Seattle Mystery Bookshop

The Brave New World of E-Books and Self-Publishing

Two bits of news caught our eyes recently:

Self-Published Ebook Sales Reach 20% of Genre Market In 2010, the US published 328,259 printed books, the UK 149,400. It is hard to find data on book publications in 2011 but, according to Bowker (they're the outfit that assigns the individual identifying number - the ISBN - to each book), since 2006, self-published books have risen 287%. Some 87,000 or so e-books were self-published in 2011 (some items may've been counted twice but many self-published e-books also lack ISBNs, so the number is 'fluid'). This figure is for the US only, but we can assume that the rest of the English-speaking world is holding up their end of the racket. 

The Bowker article notes that in 2011, Amazon alone released 58,412 self-published works, "39% of all self-published print books." Further, "Smashwords was the largest ebook producer, accounting for 40,608 titles, or 47 percent of all self-published ebooks." Add those two figures and you get 99,021 self-published books by these two major players alone. Do the math to figure out what part they didn't produce (the 61% that Amazon didn't release equals 91,362, and the 53% that Smashwords did not produce comes to  45,792) and you get 149,774 self-published print books and 86,400 self-published e-books, or, if this math is correct, in 2011 there were 236,174 self-published titles. Give or take.

Then there was this essay by Barry Eisler, also on The Guardian's webiste: The Digital Truths Traditional Publishers Don't Want to Hear where he once again touts the advantages of e-books and self-publishing over what he calls 'legacy' publishing - meaning the system of publishing that gave him his start.

From what we hear, Eisler has done very well since he walked away from a fat contract with a legacy publisher to go on his own and with Amazon. We know of many authors for whom this route has not only become a stream of money but the only way they can continue to publish. They include nationally and internationally known writers, award winners - names you'd know, many local. The traditional NYC publishers have turned away from what is known as the 'mid-list' author (as opposed to the novice novelist or the mega-seller), no longer giving them contracts that allowed them to live on their writing and letting their older books go out of print. These backlist titles, if they have the publishing rights to them, can become a source of steady money as the books are complete and simply need to be converted to digital files. No one begrudges them this. They ought to be able to make money on their work.

We're just crabby that the major publishers are so myopic as to let these writers go so that we can no longer have their books to sell.

But here's the thing about someone like Barry Eisler: he launched himself into this digital world when he was already an established author. He didn't get to where he is by using that system from the start. Yes, he's done well selling his books on-line as digital files. Good for him. But would he be where he is had he not benefitted from the efforts of the 'legacy publishing' system he so easily dismisses?

Go back to the figure of quarter of a million self-published titles in 2011. We have to figure that the number of self-published books continues to grow each year. So maybe there were not as many in 2010, and maybe a lot more in 2012. And we're half-way through 2013, so...

What we would like to see is Barry Eisler conduct what we refer to as a 'science experiment': Publish a new work under a pseudonym and keep it a secret for a year. Tell no one that you've done it, do nothing to draw attention to it as a Barry Eisler novel, in no way promote it as Barry Eisler work, or allow it to be connected to you - hell, even lie and deny it is yours if someone asks...Do everything you can to keep it just another self-published work by an author no one has heard of. In other words, launch this as any other unknown author just starting out would have to do.  

At the end of that year tell us, how did it sell?

Will readers find it among the other few hundred thousand other newly-released self-published works? Can he be successful from scratch, without the help of his reputation and name and without the publicity machinery of a 'legacy publisher'?

That would be an interesting experiment.

Together, We Can Save the Independent Bookstores

The following is a post by William Kent Krueger which he posted on his own blog today, April 22nd. He kindly gave us permission to repost it.

When I was a kid, every town had a bookstore. An independent bookstore. Some towns had several. They were as ubiquitous as local drugstores with soda fountains and as important as any other element to the life of a community. It’s not like that now. Our local, independently owned bookstores are an endangered species. They’re the victims of big chains and of Amazon, yes. But they’re also endangered because of our own lethargy and our insensitivity to both the necessity and the importance of these very valuable resources.

