Independent booksellers have urged publishers to “build us into launch plans” for books, “stop seeing us as an afterthought” and, instead of linking directly to Amazon, help direct readers to independent alternatives.
Alex Call, owner of Bert’s Books, reacted to BA president Hazel Broadfoot’s recent rallying call for presses to offer greater bookshop backing as their costs soar by saying: "I’d love to see the publishers level the playing field somewhat.
“For instance, when a big new book is announced with pre-orders available at Amazon and signed Waterstones exclusives, it can be a little bit frustrating to be told ’we’ll have a plan for independent bookshops in a few months’.
“Stop seeing us as an afterthought and build us into the launch plans so we can help boost publicity with our readers. And stop directly linking to Amazon. Simon & Schuster has recently started doing link trees so people can choose where to shop and that’s been a huge boost to us."
At the BA conference, Broadfoot said: "My message to publishers is, we need your support. Now and through the coming storm. Talk to your bookseller customers, understand what shocks they are facing, remember your Covid windfall and look at creative ways to help mitigate against those bookseller shocks. And remember that a very small gesture from you could have huge significance for a small business and could determine its survival."
Matt Taylor of Chepstow Books in Wales told The Bookseller he wished publishers would “segment indie booksellers as a separate, important, interesting and growing market to reach consumers and understand the best way to work with them, while understanding that indies will always make different decisions, and that price is always a factor in customer decision-making”.
He said recent examples that had worked well for them had been Simon & Schuster arranging for signed first editions of Bob Mortimer’s debut novel The Satsuma Complex for indies, as well as creating a linktree which was shared via Mortimer’s social media which linked directly to independent booksellers’ websites.
“This is one of our current bestselling fiction books now,” Taylor said, adding: “We’ve just run a book with a ticket event for Jeremy Bowen [which attracted an] audience of over 250 with book sales of 200-plus on the night. Continue to work with indies that can offer this.” He also said Hachette UK had sent a window kit for the new edition of Under Milk Wood, which had helped with sales.
Taylor also suggested extra discounts for bulk Christmas stock orders, saying: “It is always frustrating and embarrassing to see books on sale at a price below or equal to what you as a bookseller can buy them at. And it rankles for authors built up over several books by indies to then be classed as supermarket authors and indies effectively closed out.”
Rosamund de La Hey, owner and founder of the Mainstreet Trading Company and former BA president said the BA conference was “an important reminder of the breadth, influence and soft power of indies", something she said “most publishers are aware of, but more can always be done”.
“While none of us can discuss individual deals, it’s more important than ever, given the changes to our wholesale market, that publishers incentivise indies to buy direct,” she said.
Broadfoot’s call for a "mature debate" on scrapping printed cover prices on books — something she admitted to having mixed feeling on herself — drew a more muted response however, with one bookseller, who did not want to be named, saying: "While I see the attraction in the flexibility on margin from a logistical basis I’m concerned timewise on staffing, where costs are already increasing."
Call said: "I’d be extremely wary of removing cover prices for books, it would add a lot of workload for booksellers with either having to price every book that comes in, or constantly responding to customer price queries."
A commissioning editor who preferred to stay anonymous told The Bookseller: "My gut feeling is that having no control over pricing would make it very difficult for publishers to buy books at the right level – so much is based on forecasted revenue.
"That said, I do understand how difficult it is for booksellers, particularly in the independent sector to stay afloat, and big corporate publishers do need to find a way of working with them."
Katrina Thomson, owner, and Katharine Douglas, manager of the Ullapool Bookshop, added: "’We do not believe that scrapping the cover prices on books would be a practical solution, especially for independent bookshops throughout the UK.
"As an independent bookshop, we feel that the idea of more publishers working with other alternative online sites to promote new books could be an exciting and viable way of sustaining a real presence on the high street for many shops nationwide. Currently there seems a trend to promote advance ordering through only one website and actually, customers could and should be directed to alternatives, such as to bookshops direct or through Bookshop.org which supports and benefits independent bookshops. This could be a real bonus for shops throughout the year."