Bookselling juggernaut Borders is no more. Are you surprised? Does the decline of themegabookstore mean anything to the emerging market of readers, manyof whom have defected from the printed page to downloading contentto their Kindles or otherwise reading online? And what does this have todo with the independent agency system?

Plenty.

First, full disclosure: Bookstores are a big deal to me. I'vewritten and published four books in my career, all with small presses. My first novelwas published “electronically” back in 2000, when e-publishing wasso nascent as to be invisible. Because publishing a book on paperwas (and is) cost prohibitive, the teeny-tiny publisher's strategywas to make its titles available exclusively via CD-ROMs anddownloads to a primitive e-reader device that cost around $300 (Istill have mine stashed in a drawer somewhere).

It was an idea ahead of its time. Back then, nobody understoodthe concept of electronic publishing–how can you read a bookwith no pages?–and few were willing to pony up for a gadget withlimited use. And why should they, when they could simply go intoBorders and buy a paperback for under ten bucks? The littlepublisher valiantly kept preaching the e-publishing gospel,but very few were listening.

Then came the personal technology boom, and suddenly thepublishing paradigm was turned upside-down.

Like insurance, publishing success hinges on gooddistribution and better marketing. For publishers, the firststep meant getting their product into the megabookstores and onAmazon through distributors/wholesalers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

With the advent of the cheap Kindle, distribution became a lotsimpler. Publishers specializing in e-books no longer had to worryabout bricks-and-mortar sales, a title's bookstore shelf life, orthe shipping costs and humiliation involved with bookstorereturns.

Just as Netflix and Hulu spelled the end for Blockbuster, emerging technology turned themegabookstores into collateral damage.

But don't think for a minute that the trends that brought downBorders spell the end for all bookstores. While the Borders storesliquidate their stock, Centuries & SleuthsBookstore, a little independent bookstore in suburban Chicago,is doing just fine.

C&S is as far from a juggernaut as you can get. Specializingin historical fact and fiction and crime/mystery novels, muchof it with a regional slant, the bookstore's single storefrontlocation has the ambiance of Sherlock Holmes's parlor. Owner AugieAleksy is passionate about books, knows his customers by name, andregularly host book signings and other interesting events.

A quirky business model? Maybe. But C&S has weathereddownturns, recessions, e-publishing and competition from themegastores, celebrating its 20th anniversary just lastyear.

Independent agents can learn a lot from both Borders andC&S:

• Size isn't everything. A single storefront ora store on every corner? Starbucks' original oversaturationstrategy ended up backfiring, too.
• Know your customers. This should be the mantraof every successful business, whether it's a bookstore or aninsurance agency.
• Know your product. C&S works closely withpublishers of all sizes, their authors and marketing reps. When acustomer comes in looking for the latest Jack the Ripper book (andthere are always more!), Augie knows what's out there — and canexpound on all the theories, too.
• Specialize! One-stop shopping has its place,but even Walmart is beginning to experiment with smaller formats.Successful agencies can cater to all their customers' needs, butmost find true leverage in honing an edge in some specialtybusiness.
• Follow your bliss. C&S has stayed inbusiness for more than 20 years because its owners love history,Chicago and books. Many agency principals have built successfulspecialties around a specific interest. Seems like a fun way tosucceed to me!