Borders has gone the way of the dodo bird. If what we hear is true, Barnes and Noble is on the ropes. And when that chain is gone, know who’s left? Amazon. The big faceless corporation for whom books are simply another commodity and each of us is simply a revenue source.

Buying from independents is in our own best interest. It assures that no one large entity will control what’s available to us as readers. Freedom—and it does come down to this—is all about choice.

Most of the signings I do are at independents. I’ll be signing on Friday at a wonderful small bookstore in Hudson, Wisconsin, called Chapter2Books. Like most independents, they walk a fine line between red ink and black. If you live in the area, I would consider it a personal favor if you came and experienced this lovely shop and began to do your book buying there. Here’s a link to a great blog about these folks and their plight.

Thanks for listening. And remember: Think globally. Shop locally.

Thanks, Kent, for your efforts on behalf of us little guys!

Carl Hiaasen is Coming!

Tues, June 25, 1-2pm, Carl Hiaasen signs Bad Monkey (June, Knopf hc, $26.95). Well, as usual, there really is no way to succinctly note a Hiaasen plot and this one is no different: a cop on Health Inspector duties who is hoping to get hired by the Key West department, a kinky medical examiner, a human arm in the freezer and the ‘twitchy’ widow of the owner, a vivacious voodoo witch, an idiotic and greedy developer and - oh yeah - a devious, talented and troublesome monkey. Sounds like the expected and standard Hiaasenian lunacy!

[Please note: Carl will be here just one hour. We’ll have lots of reserves and we cannot guarantee that all of your older copies can all be signed. If you do want to get some signed, figure out ahead of time which ones are the most important to be signed. And, of course, you must buy the new book here in order to get any older copies signed. Amazing how many people don’t understand that courtesy…]

RESERVE YOUR SIGNED COPY NOW!

SPECTRE Making Moves

We've known for a long time that Amazon - er, um - SPECTRE is branching into other venues.

Did you know that SPECTRE got the CIA contract to construct cloud system? Yep. Let your conspiracy theories run rampant for a moment. Go ahead - we'll wait.

But that's not all they're up to.

SPECTRE buying Goodreads is another development to roil your stomach. It certainly has ours.

Back in Feb 2008, they took control of Shelfari. Remember them? It was like Goodreads in that it's a social network for readers. You don’t remember them either? It is still active but we never hear about it. Goodreads has been one of the online places – perhaps the most prominent – that allowed readers to find objective reviews. After all, as independent bookshops have been killed off around the country, readers still need some way to find new books worth reading. There’s a well documented history of monkeybusiness with Amazon’s (sorry, SPECTRE) reviews. Goodreads has become a trusted alternative, and now, within a couple of months, they’ll cease to be an independent voice and will part of SPECTRE. Will they go the way of Shelfari in a few years?

Here's a joint interview with a representative from SPECTRE and Goodreads on their view of the merger and future plans.

Here’s a quote that talks about another facet of the deal:

“Privacy of reader information is viewed as a sacred trust by booksellers and librarians.... No librarian or bookseller wants to give the government or anyone else access to your private information. It's in our DNA. We're a community center and a community resource. You want to be able to come in and talk to us about books. You don't want us to gossip about your reading habits to the next guy who comes in, whether that guy is your neighbor or from the FBI. We don't do it. We won't do it.

"When we remember what you like, it's in service of a personal relationship. It's not 'data' to 'exploit.' This is a profession with professional standards.... At your next book club meeting, picture me sitting quietly in the corner, taking notes on your preferences. Imagine the next day you get an e-mail from me trying to sell you a new grill--or a book--or accessories for your Glock. That's the Amazon/Goodreads deal. It's appalling.... That's not the world we want to live in. That's the world we're fighting against, every day we open our bookshops and libraries to the public. Join us. You are not data."

That was from Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH, in their letter to their customers.

Our stand regarding SPECTRE is old news by now, so you've probably been waiting for us to blow up all over this.

Sorry.

We're not resigned, and we're not accepting it, but we're also not howling about it. What's the point? What we have done is to pull all our reviews from Goodreads. We don't want SPECTRE to benefit from our work. We review for our customers, to let you know about good books we've read. We sincerely hope you'll buy them from us. That way, we all win.

