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Challenge to support bookstores
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Werner
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Jul 20, 2016 06:36PM
Back in 2011, a lady on Goodreads, who was concerned about the need to support physical bookstores in order to keep them open and preserve all the benefits they provide, challenged the rest of us to buy at least two books (new ones, not used) per year from a brick-and-mortar store. I've met that challenge every year from 2011 on, and I've met it for 2016, having already bought two books so far (as presents for my wife). Maybe some others would be interested in taking up this challenge as well?
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My daughters and I both buy lots of books from local stores every year and pre-order their favorites in paperbacks.. This is a nice challenge. Thank you
I'm in. We cover it with presents every year. I'm lucky enough to live in a city with two independent books stores, so we try to support both. They also carry puzzles, calendars, and novelties to help with revenue and we buy those, as well.
I just wish more people felt as you all do. I've been running a small book-selling operation for years, putting books you've never heard of by authors you've never heard of out at local craft fairs. While the occasional sale is a great pleasure, the excuses people make to walk away are kind of depressing, especially when you see them walk by with some piece of cheap junk five minutes later. The worst is when a kid comes in looking for a book for school. They want my stuff, but their parents won't get it for them since they're only looking for 'school' books.
E. G. and Marc, kudos to you both! And Marc, hang in there and don't be discouraged; even if you don't reach many people, those you do are worth reaching. (BTW, how do you acquire your inventory of books?)
Werner wrote: "E. G. and Marc, kudos to you both! And Marc, hang in there and don't be discouraged; even if you don't reach many people, those you do are worth reaching. (BTW, how do you acquire your inventory of..."When I first started the business, which is called Author Guy, i had recently been published with my first fantasy novel, and no bookstores would carry it, so I created my own. I met lots of people who said they loved to read, but not fantasy, so I wound up stocking all the books my publisher sold, none of which were known either. That's what I currently have, but since my publisher is pretty much out of business I have to find a new source, but it will be harder to ensure the quality. At least when they were all Echelon titles I knew what to expect in that regard. Except for covers. She didn't have the best taste in covers.
" i had recently been published with my first fantasy novel, and no bookstores would carry it, so I created my own."If ever there is an American ethic of enterprise, this is it!
Marc wrote: "since my publisher is pretty much out of business I have to find a new source, but it will be harder to ensure the quality. At least when they were all Echelon titles I knew what to expect in that regard. Except for covers. She didn't have the best taste in covers..."Have you considered reaching out to other indie authors in your area? Most have some POD capability where they can order at costs below the price charged via Amazon, Nook, etc.
E.G. wrote: "Have you considered reaching out to other indie authors in your area? Most have some POD capability where they can order at costs below the price charged via Amazon, Nook, etc. "I have gotten some titles from some of my fellow Echelon authors. I'm not thrilled with having to buy small lots from multiple sources, though. I also carry a line of children's books that I discovered when I did an event with Echelon. The writer had sub-let a part of the table. Since Echelon didn't do children's books I picked up her titles to fill that niche.
The real problem is quality. With Echelon I could be sure it was a good story. I'm probably going to have to reconceive the idea behind Author Guy. I like to think of my store as a place to find the books you've never heard of. Tom Clancy and Nora Roberts don't need me. Ellis Vidler and Norm Cowie do. Many Echelon books. have female MCs
Tom wrote: "If ever there is an American ethic of enterprise, this is it! "
Thanks.
I've had several small publishers show up at my table and wish that their authors had that level of initiative. I've seen many authors at craft fairs, but not at a lot of craft fairs, and not with a wide variety of books. I carry everything my publisher does.
Marc wrote: "E.G. wrote: "The real problem is quality. With Echelon I could be sure it was a good story. ...."If it were me, I'd gladly gift you with review copies. Of course, that sticks you with a lot of extra reading which can interfere with writing. Also, consider a consignment arrangement. That way you don't pay the author until the book sells.
