Just to wish all visitors to this blog a very restful festive season. The build up frenzy to Christmas seems to get more acute each year. Hopefully we will all get some time to recharge our batteries and focus on what we wish for the coming year.
If you haven't thought about your sankalpa, now is the time to do so. Here is an article that tells you all little more about it.
Merry Christmas!
Aum shanti shanti shantihi.
Caroline
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Musings on a snowy Sunday morning in Glasgow
Or to be more precise, the last Sunday before Christmas. There is blanket of snow out there and the shops must be groaning at nature's cruel turn in the run up to Christmas. Lots of people have probably left their shopping as late as possible in order to catch bargains. And shops are relying on footfall not snowfall.
Borders in Buchanan Street has been heaving since the closing down sale signs went up. I wonder how this has impacted on Waterstones in the cities that have a Borders? I can only assume it has a negative effect in Glasgow where Borders is much the better positioned shop for passing trade.
Which brings us back to the Hub. My opinion is that it is fundamentally flawed. The reason for this is because it is aimed at cutting costs with the publishers (demanding more of a discount from them) but not passing the cut onto the consumer. The resulting savings is to bolster Waterstone's bottom line (and keep the shareholders happy) not to make books cheaper for the general public. Eventually Waterstone's will become Amazon's terrestrial showcase.
People who buy books are essentially divided into 2 camps: those who love reading and those who love books. The first group devours books but don't keep them in their houses. It is in the doing and not the having that they find pleasure. They are more interested in authors and genres. Naturally they look for books at the lowest prices - supermarkets, etc.
The second camp (and I believe most people working in publishing fall into this category) love books. They buy books and fill their houses with them but they don't necessarily read them. They prefer literary fiction rather than pulp fiction. They can get as much pleasure from reading the book as anticipating the reading of the book.
The point, dear reader, is that until publishers engage more with the first group, in the words of Private Fraser, 'we're doomed!' I am not sure how we do this, but it is the question to ponder over the festive period.
ps Remember we have a sale of the Nod offs.
Borders in Buchanan Street has been heaving since the closing down sale signs went up. I wonder how this has impacted on Waterstones in the cities that have a Borders? I can only assume it has a negative effect in Glasgow where Borders is much the better positioned shop for passing trade.
Which brings us back to the Hub. My opinion is that it is fundamentally flawed. The reason for this is because it is aimed at cutting costs with the publishers (demanding more of a discount from them) but not passing the cut onto the consumer. The resulting savings is to bolster Waterstone's bottom line (and keep the shareholders happy) not to make books cheaper for the general public. Eventually Waterstone's will become Amazon's terrestrial showcase.
People who buy books are essentially divided into 2 camps: those who love reading and those who love books. The first group devours books but don't keep them in their houses. It is in the doing and not the having that they find pleasure. They are more interested in authors and genres. Naturally they look for books at the lowest prices - supermarkets, etc.
The second camp (and I believe most people working in publishing fall into this category) love books. They buy books and fill their houses with them but they don't necessarily read them. They prefer literary fiction rather than pulp fiction. They can get as much pleasure from reading the book as anticipating the reading of the book.
The point, dear reader, is that until publishers engage more with the first group, in the words of Private Fraser, 'we're doomed!' I am not sure how we do this, but it is the question to ponder over the festive period.
ps Remember we have a sale of the Nod offs.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Borders, etc
Today I popped into Borders in Buchanan Street, Glasgow. It was swarming with shoppers and the shelves were looking forlornly bare. Which only goes to show that there is a huge appetite for books. Throw 'closing down sale' into the mix and you have a recipe for success.
Maybe this is the answer for bookshops. Sales as a monthly event. People are always after a bargain. You could theme it for every month - crime for January, romance for February, military for March and so on.
Maybe this is the answer for bookshops. Sales as a monthly event. People are always after a bargain. You could theme it for every month - crime for January, romance for February, military for March and so on.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Bookshops - the endangered species
This week I actually heard someone say:
'What we do is go into town, look for what we want, and then order it online off Amazon - it is so much cheaper.'
I am not sure if they were talking about books specifically, but I think books is probably one of the hardest sectors hit. And the person saying it was in the just over 60 age bracket.
This is going to happen more and more. The question is - how do you stop it? At the moment the poor terrestial bookshops are taking all the brunt. Waterstone's answer seems to be to try and control all costs centrally and allow no scope for the people on the shopfloor to help it win the battle.