But we won't help SPECTRE, so we're pulling our reviews. They're all available on our website, and we're creating a new Tumblr blog (to go along with the other two we have) dedicated to nothing but our reviews, and we'll put our past reviews up there, so you'll always be able to find them if you like. But we can't continue supporting Goodreads, and we don't see anything out there with nearly their clout. Yet.

If you find something that is independent and reliable and trusted, please do let us know!

Etiquette and Economics

We're very lucky. We have great authors who support us, and our customer base is wonderful.

Sometimes,though, people just don't understand the realities of signings and all they entail. We've got a link on our blog, Signing Etiquette, but let us walk you through some of the issues. We've heard from a little birdie that there was a woman who took some offense at our signing with Jacqueline Winspear. We don't know this for certain because she didn't address us personally, but we're going to take what we've been told at face value. Besides, there might be others out there who have the same questions.

 "I called the bookstore before Jacqueline Winspear was to appear today and asked if we needed tickets to get in to see her, as they sometimes do that at the U Bookstore for famed authors."

We don't sell tickets. It's not the way we work, and it would pose problems for us logistically. We don't have formal readings; we're a meet-and-greet sort of shop. But we do expect you to buy the book from us rather than bringing in a book you've purchased elsewhere. Here's why:

When a publisher pays the bills to send an author around the country, they're doing it to help the hosting bookshop sell their books. After the signing, the publicity department will call to ask how many copies sold. We report how many sold, how many were reserved for mail orders or later pick-up and those numbers can affect whether we get that author back in the shop in the future or any of that publisher's other authors in to sign. And why should you be able to get books that you bought somewhere else get signed in our shop? You can't buy a discount ticket for a movie in one theater and expect a different theater to accept it. University Books sells tickets because they don't want people to bring in books bought elsewhere (such as Amazon) to get signed at their author events. We'd rather not have to charge you to visit an author, especially when there's no formal reading, but in return, we do expect you to step up to the plate and do your part. Or, look at it this way: buying the new book IS your ticket to the signing.

For example, we fielded a call from a lady who had purchased the book on her Kindle and wanted to come in to meet Jackie. We understand completely, but what you've got to realize is that unless there are book sales to go along with the appearances, the appearances will stop. It's expensive to tour an author; purchasing the physical book at the signing is a show of support for us and the author - and the publisher. We thank you for your continued support!

It's especially important to buy the new one from the hosting shop if you're bringing back stock to be signed. It's only polite, after all. The author is doing you a favor by signing your older books; they don't have to. In fact, there are several authors who refuse and will only sign the current book. There are those who will sign a limited number of back stock for you, perhaps two older books for one new one. This is completely the author's prerogative and we have absolutely no say in the matter. Some authors refuse to inscribe and will only sign. Again, it's the author's choice.

Which leads us to another issue that was mentioned in the posting:

"But when I got to the store, this witch was hovering over the author and said, loudly, "It is bookstore protocol that you buy her books from us before you get any signed. And she can only sign one because her wrist is tired" There were like 4 people in the whole freakin' store, how tired could her wrist be? I mean COME ON." 

Setting aside the name-calling (we can't please everyone, nor do we expect to; some people just rub others the wrong way and that's the way it is), actually, the instructions were not to ask for inscriptions. Jackie was more than willing to sign all her books. However, a half hour before she arrived, Jackie called to explain that between a recent elbow injury and previous signings, her wrist and hand were tired and sore, and that she would only be signing books, not inscribing them. During the course of the signing, she discussed her carpel tunnel issue with the fans there, and apologized for not being able to do what she normally does, but she was under doctor's orders to do less. She didn't want to make the announcements, so she asked us to, and we're more than happy to comply.

"Still, I don't know if I will ever darken their doorstep again."

It's never nice to lose a customer -- but we stand behind our practices. And our staff.