I purchase lots of books I live in a small town and we have only one small bookstore that sells lots of other items as well. I have to order most of the time. I would guess I get at least two new books a month and use my library and Amazon as well. So I am doing my part to keep our little book store alive. Hint. I go to Amazon. With my list of over one hundred authors. Add their newest. I have yet to read to my wish list. Then pick my must haves for the month and order since our bookstore does not carry a big selection. I also check if our library are ordering any of my list. And last I ask for gift cards to buy books. It is a good system. I have about 400 books on my wish list. So by the time I get to some they are cheaper in paperback.
Yes, Amazon's database is a wonderful site to use for window shopping, identifying books you might want to read, and finding out information like ISBNs, list prices, cheapest editions, etc. Then that information can be used to special order through physical bookstores.
I agree. Glad you do as well. I keep my wish list handy. Right on my phone.
Here's an interesting and encouraging article on independent bookstores (from a blog called the Passive Voice, which one of my Goodreads friends regularly reads: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2016/0... .
Saturday is 'Small Business Saturday'. A great day to support your local independent bookstore and get in some early holiday shopping. Who doesn't love getting a book?
E.G. wrote: "Saturday is 'Small Business Saturday'. A great day to support your local independent bookstore and get in some early holiday shopping. Who doesn't love getting a book?"E. G., Goodreads doesn't have a "like" button for comments, but consider this a "like" anyway! :-)
Werner wrote: "Back in 2011, a lady on Goodreads, who was concerned about the need to support physical bookstores in order to keep them open and preserve all the benefits they provide, challenged the rest of us t..."One of the problems with self-publishing is that the margins are not high enough for the bookstores. My latest, "Staff Sergeant Belinda Watt," costs me $9 delivered and sells for $12.99. That's 44% (up from $9, or 33% down from $12.99--and not enough. One stratagem I've used is to ask the store owner to buy (and display) five copies from his wholesaler and I will buy then back at full retail in 3 months.
Yes, Tom, that's a serious difficulty that independent authors have in getting chain bookstores, and even most home-owned bookstores, to carry their books. They've also been accustomed, ever since the 1930s, to having contractual arrangements with Big Publishing that allow them to tear off the covers of unsold books and "return" them for a full refund of the wholesale price (they're supposed to then destroy the actual books, but a lot of them don't). So they don't want to do business with any author or publisher who can't afford to make the same arrangement, and obviously practically no independent author can.Most small presses can't either, so small press authors are in the same boat. When my novel was published in 2004, Hearthside Books here in the Bluefields agreed to buy some copies, and the Bluefield College bookstore still carries it. But these were exceptions to the rule; in the first case, the owners were disposed to do me a favor because I'm a regular customer (and they often buy titles in very small quantities, which don't cost much and don't pose a problem to keep on the shelf until they sell --they aim for variety on the shelves, rather than in-depth stocks of fewer titles), and the BC bookstore has a policy of stocking books by BC staff and faculty. No other independent bookstore ever agreed to take it, and of course no chain would even consider it.
The good news, however, if you're an independent or small press author, is that most bookstores will special order your books if customers request them (Hearthside special orders such books for me quite often). Of course, that means you have to reach the customers through other channels; it's not as good as having the book on the bookstore shelves for them to discover as they're browsing. (And my understanding is that, if you or your publisher use CreateSpace for a printing service, they refuse to sell the books except through Amazon. :-( )
You're right, but the impetus to have a book store order for you has gotten really weak, with Amazon shipping almost overnight--usually quite a bit faster than the local bookstore!
Tom wrote: "You're right, but the impetus to have a book store order for you has gotten really weak, with Amazon shipping almost overnight--usually quite a bit faster than the local bookstore!"That's unfortunately true, Tom. :-( Those of us who choose to order through brick-and-mortar stores do so because the principle of the thing outweighs the convenience factor --and for a lot of consumers, the principle isn't a factor, because they've never considered it or thought about it at all.
The one MAJOR advantages of buying in a bookstore is that you can open various books on the same subject and quickly get a feel for them. The browse feature on Amazon is slow and not satisfying. Also, you will get a real selection based on the abilities of the book store owner to pick titles, rather than have a dumb computer do it on Amazon.