I drove past Waterstone's window in Lancaster city centre. I think all of its windows had a huge poster in it. One of the posters was advertising the two for one Annual (like Beano, Blue Peter, etc). The other was advertising an e-reader. What sort of creativity is that? It is obviously cost-effective but it is no fun for the bookseller who might enjoy window dressing. Nor is it very enticing for the customer.
Then the hub is another initiative trying to make Waterstone's more streamlined and cost effective. I am not sure it has done this. What it has done is taken the onus away from the publisher to ensure its books are in the right Waterstone's at the right time, and put it onto the Hub. In effect adding a middleman who I don't suppose has such a vested interest in getting the books to market, so much as squeezing a bigger discount from the publisher.
Books aren't lines of shampoo or toothpaste. They are more like individual seeds. Sow some in the right place and they will flourish, sow some in unsuitable shops and they will do nothing. It is the skill of the sower to get this right. There are over three hundred Waterstones and therefore at least 300 tenant farmers with willing hands to get a good yield from their crop. If there is just one big farmer in head office who does all the selection then you are going to end up with just a few types of books - the Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Braeburn of the book world. Soon the public will forget what a rich variety of apples there once was.
'What we do is go into town, look for what we want, and then order it online off Amazon - it is so much cheaper.'
I am not sure if they were talking about books specifically, but I think books is probably one of the hardest sectors hit. And the person saying it was in the just over 60 age bracket.
This is going to happen more and more. The question is - how do you stop it? At the moment the poor terrestial bookshops are taking all the brunt. Waterstone's answer seems to be to try and control all costs centrally and allow no scope for the people on the shopfloor to help it win the battle.
I drove past Waterstone's window in Lancaster city centre. I think all of its windows had a huge poster in it. One of the posters was advertising the two for one Annual (like Beano, Blue Peter, etc). The other was advertising an e-reader. What sort of creativity is that? It is obviously cost-effective but it is no fun for the bookseller who might enjoy window dressing. Nor is it very enticing for the customer.
Then the hub is another initiative trying to make Waterstone's more streamlined and cost effective. I am not sure it has done this. What it has done is taken the onus away from the publisher to ensure its books are in the right Waterstone's at the right time, and put it onto the Hub. In effect adding a middleman who I don't suppose has such a vested interest in getting the books to market, so much as squeezing a bigger discount from the publisher.
Books aren't lines of shampoo or toothpaste. They are more like individual seeds. Sow some in the right place and they will flourish, sow some in unsuitable shops and they will do nothing. It is the skill of the sower to get this right. There are over three hundred Waterstones and therefore at least 300 tenant farmers with willing hands to get a good yield from their crop. If there is just one big farmer in head office who does all the selection then you are going to end up with just a few types of books - the Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Braeburn of the book world. Soon the public will forget what a rich variety of apples there once was.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
A Shopping experience
First of all, how refreshing to get a comment from DownUnder. I always wonder who reads the blog (apart from Harry) so it's good to know it reaches parts I probably never will.
Anyway, today I had a bookbuying experience. I have a niece who suffers from IBS and I come from the school of boring but useful presents (a bit like the publishing), so I thought I would buy her a book on it for Christmas.
As it was 8 in the morning when I first decided this, my first port of call was Amazon. I did see a couple of hopeful titles - one with 5-star reviews. However, I am now a bit sceptical over the whole review issue and when I clicked on the reviews the reviewers had only ever done one review. And then I suddenly became overwhelmed with the number of editions of pretty much the same book. So I gave up as I had to go to town.
My cycle route takes me past a Waterstone's and I dashed in to see what they had. Dear readers, the selection was lamentable, nay non-existent.
On discussing the issue with a work colleague, she recommended I try WHSmith. So off I trotted at lunchtime. There I found at least a couple of books on the subject, one of which I had been looking at on Amazon. So I bought it. I didn't even mind paying the full price. It was exactly what I wanted in my sweaty hands without the stress of an online delivery.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that WHSmith are in a prime position to capture the boring but useful market. In those hopeful days when The Publishing Cupboard was just starting out, I felt that WHSmith was the spiritual home of the Nod offs. I reckon people with lives (ie hobbies and interests) find WHS more approachable than Waterstone's.
