Five reasons to rethink your business section

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How busy are your business bookshelves? In many bookshops it’s the Cinderella section: tiny, tucked near the back, largely unloved. But it could be so much more. Here’s why… 

1. We are a nation of entrepreneurs. More Brits are starting businesses than ever before, and most don’t have access to formal training resources. They’re hungry for practical, inspiring, book-shaped advice 

2. Work and life are inextricably connected, and that trend’s only increasing. This was my instinct was when I founded Practical Inspiration Publishing in 2014, way before Covid, and it proved a solid bet. If your wellbeing section’s doing well, your business section should be busy.

3. Business book authors are fabulous for bookshop events because they’re used to speaking to and engaging with people. Are you hosting events for local entrepreneurs with local business authors? If not, get in touch: we’re bound to have an author near you who can pack the place out 

4. Business book buyers have budget. The price points for business books typically sit comfortably above mass-market fiction because they give real return on investment.

5. Have you SEEN the range and quality out there? If you’re just stocking the core backlist of pale stale males, check out the extraordinary quality of new books from women, people of colour, activists and others. If readers can see it, they can be it 

The Practical Inspiration list is a great place to start reimagining your business section: we have 10 years of brilliant business and self-development titles (18 of our 2023 titles have just been shortlisted for this year’s Business Book Awards), a brand new 6-Minute Smarts series of short coach-yourself titles coming in November, and energetic authors ready to wow your book buyers 

What are you waiting for?