Tom wrote: "Werner wrote: "My latest, "Staff Sergeant Belinda Watt," costs me $9 delivered and sells for $12.99. That's 44% (up from $9, or 33% down from $12.99--and not enough."*Off topic* Who do use to self-publish? I use Createspace and they wholesale my novel, The Cartel, at ~$5.75 delivered. It's 250 pages, so a little longer than yours.
That $3.25 difference would make a big difference in the margin for the bookstore.
That's an amazing price!! I've used iUniverse for several books. It does include a glossy, full-color cover. I'll check out CreateSpace. Thanks for the tip.
Tom wrote: "That's an amazing price!! I've used iUniverse for several books. It does include a glossy, full-color cover. I'll check out CreateSpace. Thanks for the tip."My covers are full color glossy.
E.G--Wow, I checked the CreateSpace website. their prices are much better than iUniverse, and the tininbg seems a lot quicker, too! That was a GREAT tip!
Tom wrote: "E.G--Wow, I checked the CreateSpace website. their prices are much better than iUniverse, and the tininbg seems a lot quicker, too! That was a GREAT tip!"Glad to help! :D
Tom wrote: "E.G--Wow, I checked the CreateSpace website. their prices are much better than iUniverse, and the timing seems a lot quicker, too! That was a GREAT tip!"
This past Monday, I was saddened to learn that the local bookstore, Hearthside Books, will be closing its doors for good on Feb. 18. :-( I've shopped there since at least 2004 (they were the only bookstore I could find, besides Bluefield College's, that was willing to carry my book!). According to the newspaper article, they just didn't have enough business to sustain the store, so it's a graphic reminder of how important it is to support bookstores while we have them. (Now, I'll have to go further afield to find one to support.)
It's a shame. We have a wonderful independent books store in Washington Depot (near Litchfield, CT)--The Hickory Stick. However the pricing of iUniverse is such they can't carry those self-published books because the margins are too slim.
One of our independent bookstores is associated with IndieBound and KOBO, so they carry a lot of indie books - all local authors. Even at that - they struggle. I think they mostly stay open because Portland has a significant population of die-hard, keep-our-bookstores-open folks who make a point of supporting it.Ultimately, I fear the business model is dying. And not due to e-books as much as the massive amount of entertainment content available through streaming video and video games.
E.G. wrote: "One of our independent bookstores is associated with IndieBound and KOBO, so they carry a lot of indie books - all local authors. Even at that - they struggle. I think they mostly stay open because..."What you're saying is that people are reading a lot less! And that's the sad truth. Not only that but they are writing up a storm (thanks to word processors and print in demand books, and ebooks) and absolutely flooding the marketplace with their output. (The book editor of the Washington Post said on TV that he gets 150 books A DAY sent in to him to review!)
But one silver lining is that (in my opinion) people are also going out and doing things--skiing, hiking, running--in weather that would have kept them indoors--reading--just 20-30 years ago.
E.G. wrote: "Ultimately, I fear the business model is dying..."Tom wrote: "What you're saying is that people are reading a lot less! And that's the sad truth..."
Actually, people aren't reading less. Unit sales have remained constant in the U.S. over the past four years after recovering from a dip during the 2008-12 crash, while the average number of books read annually per adult has increased slightly. (Note: the average numbers don't include the exploding MG, YA and NA markets.)
As E.G. said, the bricks-and-mortar bookstore's business model is dying. Barnes & Noble is largely useless if you're looking for a book published more than a year ago; I'll assume Books-a-Million is in the same boat. The big book chains are also completely missing the indie-author phenomenon. Indie booksellers can't compete on either price or selection. When readers have so many ways to order any book in print at any time without having to fight traffic or weather, physical bookstores have to offer something special in order to compete. And by and large, they're not.
