PRH and Waterstones dispute 'incredibly disheartening' for authors and agents

The continued dispute between Waterstones and Penguin Random House is “incredibly disheartening” and means authors are losing out, some agents and writers have said.

As previously reported, Waterstones has reduced the visibility of PRH titles in its stores to manage its stock over recent months after the publisher placed a limit on its credit, although PRH has said there are "no practical restrictions on trading now”. No PRH books were included in the chain's Book of the Month choices for June, continuing an absence of the publisher's titles stretching back into last year. Meanwhile the shortlist for this year’s Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, released last week, did not feature any PRH UK titles among the 18 shortlisted books, although there was one nomination for Penguin Random House US imprint Little Tiger.

Asked about the absence of PRH titles for its prize, a spokesperson for Waterstones said: "The WCBP is a prize voted for by our booksellers, in celebration of new and emerging authors and illustrators. We are very proud of this year’s fantastic shortlist, which really highlights the joy that comes from these wonderful books and the thrill of handselling such superb writing.”

Doctor turned author Adam Kay, whose paperback Kay’s Anatomy is published by Puffin, said he felt PRH authors are “not necessarily being treated equally” by the book chain.

“There’s obviously a chance that of the 18 top kids’ books [this year], 17 of them were non-Penguin, I have no way of knowing," he told The Bookseller. "But in the context of the number of books that Waterstones are ordering, the context of Books of the Month from Penguin authors losing that spot, it doesn’t feel like Penguin authors are necessarily being treated equally by that book chain."

He claimed Waterstones initially ordered a “two-digit number” in total for his recent paperback, despite it selling “about 150,000 in hardback”. This was later increased to “a three-digit number", he said.

“But bearing in mind Waterstones has the best part of 300 shops, the number of books they’ve bought doesn’t really stretch very far,” he said. “I’m very lucky because I’ve spoken to people who have had a nought-digit number of books bought, and they are people who need the support.”

He added: “I feel very sorry for all the people on the ground both at the publishers and probably in Waterstones because this is happening at the very highest levels and it’s a stalemate and there are two sets of people who are suffering as a result — it’s the authors and the customers. Because people will be rocking up to Waterstones expecting to be able to buy the book that they’ve heard about on the radio or they’ve read about in the paper and they won’t. I think at the very least both parties need to be honest and frank about the situation."

Another children's author, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Bookseller: "What a tragedy that our biggest publisher and biggest bookseller can't sort their differences out. And who suffers in the end? The authors. The latest news that there are no PRH authors on the Waterstones prize [shortlist] is incredibly disheartening.”

Literary agent Clare Alexander also expressed her concerns. She told The Bookseller: "It is clearly of serious concern that the largest UK publishing group and our most important high street bookseller are in dispute. During lockdown when we were without high street booksellers it became clearer than ever just how vital they are, not only for sales, but also for diversity and discovery.

“We very much hope that the two sides can speedily resolve their differences — each week that passes is increasingly distressing to our authors and will be causing serious damage to their sales and to their income."

Another agent, who preferred to speak anonymously, said they have a debut novelist who is due to be published by PRH next year and who has expressed concern about the impact the dispute will have on their sales if it continues.

One author noted the difference between profits the publisher has made in the last year and how the book chain has suffered owing to shop closures over lockdown. They were also worried about the impact the dispute was having on lesser known authors. They told The Bookseller: "It's the little authors that are going to be ignored a bit, which is kind of sad, and the smaller authors are the ones that need the bookshop prominence because they are the ones people won't be finding on Amazon. They would need somewhere to see them, so if their local branches display them and give them a little leg up that's where they get help."

They said there was a "plus side" which saw the chain buying more titles from smaller publishers. They added their "heart goes out to the PRH authors but that's where my sympathies end with PRH".

In response to the dispute with PRH a spokesperson for Waterstones said: “As The Bookseller has already noted, we are operating under a credit limit with PRH. We very much hope that authors are not being disadvantaged and we are working hard to maintain availability.”

PRH declined to comment when approached by The Bookseller.