The Bookseller.com

7th September 2008

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BA: Bright mood in Brighton

14.05.08 Graeme Neill

Digital and environmental issues prevailed at this year Booksellers Association conference in Brighton, with the mood of delegates clearly lightened by the hottest weather of the year so far.

In his address, BA president Graham Rand was perhaps not entirely full of sunny positivity about the state of the industry, but was content about its future. "Nothing too exciting but nothing too alarming either," he told gathered delegates. "And that has now been the story for the last five or six years; small unit growth and slower cash growth but nevertheless, steady progress."

Rand said the increase in the BA's independent membership in 2007 compared to 2006 was encouraging (81 indies opened in 2007 and 72 closed, while in 2006 64 opened and 96 closed). However, Rand said the beginning of 2008 had been mixed: "In the indie sector we have seen far too many shops closing down—good shops, well-established shops." Rising rents were one of the main challenges, Rand added; he also bemoaned heavy discounting of titles. "Of course books will be discounted, that is a recognised fact of life, but why do they need to be so cheap? How can we expect the public to value books if we don't?"

Borders new chairman Luke Johnson was also optimistic about the health of the retail industry. "In some ways the book trade, albeit not as glamorous as some of the other entertainment media, is relatively safe," he said. "It's such a hugely well-established industry and remarkably stable. Overall there are more books being sold than ever before."

The BA also announced it would be publishing two new reports over the next 12 months, one examining how the book industry compares to other entertainment trades, the other a guide for booksellers. The BA said that for the year to end-October 2007 it made a profit before tax of £1.38m, down from £1.39m last year. Turnover was also down from £1.97m to £1.87m.

Meanwhile, Amazon has been challenged to join the Booksellers Association if it wants to participate in the BA's electronic Book Tokens initiative. At the BA a.g.m. held on the Tuesday of the annual conference, Louise Vance from the Sandwich Bookshop expressed concerns that Amazon would be able to sell electronic book tokens when they are introduced early next year. "We already know that a lot of people go straight to Amazon and I m worried this will increase," she said. However, Stuart Mathews, National Book Tokens m.d., said the tokens would be redeemable at the website, but only if Amazon joined the BA.

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