Speculation, Fact and Fiction

Here’s something cheering from the Guardian Unlimited, where independent bookseller Nick Bottomley can be found blogging:

The Time/Desperation Continuum
The link between "time until Christmas" and "customer desperation" is much more visible from this side of the retail fence. In early December we hear "I've got a list of books that I'd like you to see if you've got or can get for me." By the 14th or so it's more like "What would you recommend for a man who likes India and woodwork?" By the 22nd the eyes have glazed over, the questions are barked and almost any suggestion, however random, will be accepted. Examples - "Have you got the new one by Jamie Harris?" "Sorry no, and actually nothing's coming up on the system by a Jamie Harris. We have the new Robert Harris of course..." "Whatever, I'll take it."
By the 24th it's just men running in and searching frantically for anything remotely relevant - "Cornwall - she likes Cornwall - have you got ANYTHING on Cornwall - or maybe Jazz - she likes Jazz."

Yes, that’ll all be familiar to anyone who’s ever worked in a bookshop! More pertinently, Nick continues:

One-up for the small guys
The ability to take orders for next day collection as late as December 22 amazed our customers (particularly when our chain store competitors ceased to promise to get books in by Christmas around ten days earlier). There was the odd hiccup - like when we received a nice box of orders which were being eagerly awaited by the customers of a bookshop somewhere in the Peak District. But in spite of that, the ability to make rapid orders for books not in stock is clearly one of the sharpest weapons in the independent's armoury, and never sharper than at Christmas. It certainly seems to have helped us to win over plenty of new potential regulars throughout the season.

Let’s hope those new customers do become regulars. Incidentally, it should be noted this superior and personal customer service only possible with Internet ordering and wholesalers with next-day services, all of which independent booksellers must and do use to their best advantage. Don’t believe anyone telling you indie bookshops only struggle because they’re Luddites who refuse to move with the times. All of those who took that attitude are long since closed – and rightly so.

Anyway, compare and contrast with the latest news from Glasgow, courtesy of the Evening News Online.

THE former Ottakar's bookshop in Glasgow city centre is to close months after being take over by the firm that owns Waterstone's. Staff at the Buchanan Galleries store have been told the branch will shut on January 27. It is just a few weeks since the shop was rebranded as a Waterstone's by new owners HMV, which bought the Ottakar's chain in a £63million takeover last July.
Before the deal, the Competition Commission launched an investigation amid fears of store closures and Waterstone's obtaining a virtual monopoly on the High Street. But the Government regulator eventually gave the green light to the takeover, sparking dismay from Scottish authors and publishers who saw Ottakar's as a champion for native writers.

I shall resist the temptation to say ‘told you so’. But I do think a big part of this will be down to this Christmas’s debacle with celebrity biogs. I’ve already posted on that so will content myself with linking to today’s article in The Guardian for anyone interested in facts and figures on that subject.

But I’m definitely not saying big book retailers are A Bad Thing. Far from it. Done properly, a big chain bookshop is a delight as well as a sound commercial proposition, where shifting boxes full of say, Peter Kay’s biography, helps pay the rent for the shelves that carry indie and import SF&F titles along side the guaranteed best-sellers.

Compare and contrast Waterstone’s fortunes with those of Borders, as reported in Publishing News.

Publishers praise Borders’ new tactics

AS PUBLISHERS DIGESTED the HMV trading statement this week, Borders, which was the first chain to release a statement covering the Christmas period, was praised for its innovative approach and for the changes introduced by new CEO David Roche. Sales in the group's international segment, of which Borders and Books etc in the UK form the bulk, were up 27% to $198.3m for the nine weeks to 30 December. On a like-for-like basis, the increase was 1%, summed up by one publisher thus: “I think in the current climate, any sort of positive figure is good news.”
One sales director said: “They had a good Christmas with us. They're not on the danger list. I think they're very innovative and we're beginning to see the benefits of David Roche's new team. They're coming up with new ideas and now we're waiting to see what difference to range Pete Harvey will make.” Harvey, formerly Core Range Manager at Waterstone's, joined Borders as Range Development Manager, last November.

The word I really like to see in that report is ‘range’. Mind you, the impact of mass-media promotion on the market remains immense and there’s no sign of that changing, as this other piece from Publishing News reports.

Galaxy British Book Awards now has industry-wide backing
IN ADDITION TO Galaxy's headline sponsorship of the Galaxy British Book Awards (GBBA), all the key UK book retailers, including high street, online, supermarkets and direct sale, are now backing the Awards, making it a truly industry-wide initiative and pointing towards one of its strongest-ever sales years.
The full list of this year's category sponsors appears below, and there have been a number of changes. Borders takes over the Book of the Year, previously sponsored by WHSmith, which is now backing the Children's Book of the Year, sponsored by Red House in 2006. The Book People has stepped in to take up the Lifetime Achievement Award and, once again, Sainsbury's and Tesco are putting their considerable muscle behind the Popular Fiction and the Sports Book Awards respectively.
David Roche, Borders CEO, told PN: “The Galaxy British Book Awards are not only the preeminent platform for the best books across publishing, but also the climax of the phenomenon that Richard and Judy's support for books has become. We are delighted to be sponsoring the Book of the Year in 2007, especially given the generous support that Galaxy are bringing to the party for the first time. We believe that the objectives align perfectly with our own - that is, not only to provide a showcase and recommendation for the best reads of the year but also to make reading more attractive and accessible to everyone. This televised event is an opportunity for Borders to broadcast our brand on a national scale and we look forward to ensuring that customers who visit our stores for the first time as a result enjoy the unique offer that we provide.”

But let’s hope that some of those who venture into a Borders for the first time go on past the promo tables, browse, and find themselves intrigued by titles they hadn’t even known existed.