“There’s a real fear that without this book chain, the print business would be way off.” “It would be a disaster if they went out of business,” said Jane Dystel, a literary agent with clients including Colleen Hoover, who has four books on this week’s New York Times best-seller list. Its unique role in the book ecosystem, where it helps readers discover new titles and publishers stay invested in physical stores, makes it an essential anchor in a world upended by online sales and a much larger player: Amazon. Today, virtually the entire publishing industry is rooting for Barnes & Noble - including most independent booksellers. In the past, the book-selling empire, with 600 outposts across all 50 states, was seen by many readers, writers and book lovers as strong-arming publishers and gobbling up independent stores in its quest for market share. After years on the decline, Barnes & Noble’s sales are up, its costs are down - and the same people who for decades saw the superchain as a supervillain are celebrating its success.
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