World Book Night – misguided and misjudged?
Posted on February 8, 2011 by Vanessa
As you know (or may not – it’s amazing the number of people who haven’t heard of this most trumpeted event), 5th March has been declared World Book Night, emanating from an idea put forward by Jamie Byng of Canongate. Even the title is hubristic – there is nothing global about the project. 20,000 ‘givers’ have been selected to each give away 48 copies of one of the 25 “carefully selected” titles. That’s one million books (about £9 million of stock at retail) being given away in one night – assuming it works as intended. One million books flooding a struggling book trade; one million copies of books which make up a good part of many bookshops’ sales (David Nicholl’s One Day; Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Case Histories by Kate Atkinson; Fingersmith by Sarah Waters to name a few); one million books being given away, further reinforcing the notion that we’re all there to provide a public service and that authors, publishers and booksellers don’t deserve or need to make a living.
The public (those who are aware of it) think it’s a great idea and quite understandably so – it’s getting something for free and we all love a freebie, especially some of the book bloggers who’ve been so breathlessly excited about WBN. Less excited are some authors – the writers of the 25 selected books will not receive royalties and given that most authors earn a very small income from their writing it sets a worrying precedent for those further down the ladder from these best-sellers.
Much less excited too are booksellers: while some are cautiously positive, most of the people I’ve spoken to are horrified; when we’re already being undercut by supermarkets who can wrestle bigger discounts from publishers and Amazon and Tesco etc are even selling books as loss-leaders, to further erode our market and the perceived value of books is foolish in the extreme. And that’s the problem: not that this will necessarily undermine sales but that it’s another way of eroding the public’s perception of the value – and cost – of books. As one hugely well-respected bookseller said to me “people will think that if the trade can afford to give away so much, our margins must be enormous and our profits vast…”. It’s hard to think of another industry which has given so much product away. Or indeed one which would want to.
When I contacted the Booksellers Association – our trade body – and raised my concerns I was very patronisingly put in my place. That I don’t see the wonder of Jamie Byng’s grand idea is down to the fact that I’m a Luddite and a flat-earther who refuses to appreciate the amazing surge in reading that will result from World Book Night. A surge which is unproven, unresearched and even the Hon Jamie – a man of many ideas, some genius and others utterly ridiculous – can only claim that “everything in my experience and instincts say its [sic] going to do something really amazing for books”. I’m not a fan of market research – much of it has a flawed methodology and makes unjustified claims (although that’s probably because I come from an academic background where every assertion has to be have substance), but surely before the booktrade gives away £9 million of stock there should have been some sort of research? I’m finding hard to see how the instincts of Jamie’s intestines should be grounds for this sort of giveaway.
Tim Godfray, Chief Executive of the BA, tells me that the BA Council see World Book Night as an opportunity for bookshops to “Reboot their Reading Communities”. WTF? That’s one of the problems with projects like this – slogans that at best mean nothing and at worst are merely spin intended to distract from the poor thinking behind them. He also pointed out to me that booksellers are not being asked to make any financial contribution, implying that that means we’re not entitled to any opinion. Which is wrong – the activities of the BA are funded by subs paid by members and so the time he and the rest of the staff are spending on this is in fact funded by booksellers and we should be able to question whether this is the best use of their time and our money.
Tim informed me that most of the funding, whether in kind or in cold hard cash, is coming from publishers and others in the trade. That publishers are happy to forgo such a chunk of profit on some of their best-selling books is indeed surprising, but given the discounting they indulge in, endlessly eroding profit in the quest to sell just a few more books in the supermarkets, even if it’s at a loss, logic does seem to be in short supply in the boardrooms. And I suspect that in order to get these books printed for free, the printers have tied those publishers into contracts regarding the amount of business they’ll put their way in the next few years, thereby covering their costs. I’d be amazed if that’s not the case. And of course, the authors concerned are losing out. Those whose books have been chosen might be selling enough to not miss the royalties – authors such as Lee Child, Marian Keyes and Margaret Atwood are probably not too fussed and have no doubt been spun a line about how this giveaway will do (completely unquantified and unknown) wonders for their backlist sales. But for many authors WBN merely reinforces the public’s suspicion that all authors are minted and can afford to work for free and that they certainly shouldn’t expect to get paid.
