Bookshops are not the problem

Boxing Day. The madness of retail at Christmas is over. The shops are closed. I am sat under a blanket eating my 17th mince pie of the day. All is good with the world. And then I went and looked at Twitter. Why, non-religious entity, why?

Book Twitter is, by and large, one of the more sedate sections of the ever-growing cesspool of opinions on the platform. But not on Boxing Day 2022. News had broken of Waterstones’ request that publishers offer them an 85% discount, so that the hedge fund-owned retail giant could add titles new and old to their self-flagellating sale. Unsurprisingly, publishers and authors declined their kind offer.

Among the loudest voices to call out Waterstones’ actions was Russ Jones, coruscating Twitter typer and author of The Decade in Tory. He tweeted: "I never thought I’d be criticising bookshops, but these giants are ruining the industry. They make it impossible for a writer to survive. Average income for an author is now below £7k. Order direct from the publisher, author income grows hugely, cos giants don’t take a bite."

“Holy Leftovers” I thought, “Russ Jones is turning on us booksellers. This is the social media equivalent of Bezos and Covid combined. Hang on though, £7k?” Let’s fact check shall we?

According to a report from UK Copyright and Creative Economy Research Centre, professional authors are earning a median of just £7,000 a year. So far, so factually true. And yet, so seemingly bonkers. Or not, as the most rudimentary of Sales x Royalties equations proves…

Yes I’m earning more than the average author, but I’m earning less than the average full-time worker.

If a paperback book sells 2,000 copies in its first week it would comfortably land in the Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers. Assuming it’s priced at £8.99 that’s £17,980 in sales. The average royalty rate for an author is 7.5%. Which means the now bestselling author pockets a massive £1,348.50. Something, somewhere in the system is wrong. Russ is right to be angry. He’s wrong to tar all bookshops with Waterstones’ bargain-basement, gold-lamé brush though.

Independent bookshops play a big part in breaking new authors and establishing their careers. Over Christmas our staff were pressing copies of Russ’ book into customers’ hands and repeatedly restocking a local author’s self-published book on the birds of Chew Valley Lake. Over the next two months we’re hosting events for four debut authors and lining up a playground’s worth of school events for World Book Day. We, like every other independent bookshop, are how authors without big marketing budgets or celebrity endorsements build their audience.

This does come at a cost to authors, I can’t deny that. We buy their books for less than the retail price, taking a considerable chunk of their potential royalty. I’d argue we’re not price gouging or exploiting their efforts though. By the time I’ve paid rent, rates, bills, the living wage (the real one, not the government’s rebranded minimum one) and taxes, I may have enough to pay myself £25,000 per year. For 50+ hours per week. Yes, I’m earning more than the average author, but I’m earning less than the average full-time worker (£33,000, according to the ONS).

The money from books sales is going somewhere and authors aren’t earning enough per book. Waterstones shouldn’t be asking for 85% discounts and Russ Jones is right to be angry. But asking readers to sidestep bookshops is the wrong solution to these problems.

Publishing and bookselling need to pay authors more. We need to value books more. We need to stop the race to the bottom on price. We need to place a premium on the craft of the writer and knowledge of the bookseller. We need to start treating our industry as well as Nadim Zahawi treats his horses, rather than as badly as Jacob Rees Mogg treats everyone bar his nanny.

Russ Jones, we, the independent bookshop, are the authors’ friend. Please don’t turn your scabrous wit on us.

Addendum: On January 6th, Russ Jones tweeted: "If you want to buy a book, please try to get it from an independent bookseller first (or direct from the publisher if they do that, i.e. @unbounders). Authors, publishers and independent bookshops do better."

Which rather undermines the premise of this entire article. Damn him.