The Nation detailing Amazon's transition from an unknown online entity to a retail gamechanger. Meanwhile, independent booksellers like Harvard Book Store owner Jeff Mayersohn are developing new strategies to cope with Amazon's model.

Guests:
  Steve Wasserman, editor-at-large for The Yale University Press and former editor of the Los Angeles Times Book review
  Jeff Mayersohn, owner of Harvard Book Store