When I worked at Collins, we were asked to do a branding exercise. We had to describe the type of person who would buy Collins books. Overwhelmingly we came up with someone who dressed in M&S clothes who had hobbies and wanted clear accessible information. I fear this was felt just too boring. From that point onward practically any Collins title was to be presented by a celebrity. From changing a baby's nappy to fixing a shelf.
So while there is a big appetite out there for fiction, there's probably just as big a one for non-fiction. And when you get non-fiction right, it has a shelf life that can last years.
ps Remember there's a sale on in The Cupboard
Anyway, today I had a bookbuying experience. I have a niece who suffers from IBS and I come from the school of boring but useful presents (a bit like the publishing), so I thought I would buy her a book on it for Christmas.
As it was 8 in the morning when I first decided this, my first port of call was Amazon. I did see a couple of hopeful titles - one with 5-star reviews. However, I am now a bit sceptical over the whole review issue and when I clicked on the reviews the reviewers had only ever done one review. And then I suddenly became overwhelmed with the number of editions of pretty much the same book. So I gave up as I had to go to town.
My cycle route takes me past a Waterstone's and I dashed in to see what they had. Dear readers, the selection was lamentable, nay non-existent.
On discussing the issue with a work colleague, she recommended I try WHSmith. So off I trotted at lunchtime. There I found at least a couple of books on the subject, one of which I had been looking at on Amazon. So I bought it. I didn't even mind paying the full price. It was exactly what I wanted in my sweaty hands without the stress of an online delivery.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that WHSmith are in a prime position to capture the boring but useful market. In those hopeful days when The Publishing Cupboard was just starting out, I felt that WHSmith was the spiritual home of the Nod offs. I reckon people with lives (ie hobbies and interests) find WHS more approachable than Waterstone's.
When I worked at Collins, we were asked to do a branding exercise. We had to describe the type of person who would buy Collins books. Overwhelmingly we came up with someone who dressed in M&S clothes who had hobbies and wanted clear accessible information. I fear this was felt just too boring. From that point onward practically any Collins title was to be presented by a celebrity. From changing a baby's nappy to fixing a shelf.
So while there is a big appetite out there for fiction, there's probably just as big a one for non-fiction. And when you get non-fiction right, it has a shelf life that can last years.
ps Remember there's a sale on in The Cupboard
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Redirecting you
Two sites you might like to check out are www.indiebooks.net which is where you might come across some really interesting books. The selection has been put forward by independent publishers. Often these books are produced through passion (certainly not for the money - it is much too difficult) but won't reach the bookshops because the head honcho buyers just don't have time to look at the small fry in the publishing world.
The other is a new blog from The Fidra folk. It is called state of independents. It gives their take on the world of books and bookselling.
The other is a new blog from The Fidra folk. It is called state of independents. It gives their take on the world of books and bookselling.
Friday, 4 December 2009
More change on the book block
There is an article in today's Herald about the possible closure and loss of 500 jobs at the publishing-related bookshop, Wesley Owen. Both publishers and bookshops really are going through a hard time and it is obvious that a wind of change is going to blow through the dregs of this decade.
As a small publisher myself, there are a few blogs I like to follow to keep my finger on the pulse of publishing.
One is me and my big mouth. In this blog Scott Pack gives an interesting analysis of why celebrity books may be looking slightly tarnished this Christmas.
Another is Two Ravens Press, a small publishing company based right 'oop north' (Loch Broom near Ullapool to be precise). They are passionate about good fiction. This must be the hardest pile of straw to spin into gold in publishing terms. See the interesting blog where they quote Susan Hill's experience of running a small publishing company.
And then there is Snowbooks. I think Rob's blog highlighting Clay Shirky (can that be a real name?)'s essay on how bookshops are going to have to address the problems facing them is fascinating. They are going to have to weave themselves into the community (leisure and business) to create revenue streams that don't just rely on booksales.
And then there is Fidra Books. With 2 bookshops in Edinburgh under their belt, they are a brilliant example of exactly what Clay Shirky is proposing.
Meanwhile, remember there is a sale on in The Cupboard.
As a small publisher myself, there are a few blogs I like to follow to keep my finger on the pulse of publishing.
One is me and my big mouth. In this blog Scott Pack gives an interesting analysis of why celebrity books may be looking slightly tarnished this Christmas.