~ the Crew

 

Love & Loss in Seattle: Ode to a Bookstore

This piece ran in Shelfaware. It was so well written, timely and hearfelt that we wanted to spread it as far and wide as we could. Thanks to Wendee and John and Shelfaware for their gracious permission to post it. Wendee Wieking was a bookseller at Queen Anne Books in Seattle, Wash., for more than four years. She writes: For the recently released My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop, 84 writers submitted short essays about their favorite bookstores. Most chose to write about their hometown, neighborhood bookstore. I, too, have a favorite bookstore, the one where until recently I worked as a bookseller: Queen Anne Books, a gem of a shop where we greeted each person who entered--most by first name. A neighborhood fixture, Queen Anne Books did what indie bookstores do best--we handsold the books we love, we special ordered the ones we didn't carry, we catered to the tastes of our customers and we introduced new authors to our readers. Queen Anne is a thriving urban neighborhood, just minutes from downtown Seattle. Our customers followed the "shop local" ethic. They were fiercely loyal to their local bookstore. This was no small matter. I marvel that in this day and age, people willingly pay full price for their books. After all, there are so many options for saving a few bucks. But paying full price is part of the unspoken pact between patron and independent bookstore. Customers shop local and don't expect discounts to ensure that the neighborhood has its own literary destination. For our part, we booksellers stock the best books, greet our customers warmly, help select the perfect book and even remember what Marilyn bought for her grandson last Christmas. Sadly, at Queen Anne Books that fragile trust between bookstore and customer was broken on October 31, when the new owner of our beautiful store--she bought it only in April--locked its doors. On the eve of the holiday season, Queen Anne Books was closed indefinitely, with all inventory put into storage somewhere in Seattle. Customers were aghast, sickened, incensed. Full-grown adults cried at the counter. Children stared in disbelief when told the store would close in a few days. A dear woman said our store was one of her last tethers to life--a place where she felt welcome, and where she found comfort and acceptance. This is not your typical story of a bricks-and-mortar store closing because of big box stores or the prevalence of e-books. No, this is the unthinkable story of an owner who had a dream of a bookstore and the financial resources to write the check, but none of the personal moxie to run a business. So after a mere six months and deciding the book business was not her game, she closed the doors and broke the trust with our beloved customers. How can this be? For 14 years, Queen Anne Books has been the heart and soul of our community. Children who once entered our doors holding a parent's hand are now college students. Authors who launched their first books at release parties in our space are now New York Times bestselling authors. Our bookstore was a living, breathing, life enriching haven for readers of all kinds. I loved Queen Anne Books, but most of all I loved being a bookseller. It may seem simple, but the satisfaction of helping a customer select the perfect book for her own pleasure, or perhaps for her elderly father, makes a day worthwhile. I love being surrounded by books. I love unpacking boxes on Monday so Tuesday's new releases are displayed prominently for our customers. I love our backroom overflowing with advance reader copies and wondering which of them will be the next bestseller. As we struggle to keep connections alive with friends and family who live far away, what is more rewarding than helping a customer select the perfect book so she can buy two copies, then send one to her long-distance mother so that weeks later they can discuss it on the phone? (We had a customer who did this regularly.) I believe we've come full circle on this issue of the independent bookstore and its long-term viability. In recent years there have been threats from all sides--online mega discounters offering free shipping, huge high-volume stores where every title has a 40% off sticker, electronic reading devices so slim they fit in your pocket and feed your greed for instant gratification. But it turns out people still like bookstores. They like the long browse, and the handwritten recommendation cards. They like to talk about books, and read the first few pages before purchasing. They love the staff picks table. They love books. As a matter of fact, people will pay full price if it means they can have their own, cozy bookstore within walking distance of their home. What better to do on a rainy Saturday than spend a couple hours in the bookstore? Chances are you'll discover a great book and bump into neighbors. So, for the time being, there is no independent bookstore on Queen Anne. There is a small glimmer of hope that a local ownership/management team might emerge after the new year. But for now, I'm not recommending books to holiday shoppers, and that makes me sad.

E-readers and all that jazz

The common wisdom (such as it is) in the bookselling business is "adapt or die". We're to understand that if we don't expand in some way -- sell e-readers, add a cafe, become a wi-fi hub -- we'll become as relevent as buggy-whip makers.