World Book Night means that booksellers, already working hard to make customers realise why indies don’t discount in the same way and why Amazon can afford to knock our cookbooks at less than half price (because they don’t have to have shops, or trained staff etc) will have to work even harder now to reinforce the idea that there is a cost involved in producing and selling books. After all, if you’re a punter and there is a charity shop full of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie that were given away aren’t you going to wonder why Muriel Spark’s other books are being sold at £8.99 in the bookshop up the road?
Next blog post – Not just me – reactions from others in the trade
Blog post after that – how this could have been done in a way that promoted reading AND book sales
Comments
67 Responses to “World Book Night – misguided and misjudged?”
February 8th, 2011 @ 11:53 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Andrew Ducker, Edinburgh Bookshop. Edinburgh Bookshop said: New blog post at State of Independents. World Book Night; misguided and midjudged? http://t.co/QMCPiFg [...]
February 8th, 2011 @ 12:41 pm
You know, I had misgivings about the whole World Book Day thing when I first heard about it, and without knowing all the facts as you’ve laid them out here, Jane.
I’m now very glad that I didn’t sign up to be a part of it. I’m utterly appalled that writers are not receiving royalties for their books, and that this seems to be completely without any proper consultation with said writers. How on earth can this be said to benefit anyone?
I’m looking forward to your blog post of suggestions as to how this could have been done in order to actually be beneficial.
February 8th, 2011 @ 12:43 pm
As an author I am a little confused. My books can already be bought on Amazon Marketplace for 0.1p.
People pay over £2 for a coffee in Starbucks but years of my work is worth nothing at all.
How does giving away a million books help people see that there is a ‘Fair Trade’ aspect to buying a book that ensures that the author makes at least 0.5p?
Maybe I’m missing something? Please explain. Isabel.
February 8th, 2011 @ 1:13 pm
When things are free, people tend to forget that someone always pays. If it’s the giver, that’s fine, but here it’s not only the giver but, indirectly, a whole load of people who haven’t asked to be givers.
February 8th, 2011 @ 9:31 pm
I really do not like where all this is going Vanessa. There are so many things wrong with it. I can think of far better ways to spend that amount of money – that might actually make money as well.
As a would-be-published author this is going to make it just a little bit harder still for me and all the would-be-published authors out there, some of whom ARE writing excellent material that others should be able to read.
The idea that this will encourage more people to buy more books – or even read them – is unlikely to be true. Sadly my theory is that the whole idea will have the reverse effect from the one intended.
February 9th, 2011 @ 9:30 am
The Reader Organisation has been running ‘Get Into Reading’ groups since 2001 – there are 300 now – reaching out to people who wouldn’t normally be readers, or perhaps have forgotten the pleasure of reading, and bringing them together through shared, read aloud, weekly groups. These groups run in care homes, hospitals, schools, prisons, libraries and mental health day centres. It works because we go to where people are, and we take the books – and lots of cake – with us.
We also run a big book give-away ourselves each year, called Our Read (previously Liverpool Reads), which is launching on World Book Day, and although it starts with a book-giveaway, the whole aim of the project is to encourage a culture of shared reading – much like that in our Get Into Reading groups – where the young people who recieve one of these books are encouraged to share it with friends, family, neighbours and teachers, and to engage with it in new and inspiring ways.
This year, we’re really lucky: Frank Cottrell Boyce has written a new book especially for us (which will be on sale in September) called The Unforgotten Coat
Our work is turning non-readers into readers, and improving indiciudal and collective wellbeing by connecting people through books. We work to change the way the whole nation uses, and responds to books, and want to put them back at the centre of our daily lives. This is our Reading Revolution!
February 9th, 2011 @ 9:50 am
Well said Vanessa. I’m a blogger, and I choose not to take part in World Book Night because, well, it just didn’t seem right to me.
I blog solely to spread a passion for books and reading, and I support that by giving away books almost every day, to people I know and meet. I don’t have the budget to give away new books, but I pick up good 2nd-hand copies of books I know and love and want to pass on. That for me is a much more pleasurable experience than cadging from publishers.