I used to like to go to our local Borders (RIP) and browse. I still do that with our less-local B&N. However, I find myself not buying things off the shelves very much anymore, because they don't have what I'm looking for. I can order from the information desk and get my B&N membership discount, but as soon as they start letting people get their membership discount online, I've lost my last incentive to go to the store (especially as poor as the service is in some locations).
It's not just books -- retail clothing is going through the same shrinkage in physical outlets, The Limited being a recent example.
Lance wrote: "Barnes & Noble is largely useless if you're looking for a book published more than a year ago...."Interestingly, my wife gifted me last year with two books, both purchased last summer at the Harrisonburg, VA Barnes and Noble. One was published in 2009, the other in 2013. During my rambles around their store there, I've seen books by Lovecraft, Dickens, and a number of other long-deceased authors. To be sure, all of these copies are no doubt newer printings, not copies that have been on the shelf since during the authors' lifetimes. But it does suggest that the chain's uselessness for finding books older than 2016 isn't as total as might be supposed. (Of course, I've only ever visited that one store. I can't comment on how slim the pickings for older books might be at their other outlets!)
It seems the only real use for brick and mortar bookstores nowadays is if you have an owner with excellent selectivity skills--stocking his shelves with the gold and leaving out the dross. There is nothing worse than perusing a shelf full of books in your subject area--and finding nothing but junk. (Plus you can get a stiff neck keeping your head turned sideways to read the title on the spines.)
Tom wrote: "It seems the only real use for brick and mortar bookstores nowadays is if you have an owner with excellent selectivity skills--stocking his shelves with the gold and leaving out the dross. There is..."Compared to Amazon, which tries to stock practically every currently in-print book on earth (plus some out-of-print ones), all brick and mortar bookstores by definition have to be a lot more selective. (Obviously, some owners are better at selecting than others.) I've had some experience with attempting to browse Amazon's database by the broad subject categories that it allows, and felt some of the same frustrations Internet users often feel when they do a Google search and come up with something like 657, 329 unsorted hits. Personally, for focused browsing, I'd rather window shop in a physical store any day of the week.
(I've never had a problem with getting a stiff neck from turning my head sideways.when browsing in a bookstore. That's probably because I tend to face the ranges of shelves, and edge to the side as I move along that particular range. :-) )
"...they do a Google search and come up with something like 657, 329 unsorted hits. "But Werner--they do it in 0.08 seconds!
Tom wrote: ""...they do a Google search and come up with something like 657, 329 unsorted hits.But Werner--they do it in 0.08 seconds!"
Credit where credit is due, Tom! :-)
Werner wrote: "But it does suggest that the chain's uselessness for finding books older than 2016 isn't as total as might be supposed..."They usually have some classics, and in non-fiction the books stick around longer. Titles come and go fairly quickly in contemporary fiction unless they're from one of the factories (like Patterson or Clancy).
The closing of our local home-owned bookstore earlier this year made it harder for me to fulfill my goal of supporting a brick-and-mortar store this time around. But there's a chain bookstore in the Mercer Mall (located out in the country, between Bluefield WV and Princeton, the county seat), and this weekend, I finally got out there for some shopping. I fulfilled my two-book purchase commitment (for myself, this time!), and was pleased to see that the store was pretty busy with shoppers.
My DH and I have our an annual 'shop local' outing scheduled for this weekend and local independent bookstores (we have three!) are on the route.
Sounds great, E,G.! Happy book hunting. :-)
Hit 2 of 3 and purchased at both. 1 to go!
My bookstore-supporting challenge really had to wait until nearly the last minute this year; but I fulfilled it this morning, again at the bookstore in the mall. I was glad to see that once again, they were doing a brisk business!
I hit our local bookstore before Christmas to fill DH's stocking. They were also having a great season.
E.G. wrote: "I hit our local bookstore before Christmas to fill DH's stocking. They were also having a great season."That's good to hear, E.G.!
Once again, I've recently met the challenge to support brick-and-mortar bookstores by buying at least two brand-new books a year in one! This year, I didn't leave it until the last days of December. :-)
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