Except...

According to a report in The Digital Reader, "...recently polled 1,983 US consumers and asked about the gadgets they used.  This filtered group of respondents consisted entirely of ereader owners, and 337 (17%) indicated that , on average, they used their ereader at least once a week.  Another 575 (29%) use it at least once a week. And the not-so-surprising statistic today is that 694  (35%) of the respondents indicated that they used the device just once."

Now it's possible that the e-readers were given to people who simply don't read. Sadly, there are a lot of folks like that in the world. Being dedicated readers, we don't understand it, but we acknowledge that it's true. But that's still a huge percentage of people who try it and shrug.

And here we just got e-readers in for you!

One of the complaints about some of the other types of e-readers is that they're complicated, hard to set up. In all honesty, most of us here haven't experimented with other e-readers so we can't speak to that. We can say our Kobos are really easy to deal with, for what it's worth.

Another observation is that, while many people do have e-readers, they also have tablets, and a lot of people discovered that they'd rather do everything on one device rather than have a separate gadget for each interest, so people are reading books on their tablets while letting their e-readers gather dust. Convenience makes a lot of sense.

(Shameless plug here, Kobo will be rolling out their new tablet, the Arc, in the not-too-distant future, and we'll be able to get them for you when they do.)

But here is the breakdown of those who aren't into their e-readers: "The survey went on to ask why those 694 owners only used the ereader once, and the majority (396 respondents or 57%) indicated that they didn’t have the time to use it; they are too busy. Approximately 22% (153 respondents) said that they’d received it as a gift and didn’t have a need for it. And a sizable 174 (25%) were among the Luddite minority who preferred to read with paper books."

These are interesting times for booksellers. Well, everyone in publishing, actually. There are lots of predictions out there as to what the shape of publishing will be in the next year/month/week, but the truth is, no one really knows. We're all kind of making this up as we go, which is both exciting and terrifying.

But we've said all along that print books would always be around, and we're still pretty confident about that. They may not all be in print, but we believe that there will always be a percentage -- and we're betting on that being a fairly substantial percentage -- of people who love the feel of a book, the smell of pages, the actual turning of pages.

Still, we're adapting, and we're enjoying selling our Kobo Mini's and Glo's, just as we'll enjoy selling the Touches and Arcs. But we're reassured by the fact that there are still a fair number of you who enjoy the printed page!

-Fran

SPECTRE - ever-growing, ever-dangerous

We've been largely silent for the last few months on the questions about, and the actions of, Amazon. Frankly, we got tired of the fight. So few seemed to care or be willing to do anything about the dangers we see. However, there have been a few developements recently that we thought deserve attention.

                                            In no particular order:

    Journalist David Streitfeld of the NYTimes published a terrific article on Nov 4^th,  Booksellers Resisting Amazon’s Disruption. The article deals with Timothy Ferriss who has been writing a couple of books on how to do things swiftly. His The Four-Hour Workweek was a bestseller for him and his traditional publisher, Crown. For his latest book, The Four-Hour Chef, Mr. Ferriss has gone with Amazon as the publisher and seems honestly stunned that other booksellers will not carry the book.

            Signing Mr. Ferriss was seen as a smart choice by Amazon, which wanted books that would make a splash in both the digital and physical worlds. When the seven-figure deal was announced in August 2011, Mr. Ferriss, a former nutritional supplements marketer, said this was “a chance to really show what the future of books looks like.”

            The implication there is that Amazon is the only future of the book. If that was and is his attitude, he cannot be surprised that other booksellers would 1) be insulted by his attitude AND comment, and 2) would not be interested in helping him by selling his book.

            When Mr. Ferriss signed with Amazon, he celebrated the new at the expense of the old. “I don’t feel like I’m giving up anything, financially or otherwise,” he said.

            He has a somewhat different view these days. “By signing with Amazon, I expected this type of blowback,” he said. “I’ve been girding my loins.”

            If he'd been expecting it, he cannot be shocked that it is taking place.