Warmest regards
Rob
February 9th, 2011 @ 10:40 am
The problem for writers is that public’s perceptions of the barriers to entry are so low. A vast number of people think they could themselves write a novel, should they have the inclination. This is unlike, say, music where proficiency with an instrument is seen as more mysterious.
The main barrier to entry to being published is accessing the capital needed to produce a book (plus having access to the marketing and distribution networks).
If the book trade wants to improve the public’s perception of the value of books then perhaps it should consider how these behavioural economic factors might be changed?
February 9th, 2011 @ 10:50 am
I too chose not to get involved in WBN because I couldn’t see the logic behind it, for booksellers, publishers or authors. One point you didn’t mention is the choice of books – they’re all fabulous, but I can’t see a free copy of Love in the Time of Cholera, for example, persuading a non-reader to suddenly shift and become an avid reader.
February 9th, 2011 @ 11:23 am
I appreciate the points you’re raising here Vanessa but I’m not sure I share your pessimism. I know the spirit behind WBN is a rather nebulous thing, not pinned down by research (although I’m sure some numbers must have been crunched before publishers decided to hand over vast piles of stock) but to ignore the generosity and optimism behind it is to rather miss the point. At the same time as you say we can’t know what the effect of it will be on book sales, the author’s other work etc you claim to know exactly how the public will regard the event and the damage it will do to the perceived value of books. I’m not so sure.
I’m a book blogger who will be taking part (there’s no benefit to me of course, the books are for others) and I know that the people I’ll be giving books to will be surprised and hopefully delighted. I’m an actor and will be offering those 48 books to an audience of just over 1000 people on the night. A quick word from me about why it’s such a good book and I’m confident that all copies will be picked up by people who will actually read them. I may even encourage them to share their thoughts about the book afterwards, creating a kind of mega-bookgroup.
Will these people feel books have been devalued by the gesture or will they be encouraged by the confidence behind it? How the books are given and received might make a difference. By making people feel like they are part of a huge and special event you make them realise surely that this isn’t about getting something for free, but about sharing a passion for reading and removing any obstacles between a reader and the book. I don’t see a huge difference between doing this and me putting a second-hand copy of a book in someone’s hand (which has no financial benefit to author or publisher either). Was the recent giveaway of Penguin Mini Moderns in the Telegraph as misguided?
February 9th, 2011 @ 11:56 am
These are all valid points, but there is a precedent for this – and a rather successful one: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Quercus gave away thousands of copies to generate word of mouth; I think this is just a similar way to do so for a wide range of literary authors. As a former bookseller, I know how persuasuve a good recommendation can be, and this is a great stunt to show that. It is not without risks, naturally, but broadly the idea seems sound.
February 9th, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
the undervaluing of books is being driven by a just a few. The challenge is that often people will not stand up.
We had the Google Book Settlement, it took the US justice Dept to tell us what many knew – the deal was a bummer.
We had agency pricing and again it takes two US states and OFT to raise questions even a child would raise.
We have the great Asda and supermarket discounting programme which everyone merely dismisses as a one off (£1 books)
We now have WBN which is flawed in its construct and has no demonstrable measure of success. Giving books away is easy selling them is harder. Nobody gets paid in the free model
The problem is that the only ones making the real moves are Amazon, Apple, Google, Adobe and that says a lot.
February 9th, 2011 @ 12:40 pm
I don’t understand why this wasn’t a “give a million books to libraries” event, linked to activities in libraries designed to draw in those members of the community who aren’t users. Music events, dramatized readings from popular bestselling novels, anything that will appeal.
This doesn’t help booksellers as such, but library users do often buy their own copy, especially of a sequel that they’d have to wait for, but authors would get PLR, and I assume everyone is in favor of libraries.
I feel the same about the organization that gives books to children. We have an excellent, though embattled, system to get books freely into the hands of children — the public libraries.
February 9th, 2011 @ 6:05 pm
Put simply, this post is misguided and misjudged.
