Imagine a World of Literary Spewage...

[frostokovich]

Hey, remember when about five years back books were considered the cool thing to give somebody, and literature seemed to be making a hard-fought comeback, clawing its way up the crumbling hillside of mass entertainment?  Well, guess who lost their footing and fell all the way back down the cliff?  Guess who's lying, bleeding and broken, in the

Comments

[copperwise]

Hi, new person here. Just wanted to say, YES, I couldn't agree more. I will do everything humanly possible to avoid purchasing books from chain stores. However, I'm lucky, because I live in a city with one of the largest independent/used bookstores in the world and they love having readings and signings. They have big names in but they are just as likely to have obscure authors. And they're online so people can support them from afar. I always send people to Powells first, then local smaller bookstores.

Powells

[frostokovich]

I try to buy as much from Powells as I can, even going through the Powell's Union site to get there. You are lucky in that regard (envy, envy).

Best,
Greg

[realthog]

I agree with all you say, but would add that most US and UK commercial publishers are actively complicit in this situation: their objective too is to sell units, not books. Since what they consistently forget in these financially based operations is that habitual readers are typically difficult bastards with minds of their own, it has been my hunch for some years now that the book trade in its present form is yesterday's evolutionary stage, even though it has failed to realize this yet. Yes, it takes a lot to make dinosaurs lie down and be dead, but that's where they end up eventually. What's less certain is what's going to take their place.

[trollpete]

I worked, several years ago now, in the west coast "flagship" store of Chapters/Indigo (the Canadian version of B&N/Borders -- big box full o' books and more!), with three big floors for your shopping pleasure. When I started, the entire first floor was the new releases, bargain books and gifts. By the time I left, just over a year later, the first floor was gifts, and oh yeah, bargain books and a table or two of new releases (Oprah's picks and Heather's picks, Heather being the CEO).

The nature of the gifts changed too - went from book related paraphernalia -- book lights, covers, journals, etc. -- to candles, wrapping paper, jewelry.

Jewelry.

I agree with trying to support the independents, on other principles as well, having seen a local book store rise and fall several times (currently again closed, because apparently local support means nothing in Ohio.)

Imagine a world where all you could read is the indigestible garbage scrawled by Dan Brown. Yeah, that made your hair stand up like Buckwheat's on The Little Rascals,

Bookstore support

[frostokovich]

Well, after a chat with my editor, I have a little more perspective on the problem with the chains, and to an extent anyway it's due to self-publishing bozos who petition and pester the bookstores like crazy to get their stuff put on the shelves along with the rest of the stock--and also authors who are their own worst enemies and will call up and harangue the store for not having their books in stock. Yeah, yell at them, I'm sure that'll make them three times more likely to carry your books....

So while I still can't help but see the signs that the books are themselves being marginalized, that's not the whole picture.

greg

Re: Bookstore support

[trollpete]

mmmmmmyeah, I can certainly see that to an extent, but B&N (corporate at least) brought some of that on themselves too, with the whole authorhouse - publish with us and we'll stock your book - deal. It may be long gone, but it was big news for a while, and the withdrawal of that program wasn't covered much. Can't help but wonder if that's one of the reasons why Borders has pulled away from Amazon/Booksurge. Not that that helps, or even matters, to the local manager.

But then self-publishing industry has also gone a long way toward damaging the book itself, and its reputation. I suppose it's part of the price of technology.

On the plus side, I've had some success in talking local B&Ns into at least ordering a couple copies of some books from authors I've supported - even with a small press, as long as the book is returnable, many are willing to listen to a spiel for a couple minutes. What I've seen in my experience is that it varies widely from store to store and manager to manager -- some wouldn't give me the time of day.

MTV Killed the what?

[frostokovich]

We need a pop song about this.

greg

[anghara]

I tried to leave a bunch of bookmarks at the desk with my local B&N - and got told in no uncertain terms to pick up my shit and go away. They don't DO promo any more.

Yes, I KNOW they are overwhelmed by self-pubbed people who are slamming them with badly written memoirs of great aunt Sadie's crochet tournament wins - but a minute spent talking to somebody would unearth whether they're great aunt Sadie's ilk or somebody published by Harper Collins or Penguin or Random House or any other legitimate publisher you care to plug in there. And after that it isn't a question of aunt Sadie any more. It's a question of, "we can't be bothered. don't call us, we'll call you... except we won't."

I'm really cheesed off at B&N for this and a bunch of other reasons.

But it's career suicide to do anything concrete about it.