Why I think bookstores are tanking (and it's not ebooks)

Lately I've spent more time thinking about browsing in bookstores instead of actually doing it. I have fond memories of strolling the aisles, finding treasures on the tables up front, especially on that "strange but true" table, or whatever it's called. I'm craving this experience again. And I'm thinking about the reasons I haven't been doing it lately. Here's why:

The Romance Section

I stopped going to Indie bookstores because they didn't carry romance (the snobs). I wanted my serious non-fiction with a side of sweet, and didn't want to go to two different stores to get it. Big Book Retailers: 1, Indie: 0. But once there, I saw these were only marginally better.

The other day I took my friend to B&N to look for my book. I lead us to the romance section–up to the topmost floor, all the way in the back, with the section heading facing the windows, not the rest of the store. "How did you know this was here?" he asked, particularly impressed as I had never been to this location before. I knew because for some reason, B&N puts romance fiction in it's "mad wife in the attic" section of the store. Far away, hidden shamefully in the top corner of the attic. As if they didn't want you to find it.

Given that the romance genre blows every category out of the water in terms of sales, audience, everything…Given that romance readers buy MORE books than anyone, across multiple catagories…WHY would you give the romance section such shameful, hard-to-get placement?? It's like the porn section in the videostore. Sheesh!

What they're telling us romance readers is that we should be ashamed of what we read. So we'll just go online and order it in ebook format–kind of the equivalent of a brown paper bag book cover.

They don't have the book I want…but they have a lot of toys and crap

Once I found the romance section, I saw they didn't have my book (the losers. Unless people bought it out, then Je love!). Real Bookstores do have the problem of finite shelf-space, which makes it dueced hard to compete with online sellers and ebooks. I was speaking to my mom about this and she remarked that the bookstores nowadays are often selling non-book items, like toys and office supplies and other stuff. I totally get it: diversify. And yet, that is compounding the finite shelf-space problem. There are fewer and fewer titles to browse, which reduces foot traffic, which reduces sales. And when we do go, the store has stupid toys and not the book we want, so we learn to bypass the store and go straight to Amazon.

So: don't even try to have everything. Excel at say, new releases and make it easy to order backlists online. From your store. And offer other experiential stuff because–guess what–I can order anything I want online.

Accessibility

One of my three local B&N's closed, and unfortunately, it was the best one. See, the Union Square store doesn't allow dogs past the 1st floor (so I can't access the romance section in the attic, so why bother going?!), and the 8th street one is good but small. The 22nd street one…ahhh. All on one vast floor. The pup and I would take our afternoon walk to the bookstore, stroll, and carry heavy bags home (weightlifting!). I realize now that when this store closed, I kind of stopped going because I couldn't combine it with a non-negotiable task. Which is probably why Walmart sells so many books: because people are already there for groceries and diapers and oh heck, I'll just browse this section…I know as I've gotten busier, my indulgence time has decreased. Make it easy for me, please.

I should note that I refer to B&N a lot because that's what is closest to me. In high school, I went to Borders because it was closer. So really, location does seem to matter.

Places to sit

Ok, so imagine this: you've got an armful a books, a coffee, a giant handbag. You're trying to read the first page to see if you want the book and it's a juggling act to do so. Or maybe you wandered in because you have some time to kill–between classes, waiting for a friend, before the movie, while your friend is in the stupid shop next door that you hate….

There's no place to sit! Sheesh! Reading is not a stand up activity, generally. Put in some comfy chairs and let a potential buyer sit down and really experience that first page of the book. It'll be much better if they're comfortable. Yes, some a**hole is going to sit there for 5 hours reading a book for free. But the rest of us won't and we'll interpret that this is a welcoming place to come, hang out, stay a while. Give us this little kindness and we'll probably repay with a purchase.

You know that "mad wife in the attic" aka romance section? It's ALWAYS packed with people sitting on the floor, hiding out, flipping through books with heavy bags at their sides. Give us some dignity, Barnes and Noble. Give us a freaking chair.

For that matter, do you know why I will usually pick Starbucks over other coffee places? Because I know they will have fairly clean restrooms, for free. Make sure these are in your store.

And speaking of that armful of books…give us a shopping cart! Or a basket! Or a sturdy bag! Help me buy more from you.

Own your bookstore-ness

What can't people get where they're book shopping online? Atmosphere. Other people. Curation of titles, a bit. You can have coffee and listen to music and chat with your friends while shopping online, but it involves too many browser windows to navigate pleasantly.

Here's some questions: Why aren't these stores lending space to all those RWA chapters and writers groups? Why aren't they serving alcohol? (seriously! Lady Jane's Salon is  such a hit, I think, becuase of the booze/fun factor. It's why our reading series is packed and B&N author appearances can be painful). Do the bookstores even do events anymore? I don't know. How am I supposed to know? Why aren't titles discounted at author book signings?

I recently read that 84% of books are bought by women. Why isn't there childcare in bookstores? They offer that at my local supermarket, so why can't they do that at bookstores, sparing the mums and the rest of us from whiny kids? Then perhaps we can sit down, read that first page in silence, an experience that glorious moment of becoming immersed in the book with our feet up and no distractions.

Because here's the other thing: it's not just the book we're buying, but the experience of reading. That is what you should be selling, bookstores.

In conclusion

Maybe the Bookstores tried all of these things and consumers didn't respond. Fair enough. I've happily incorporated an ereader into my life, but I still LOVE my actual books.  But  I do not need more books. I don't even have time to read the ones on my TBR piles. However, I am having a serious hankering for the bookstore browsing experience. I hope that activity doesn't go away. So perhaps I'll go shop the first floor of B&N on Penny's afternoon walk. Maybe I'll even buy a book.