             Now that publication is at hand, that future looks messy and angry. Barnes & Noble, struggling to remain relevant in Amazon’s shadow, has been emphatic that it will not carry its competitor’s books. Other large physical and digital stores seem to be uninterested or even opposed to the book. Many independent stores feel betrayed by Mr. Ferriss, whom they had championed. They will do nothing to help him if it involves helping a company they feel is hellbent on their destruction.

            “At a certain point you have to decide how far you want to nail your own coffin shut,” said Michael Tucker, owner of the Books Inc. chain here. “Amazon wants to completely control the entire book trade. You’re crazy if you want to play that game with them.”

             The irony, he [Mr. Ferriss] added, is that the $35 book was meant to be inviting to the casual browser. Amazon can do many things, but it still cannot let readers examine a book before buying. “This is the kind of book that physical booksellers would be most excited to sell,” Mr. Ferriss said.

            But what Mr. Ferriss clearly does not grasp is the economics of the bookselling world. They're key.  His book is $35. Amazon is selling it at a 40% discount, for $21. That is the same price that any bookseller would need to pay Amazon to stock it. If they wanted to compete directly with Amazon strickly on price and sell the book for that same amount - $21 – they would be making no money at all. If any bookseller wanted to make something on the sale (to say, oh, pay the rent or the employees or the phone
bill or for heat), they’d have to sell the book at a higher price than Amazon, thereby making their copies less competitive. Amazon is a massive, MASSIVE corporation that sells tires and tube socks in addition to books and e-files and can afford – or is willing to afford – to lose money on printed books.

        And keep in mind that Amazon is perfectly willing to undercut its own printed books – the Kindle edition of his book is just $9.99, which saves the buyer 71%. How much less does Mr. Ferriss make on the sale of e-files rather than printed copies? How aware is Mr. Ferriss of the economic practices of his new publisher?

        So, as we’ve written many times in the past, it is not only a matter of not wanting to enrich a corporation that is destroying our chosen and honorable profession, it also make zero financial sense. The math is clear. When Bill Petrocelli, co-owner of Book Passage, a large store in suburban Marin County, said “We don’t think it’s in our best interests to do business with Amazon,” he’s talking about the these issues. 

                                Then, on Nov 6th, came this story:

Amazon Goes After Netflix With New Monthly Subscriptions Now that they've done their best to conquer publishing, they're going after Hollywood. Like e-books, streaming movies and TV shows really is the next logical world for them to conquer. Here they go!

                                 On Nov 8th, it was learned that the 'buy-buttons' for the e-books from the major NYC publishing houses had vanished. You could still buy printed books and e-books from a few other publishers but not from Hachette, Random House, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and HarperCollins.

Just to be clear what we're talking about (and this is not meant to be exhaustive, just a sampling) -

Hachette: Grand Central, Little Brown and Mulholland Books (authors include Marcia Muller, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Margaret Maron, Michael Robotham, Michael Koryta, James Patterson, Nelson Demille, Lawrence Block)

Random House: Crown, Vintage, Bantam, Doubleday, Delacorte, Ballantine, Knopf, Titan, Hard Case Crime (authors include Mary Daheim, Lee Child, Gillian Flynn, Jo Nesbo, Rex Stout, Rita Mae Brown, Anne Perry, Peter Lovesey, Martin Limon, Cara Black, Stuart Neville, Janet Evanovich, Dean Koontz)

Penguin: Putnam, Dutton, Viking, Berkley NAL (authors include Aaron Elkins, Craig Johnson, Robert Crais, Clive Cussler, Ace Atkins, Deborah Harkness, Kat Richardson, Yasmine Galenorn, James Thompson, Susan Hill, Sara Paretsky, Jayne Ann Krentz)

Simon & Schuster: Scribner, Pocket, Atria (authors include Jan Burke, Ann Rule, John Connolly, Vince Flynn, Stephen Hunter, Jeffrey Deaver)

MacMillan: St. Martin's, FSG, Holt, Tor, Forge, Minotaur (authors include Louise Penny, Loren D. Estleman, Dana Stabenow)

HarperCollins: Harper, Avon, Morrow (authors include Dennis Lehane, Mary Daheim, JA Jance, Jess Walter, Phillip Margolin, Peter Robinson, James Rollins)

The next day the buttons were returned and working with the explanation that it had been merely a technical issue.

