The problem with bookstores
I’ve rambled about this before. Rather a lot, but it’s been a while. And I’m less close to the situation now. Sort of.
I used to be that I was a writer, a reader and a bookseller. I got to witness the utter stupidity of the Borders implosion first hand. I know, without a doubt that most bookstore employees are good, dedicated people who deal with a lot (like, mentally delicate people breaking down in the store, people smacking them with Bibles and the infamous anonymous floor-pooper). They love books, love reading culture and want to bring more books to more people.
Likewise in publishing there is an amazing number of people who love books and want little more than to see great stories be enjoyed by readers.
Something is definitely getting muddled up in the process. During the Borders BS we were put under insane pressure to sell more. We were given daily requirements of those stupid club cards to sell, not to mention we had scripts we had to follow pushing other products. Our district manager told us hitting those numbers was not optional and we’d be fired and replaced if we didn’t do it. Meanwhile prices were being jacked up with the idea that making more off what sales we had would help. Instead it made people avoid us.
After Borders I had a hard time with bookstores. The nearest ones are 20 or so minutes away. When I am out in those directions I try to stop by and I never find the books I’m looking for. Oh, they could order it online and I could pick it up. But so could I. And in the meantime would I want to buy into their book club? No. It became inconvenient and downright aggravating to walk into a bookstore.
And then there was the ebook thing happening. Publishers admitted they banded together to fix prices because it was the only way they could compete with Amazon. Really? Well that seems familiar. If you want to keep your jobs you’ll sell more stuff. Stuff that’s increasingly expensive. Because, yeah, that works well.
And in the small press I was seeing increasing “Amazon is evil” to the point of publishers sending nasty mails to people or arguing on message boards with people who used Amazon to sell their books. I mean nasty words too.
And yet around that same time I also had a few publishers fail to pay me, or otherwise had some bad experiences. Borders even lost my last check (which was finally gotten to me because I complained on Twitter about it and the person who ran the Borders Twitter feed got it to me. See, good people work out there, it just gets muddled.) But Amazon paid me on time every time.
I’ve tried a number of times since then to re-build my faith in bookstores and publishers (as an entity, not specific people). At least once a week I get an update in my feeds about the DOJ case brought against the publishers for price fixing. This last holiday season I went to a B&N to shop for gifts.
What I found was infuriating. See, I wanted to pick up the first Dexter book for a secret Santa. Last time I’d bought a copy for myself it was mass market paperback, $8 or so. Perfect to add with another goody and stay under my goal price. Except they didn’t have it in mass market any more. Seems the publisher doesn’t sell it in mass market any more. Nope, it got popular and they moved entirely to trade paperback or hard back. Moreso, trade paperback used to mean $9.99-$13. Nope now a trade paperback of the first book of a series which came out nearly TEN years ago was only purchasable at $18.
Really? So now people won’t buy the more expensive option so the answer is to stop making the cheaper option and force them to buy it or nothing? Really? So I went to Half Price books and bought the paperback I wanted for less than I was willing to pay. And I’ve ordered from Amazon or bought at HPB since.
Because I am not an open pocketbook to milk. I’m a customer who deserves some damn respect. I never have expected my books for free. I’ve encouraged people to buy to support authors and not to pirate for as long as I can remember. I’m a hardcover buyer. I’m a buy-a-book-because-it-looks-neat person. I’m a buy-a-book-I’ll-never-get-to-reading-to-support-a-person.
As a reader it’s easy to remember this. I get to have a lot of great book conversations at the day job. I enjoy interacting with and reading my other author friends. I love writing and editing, and even putting together a book for self release. I love my publisher, who treats me well and believes in me.
But that muddled bit makes me feel furious and helpless and a million other BAD things. The dream of landing an agent and a big house contract is still there. I have a number of friends with both who love their publishing relationships. But damned if I’m not tired of fighting. And walking into bookstores these days feels like walking into the start of a battle.