Another is Two Ravens Press, a small publishing company based right 'oop north' (Loch Broom near Ullapool to be precise). They are passionate about good fiction. This must be the hardest pile of straw to spin into gold in publishing terms. See the interesting blog where they quote Susan Hill's experience of running a small publishing company.
And then there is Snowbooks. I think Rob's blog highlighting Clay Shirky (can that be a real name?)'s essay on how bookshops are going to have to address the problems facing them is fascinating. They are going to have to weave themselves into the community (leisure and business) to create revenue streams that don't just rely on booksales.
And then there is Fidra Books. With 2 bookshops in Edinburgh under their belt, they are a brilliant example of exactly what Clay Shirky is proposing.
Meanwhile, remember there is a sale on in The Cupboard.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
It's sale time
In an effort to help all those people struggling to think what to buy for their nearest and dearest, we are having a sale. Do pop over to The Cupboard and see.
A Nod off and a bottle of wine (from the relevant country) is the ideal gift for any language learner (over the age of 18, of course). It is even better for any insomniac language learner. In fact, for any insomniac.
The sale is on until Christmas. I am hoping to clear all stock from beneath my daughters' beds. We will probably discover a Japanese soldier lurking there too (fluent in French/Spanish/Italian and Portuguese, naturally).
A Nod off and a bottle of wine (from the relevant country) is the ideal gift for any language learner (over the age of 18, of course). It is even better for any insomniac language learner. In fact, for any insomniac.
The sale is on until Christmas. I am hoping to clear all stock from beneath my daughters' beds. We will probably discover a Japanese soldier lurking there too (fluent in French/Spanish/Italian and Portuguese, naturally).
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Worth an experiment
Waterstone's are in a strong position on the high street. Now that Ottakers and Borders have all but bitten the dust, why don't they try an experiment.
They should choose perhaps 10 shops in good locations and give them the freedom of the bookshop. They allow the manager and those working in those shops to stock and promote what they want. They should be allowed to dress the window as they feel fit and generally do what they want to make the shop like the bookshop they dream of working in.
After 6 months Waterstone's head office can see how they are doing and whether they are selling more than other Waterstone's. It is an experiment that wouldn't really cost much and it would be interesting to see the outcome.
They should choose perhaps 10 shops in good locations and give them the freedom of the bookshop. They allow the manager and those working in those shops to stock and promote what they want. They should be allowed to dress the window as they feel fit and generally do what they want to make the shop like the bookshop they dream of working in.
After 6 months Waterstone's head office can see how they are doing and whether they are selling more than other Waterstone's. It is an experiment that wouldn't really cost much and it would be interesting to see the outcome.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Making bookends meet
With the collapse of Borders another route to market for publishers closes. I reckon it won't be long before we see publishers (both big and small) either go under or cut back radically.
They are pumping out thousands of books a year (the tally you hear is between 150 thousand and 200 thousand per year). But most of them probably don't get out of the warehouses where they are stored.
If they are lucky and leave the warehouse, this is where they might end up:
The only people who will carry on buying full price books are ones like my dear old Italian mamma who still considers Amazon to be that place in South America. Once the older technology ignorant generation stops shuffling up to the tills, then I fear there appears to be little hope for bookshops.
Would it be possible for Waterstones to guarantee to match Amazon on price, or is that just pie in the sky thinking?
They are pumping out thousands of books a year (the tally you hear is between 150 thousand and 200 thousand per year). But most of them probably don't get out of the warehouses where they are stored.
If they are lucky and leave the warehouse, this is where they might end up:
- Waterstones with its over 300 shops. But first they have to get the attention of the bookbuyer for their category. Poor bookbuyer I say. It is an impossible and thankless task trying to fend off all the publishers vying for attention.
- WHSmith. I have never heard of anyone succcessfully penetrating this chain.
- Blackwells, more of an academic bookshop.
- jsmith, again a bookchain that is mainly located at university campuses.
- Foyles or Daunts. London based chainlets.
- Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury or Morrisons. Put it this way, they won't want to stock An introduction to bee keeping.
- Online retailers such as The Book Depository and the mighty Amazon.
- Friendly, local independent bookshops.
The only people who will carry on buying full price books are ones like my dear old Italian mamma who still considers Amazon to be that place in South America. Once the older technology ignorant generation stops shuffling up to the tills, then I fear there appears to be little hope for bookshops.
Would it be possible for Waterstones to guarantee to match Amazon on price, or is that just pie in the sky thinking?
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