                                    However, there are a few things to bear in mind:

~ Back in Feb, Amazon removed the 'buy-buttons' from IPG books over a disagreement of terms.

~ In Jan of 2010, in another dispute with a publisher, Amazon removed all 'buy-buttons' from ALL of Macmillan's books due to a disagreement of terms. MacMillan has been the victim twice.

~ And which publishers were sued by the US Department of Justice over the issue of price fixing of e-books? Hachette, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and HarperCollins. They had tried a new pricing structure to attempt to stop the coming monopolization of the world of e-books by Amazon.  

               Coincidence? Or the opening of a new battle over the pricing of e-books?

Finally, a timely note of a sick twist: We've been referring to Amazon as SPECTRE, the outfit fought by James Bond. We see many similarities. SPECTRE is not bound by nationhood or the common rules of society, and its mission is to enrich itself at the cost of anyone and everyone and will do its best to wipe out anyone who stands in its way. With the release of the new James Bond movie, we've been puzzled that Penguin, who had been publishing all of the Ian Fleming Bond books, had let them go out of print. Seems like now would be the time to have them all available, right? Last weekend we stumbled on the reason: Amazon is now publishing them.

SPECTRE is now James Bond's publisher.

Goodbye, Mr. Bond

 

 

 

Self publishing and us

More and more frequently, we're asked by self-published authors to host signings for their books. We can't accomodate everyone, so we set up some rules, and they're not necessarily popular ones, but they're the ones we decided best help us winnow the field. And it's an impressive field!

According to Bowker , there are more than 235,000 self-published titles released every year. That's a whole lot of writing to have to narrow down! Granted, some are digital releases, so that's the immediate and first cut; obviously we can't host signings for digital books. But don't forget that there are a lot of digital books that are becoming print books, and when they do, our rules have to apply.

First, it has to be a mystery. I know, you'd think that would be obvious, but you might be surprised at how often we're contacted by self-published authors asking us to stock their books only to be hurt when we point out that we're a specialty shop and their romantic memoir of a talking badger just doesn't fit with who we are. Turn the badger into a detective and we'll talk.

But then, there are other rules, and we're serious about them. We'll only consider a self-published title if it's offered by one of the big wholesalers (Ingram is the first one folks go to, but Baker & Taylor works just as well), if it falls within industry standard discount (40% -- we have to cover our overhead to stay in business so that you'll have a place to sign), and if it's returnable (we always hope to sell through, but realisitically? It may not happen). Those three are non-negotiable. These guidlines are not meant to be mean. They're fiscal.

It's this combination that proves to be problematic. Books will be offered at the wholesalers for a reduced discount, and then authors tell us their publishers will give us a better deal, and that's great, but if we don't sell through and can return them to said publisher, that means we may have a credit with someone that we'll never use, so it's still money out of pocket. That's  why we want to get the copies from a wholesaler - if we have to return some books, we can use the credit for a future order.

And remember, there's 235,000 titles out there. Every year. And that number is growing. Other stores have come up with different criteria for their handling of self-published authors, and ours may change over time, but this is where we're at.

Authors, if you're self-published and want us to carry your book and/or have you in for a signing, here's what we need from you in your very first contact email:

~ Give us your published name (if it's different from your email name), the title of your book, who the publisher is, what the price is, the binding or format, and who distributes it. Also give us a small synopsis, just a paragraph or two. You can add a link to your website, but if that's all you provide, we won't click through. You have to be willing to do a little work to promote your book. If you won't, why should we?

~ Do not, ever, tell us to read the reviews on Amazon. In fact, don't mention them at all. We're indies; we've been fighting Amazon all along. Our stance is pretty solidly on record. If you use Amazon as your selling point, you don't need or want us. A lot of our fellow indies will simply delete your enquiry email unread if you link to Amazon. We're not saying that you shouldn't sell your book through Amazon; obviously it's financially imperative for you to do so. But we're not interested in partnering with them. We're not interested in you if you're promoting Amazon as the last word and source of your book. We want to help you, but we won't help them.

