Starbucks really is taking over the publishing world

And I suppose it had to happen, seeing as almost every block in Manhattan has a Starbucks on it (except in my neighborhood, but that’s going to change very soon, I know it. Sigh.) But NYT’s Motoko Rich finds out that the coffee company, and many others, have started to take part in a rather different enterprise: bringing authors to sign books for its employees:

“It is easier to get people through the eye of a needle into the kingdom of heaven than it is to get people into a bookstore at 7 o’clock at night,” said Suzanne Balaban, publicity director of Scribner, a unit of Simon & Schuster that recently started a program to bring authors into companies. “So we have to constantly reinvent what we do.”

A growing roster of corporations, including Microsoft, Boeing, Google and Altria, the owner of brands like Philip Morris and Kraft Foods, have played host to writers in their offices. Even the United States Treasury Department has invited nearly 40 authors to speak over the last two years. Executives see the author readings as akin to other perks like in-house gyms, subsidized cafeterias and financial advice.

The idea is to reach people who rarely buy books and might otherwise never attend a reading. “I scarcely ever go to bookstores,” said Carolyn Fletcher, an accountant in the Starbucks tax department, after she had her copy of “Madonnas” signed by Ms. Dean. Ms. Fletcher said she had been to at least 10 such events at Starbucks and bought books at most of them. “I don’t think I had ever heard an author speak prior to coming to one of these.”

Not surprisingly, some bookstores are leery about the prospect, wondering if workplace signings will take away from bookstore events. “If we are doing an event at our Bellevue store, if there is also a Microsoft event, that can affect sales,” said Stesha Brandon, events and programs coordinator at University Book Store. But some people have made the switch for good: “I try to go to as many of these events as I can,” said Ms. Minneman-Ioset, who said she had heard authors like the thriller writers J. A. Jance and Ridley Pearson as well as the historian David McCullough at Starbucks. “I used to go to bookstore events, but I don’t anymore. Mostly, I buy my books here now.”

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.