What’s more, I fear it is poisoned with anti-Byng sentiment. He is a divisive person: inspirational to many and infuriating to some. I can’t help inferring from the tone and snipes in your argument that you belong in the latter camp.
I have to completely disagree with your points here. All the authors participating have waived their royalty WILLINGLY and were consulted about doing so. All the publishers, design team, printers etc etc are providing their services for free or at cost, so to accuse them of some sort of condescending magnanimity whilst they otherwise roll around in their profits is unfair.
The name of the scheme is not hubristic. It is obviously positioning itself as the adult counterpart of World Book Day. And next year – after the gargantuan task of launching in the UK – it goes global. What were they going to call it: ‘UK Book Night’ ?!!! It’s a signal of the ambition of the project.
This scheme has strived to be as inclusive of libraries and booksellers as it can be. In fact on the night it will be driving thousands through the doors of libraries, bookshops (chains and independents alike) in order to pick up their books.
As for damaging or ‘cannibalizing’ sales, the books chosen have already reached a considerable level of sales within their core markets and they are all backlisting. The very point is that their distribution for free is intended to put books into the hands of new people, to have that increasingly rare and special experience where someone recommends something to you and gifts you that object, entering not into a transaction, but passing along something special: a book – a carrier of ideas and stories.
I’m not an evangelist for WBN, but I did used to work for Jamie at Canongate and I had to comment because I think you malign the scheme and the man (I’d love to hear what you think he has done which is so ‘utterly ridiculous’) in an ill-considered way.
I stood on the South Bank on a freezing December night giving away 1000 copies of Lewis Hyde’s THE GIFT a few years ago. The gesture was completely integral to the theme of the book – the art of giving in an age of commerce. The book was 25 years old but re-publishing it and thrusting it into so many people’s hands created a word of mouth that gave it considerable profile, awareness and sales. I’ve seen Jamie do this time and again, in conjunction with Canongate’s sales, marketing and publicity activities. The effect isn’t scientifically measurable. It’s about the instinct – that alchemy of publishing that sets apart the good houses from the great ones. (I agree with Stuart Evers on this point in relation to Quercus).
The other thing you haven’t mentioned is the hours of coverage that WBN has secured on BBC2 on a Saturday night PRIMETIME. Jamie got Alan Yentob on board right at the start and immediately it was reaching a much, much greater audience than many similar schemes can only dream of.
You have every right to not take part in WBN but I think this piece exposes some sort of acrimony towards Jamie which tarnishes its credibility and leaves a bad taste in the mouth. When I left Canongate at the end of last year a lot of people were investing a lot of time in WBN for no money, way beyond what many of them expected. And they’re doing it for the right reasons – to get more people reading. To give willing participants the gift of giving.
You might not like it, but maybe next time consider the facts and motivations more closely before sledging something. Statements like ‘I suspect that in order to get these books printed for free, the printers have tied those publishers into contracts regarding the amount of business they’ll put their way in the next few years, thereby covering their costs. ‘ is complete speculation and it’s untrue. So why say it? Why the crushing cynicism?
Let’s see how WBN goes and do a postmortem afterwards. Who knows, maybe it will bring a person to one of your bookshops or to buy one of Fidra’s books who wouldn’t have before? I would like your operations to be bathed in a positive ray of light rather than this gloomy world (or UK) view…
February 9th, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Suzanne Collier, Jess Haigh, Paperback Reader, Anna Frame, Gav @ MFB and others. Gav @ MFB said: RT @DigitalDanHouse: I'm so angry with that post I mentioned earlier about World Book Night that I've had to comment: http://bit.ly/gXxcuY [...]
February 9th, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
Crikey Dan, I hadn’t realized that WBD stood for World Byng Night. But I guess I do now. Condescending – you said it mate.
February 10th, 2011 @ 1:20 am
Dan Franklin – I think you missed the entire point of Vanessa’s post.
February 10th, 2011 @ 8:52 am
Prediction: eBay, amazon, Abebooks are going to be swamped with “no longer quite so free books” on 6th March…
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:13 am
Dan, this was not an anti-Byng post. As an editor for Random House, I’m surprised that you failed to assimilate what was actually written here.
