How Square could change book sales

I've been seeing Square pop up at coffee shops and even a few restaurants around my neighborhood. And I can imagine it's starting to make its presence known at things like Maker Faire. It's a small (square) piece of hardware that functions as a credit card swiper. You plug it into your iPad or iPhone and it instantly turns your device into a cash register.

I haven't seen it around with any authors, and I haven't personally bought a book with it. But I think that's going to change.

Here's why:

Direct Sales: If an author or a publisher sells a book with Square, they are the retailer which means they don't have to pay any online retailer like Amazon or offline bookstore a cut. That's huge. It means you can charge less and make more. It means you can get paid immediately. It means, for a publisher, that you can start selling your own arsenal of books at book fairs and other gatherings. It makes the whole world a store.

Author Readings: Publishers have been cutting back on paying for authors to go on the road to read at various bookstores. And that makes sense- let's face it, unless you are a famous author already, it's a tough job to bring in enough people to sell enough books to make a reading worth the costs. One of the big challenges is getting people to a bookstore in the first place.

But! With square, you don't need the book store. You can do a reading at the park. Or at a bar. Or at a party your friend is already throwing. All you need is a backpack full of books in tow and you are your own little personal store.

Authors: How many times have you told someone about your book and they say that they will look it up and buy it? How often do you think people actually do it? What if they could do it right then and there, in that moment of excitement? With Square, they can.

What would you do with Square if you had it?

Image source: @cdharrison via flickr