~ Which brings up another point: we do not and will not stock books published by Amazon. If your book is published by Thomas & Mercer, sorry, we will not support it or agree to a signing.

~  If your book isn't carried through the wholesalers but you have an innovative way of approaching the discount and returnability criteria, we can talk. We're flexible on a lot of levels, but you have to bring the solution to the table.

~ If we come to an agreement, it's your responsibility, dear author, to make sure your friends and family know that they can buy your books from us. FYI, if you give away your book to your family and friends, you're not doing yourself a service. This is your immediate buying base. They love you, they should be willing to support you, and they should be doing that by buying at full price. You don't become a paid and successful author by undercutting yourself. So have them call us and reserve the book to be sure we have enough on hand. If they buy it somewhere else, say somewhere on-line that discounts, and think it is perfectly fine to bring it to our signing with you they are terribly wrong. If we have you in to sign books, it is to sell our books. Please be clear with your friends and family on that. Don't undercut yourself or us!  The best way to be invited back for a signing for your second book is to help us sell a large number of copies at your signing. Make sense? We think so.

~ And lastly, be polite. There are 235,000 of you out there and there are four of us. We will work with you if you follow the rules, but insulting us is a certain way to insure that your book will never be stocked. Actually, that's true of any author, not just self-published ones.

Keep in mind that we've been at this for two decades. We've dealt with hundreds of authors, from rookies to Big Names. We're pleased for you that you've published a book, but then so have 234,999 other people this year, and they all want what you want. What will impress us and encourage us to work with you will be your professionalism, your serious intentions, your concern for what works for those selling your books, and your demeanor. Demanding divas are a dime a dozen. Do not for an instant believe or act as if you are owed a signing because you have self-published a book. We very well may be able to help you sell your books. But you have to believe we know what we're doing, and we're good at it. It'll be worth your time to hear what we say and work with us to our mutual benefit. 

We want to be your biggest fans and ally in bookselling; help us out with that.

 - Fran

Bookselling in France - a Contrast to America

We were sent a link to this New York Times article, "The French Still Flock to Bookstores".

As independent bookstores crash and burn in the United States and Britain, the book market in France is doing just fine. France boasts 2,500 bookstores, and for every neighborhood bookstore that closes, another seems to open. From 2003 to 2011 book sales in France increased by 6.5 percent.

There are many differences to bookselling in France - as long as you are selling French publications.

A more compelling reason is the intervention of the state. In the Anglophone book world the free market reigns; here it is trumped by price fixing.

Since 1981 the “Lang law,” named after its promoter, Jack Lang, the culture minister at the time, has fixed prices for French-language books. Booksellers — even Amazon — may not discount books more than 5 percent below the publisher’s list price, although Amazon fought for and won the right to provide free delivery.

Last year as French publishers watched in horror as e-books ate away at the printed book market in the United States, they successfully lobbied the government to fix prices for e-books too. Now publishers themselves decide the price of e-books; any other discounting is forbidden.

However, as the article points our (somewhat obliquely) is that all fo this protection is applicable only for French-language bookstores. A venerated English-language shop, Village Voice, has closed, falling prey to all of the problems facing booksellers in the US. People were sorry to see it go, but since it was English language, it didn't have the protections that native-language bookstores have.

Can you imagine the response of congressional Republicans if someone were to seriously propose a system like this, let alone something called the "National Center of the Book", a department in the Culture Ministry which, like the Paris regional government, gives interest-free loans to those interested in starting a bookshop?

As noted in the Seattle Times recently, attempts to dicker with the price supports the US government pays to sugar producers are fought off tooth and nail. If banks are in danger, they're bailed out. If natural disasters hit - the Feds arrive with help.

But an entire industry, a rich and vibrant segment of our national culture, is being wiped out due to predatory market manipulation and the Justice Department goes to war to negate solutions that the government had no hand in constructing, solutions that would help - a tiny bit - booksellers strive to survive...

Merde!