Ask HN: Know of a hacker in Cambridge or Boston who wants a bookstore?

- Is there any kind of alliance to be had with Albertine Press? ( http://albertinepress.com/about.html ) I'm not sure what the angle would be exactly, but they're just a few blocks away, and might have equipment and expertise that would allow for a more interesting kind of print-on-demand than the Espresso printer. And if bookstores are increasingly becoming fellow travelers with letterpress printers and vinyl shops and so on, maybe there are strategies in common.

- Others have mentioned affiliate fees. If book stores are no longer efficient ways to store and deliver books, but are still great ways to look at and play with and explore books, is it possible to fully transition to a book showroom instead of store? How would the business change if you were no longer thinking in terms of inventory, but only in terms of sample copies? You obtain exactly one copy of the very best books that fit comfortably in your space; the customer collects ones they like; and then they're scanned at the front desk, searched online, and the cheapest available copies of the quality they request are shipped to their address. So customers are getting Amazon prices (or better, because you might be better at running the search than they are), but the experience of discovering physical books. You could pay for it either with affiliate fees, if there's a program that works, or with a surcharge.

If you went down that path, your focus on the supply side would change from acquiring second-hand books, to finding really interesting ways to discover books. For example, shelves where you can flip through the top-ten favorite books of Bill Clinton, or Neil Gaiman, or Natalie Portman, or David Foster Wallace. Cyberpunk shelf curated by Neil Stephenson (with a blurb taped inside each cover if he'll write one!). Law & Tech shelf curated by Larry Lessig. Books by TED presenters. Make it so poking around the store is itself a learning experience.

Good luck -- I hope you manage to find someone, and their ideas are better than mine.

In addition in the area there are a few stores that sell board games that are already established. Off the top of my head I can think of two in Cambridge. Pandemonium Books and Games and Games People Play.

Partner with schools or professors to have students buy school texts only available at your store.

Reconfigure your space to include a living quarters for visiting lecturers or artists. Have them earn their keep by leading discussions or giving a reading.

Have a large used and new graphic novel section. Buy used graphic novels at 33% cost or 50% credit.

Organize your bookshelves using the Library of Congress Classification System.

Get a housecat, name it something amazingly cute, the tweet advertisement for sales from POV of the cat using funny catspeak.

Invest in an outside sitting area or patio style backyard.

Rent out half of your store space to the United States Post Office.

Good Luck!