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Book Vending Machine
22 Aug 2005, 12:46:17 pm
2 Comments
The news wires are abuzz with how Paris has book vending machines, but this, in fact, is old news: The University of Iowa tried this five years ago, placing local authors' works in a vending machine near the library. (they also reused the idea and offered bookbinding kits via vending machine) There's also reports that other cities around the world have their own bookselling entrepeneurs releasing robotic librarians into the wild.
My wife and I discussed this once upon a time, figuring an ideal place for them is where travellers congeal, like highway rest-stops and gas stations, hopefully capturing people who have exhausted the entertainment that they'd brought with them. Children's books would probably do better than adult, but we'd bet pulpy 'throwaway' novels -- guilty entertainment, with little literary worth -- would be good as well. Who brings Tolstoy or Vonnegut on a long drive? Well, other than myself, but you catch my drift. The Paris vending machines claim to distribute the classics, which I doubt has much appeal to the average traveller. In the US, some Stephen King, some trashy romances, and some mysteries would definitely get a couple bucks out of a bored person en route to some destination. Backlists would probably sell well, purchased because it's recognized by title or due to the movie adaptation.
A publisher (or even a bargain seller, like the ones that pop up for the holiday season) could buy vending machines themselves (They run around $3000 ea), pay route reps to keep them stocked, rent the locations from retailers, and fill the machines with their own backlist. Then they could drop them every hundred miles along US highways and meet numerous number of customers who'd stick a $5 bill into a machine to get something to occupy the next 4 hours of their drive.
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User Comments  I ('the wife' lol) also suggested vending machines in/at/near hotels & motels would do well.
You arrive late at night, nothing is open, not even the pool. You are too wound-up to sleep, but there's nothing to do...
A vending machine with books can serve the typical business man who arrived via plane & the passengers in the min-van on a family cross-country drive.
Books allow for mom & the kids to read quietly as dad sleeps -- tv is noisy.
With no need to pay for staff, lights, etc, the vending machine allows for all the 'customer service' that a toothbrush in the vending machine does, but also allows for added profits of impulse buys. (Not to mention the captive audience with no other options.) Posted by Deanna Dahlsad, 08/22/2005 20:59:55 |
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