Both Jamie and Vanessa work in Edinburgh and know of each other. Folks in Edinburgh are simply too likely to bump into each other to be going around name-calling and causing each other offence. You’d know this but then like other publishers your field-of-focus is London and only central London at that.
It’s all very writing long passages on how great it is to be giving out books but where are the figures produced by the research on the efficacy of this medicine? You work for a commercial company and I assume that before you offer a rights deal to an author you crunch some numbers: where are those for WBN? Cost analysis is a simple management tool (heck, you see it in action on any episode of ‘Dragon’s Den’).
To go back to the point I made earlier about London focus which you perhaps took as a slight: the offer of author events outside of London is so rare that many booksellers are too afraid to raise their head above the parapet. Do not make the mistake that Vanessa is alone in questioning WBN. If she is alone, it’s in having the courage to stand up and say: ‘Eh?’
No matter. Nielsen BookData does not lie and at the end of March and again, at the end of April, we will see the proof of the pudding: has giving away a million books improved book sales?
As Vanessa concedes: if this helps, booksellers like her will throw their full support behind this scheme. Heck, we may even apologise: publishers know more about our customers than we do.
The problem for indie booksellers especially is the logical gap between the idea and the implementation – it is for this reason that a wider conversation should have taken place. Can you, for instance, tell me how many boxes are going to arrive at any one independent bookshop on the morning of WBN? The click-through from the WBN website takes a browser to the BA’s membership search list. Folks wanting to take part locally have tried contacting their libraries but the libraries aren’t returning their emails – perhaps they’re simply not allowed to get involved as some libraries are reporting that any promotional activity has been banned while their future is considered. Given that each indie is approx. 400-600 sq ft, where is the storage space to set these aside?
Penultimate point: Vanessa states that this is the first of three blog posts.
Last point: I’m not picking a beef with you either, simply echoing Vanessa’s point that this could have been done better with less harm to authors and how their work is perceived, more benefit to readers, publishers and booksellers but only had the BA done it’s job and supported a wider conversation we wouldn’t now be arguing about fundamentally the same point: how do we get more people to read regularly?
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:30 am
[...] Dan Franklin has weighed in and commented on Vanessa’s blog with what are frankly, parallel comments. It seems that he didn’t even begin to assimilate what was said before commenting – which is not to be unexpected as he is Mark Haddon’s editor (yes, the same author you see popping-up on the news in support of World Book Night) and therefore would have been involved in the lunchtime conversation that was had about what a spiffing great idea World Book Night was going to be. But hey, The Watford Gap doesn’t allow for publishers to suppose that booksellers actually talk to their publishing colleagues in London… and this is what is being forgotten. Publishing is not run by the folk who regularly appear for comment in the media. Being asked to talk on TV or to a newspaper is not the same as actually having to do the job. That’s what junior managers are for and so, as rudely awakened as governments have been recently by the actions of a certain group in leaking certain documents, so it seems that some publishing types are suddenly waking up to the fact that staff in their offices are having conversations with folk outside who similarly do not see why or how World Book Night is going to get more people reading. [...]
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:47 am
I think you need to be reading this book here to get your head round the whole “rebooting” thing:
http://www.macrowikinomics.com/
Charging for content is an outmoded business model. You need to figure out different ways of monetising the reading experience. Looks like Jamie Byng is at least trying to do that.
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:47 am
Vanessa’s post is spot on. I would actually go further on one point and say that even if this scheme was called “National” Book Night, it would still be a misnomer. Anyone finding out about WBN now can have no part in it as the books have all been allocated. They may be lucky enough to know one of the chosen givers: they may not. This is not an inclusive scheme in any sense and in fact is actually designed to pass the majority of people by completely.
Furthermore, consider the following scenario: a friend gives you a free book. Fantastic. They then announce they have another 47 copies to give away. OK. Maybe you can take a few off their hands. Right. Oh, and by the way, it’s not their favourite book ever, just their favourite from a pre-selected list. It’s already starting to feel like a pretty special gift, isn’t it? I just don’t see it. Far better to organise a National Lending Day where everyone lends their favourite book they have read in the last year (or five, it doesn’t matter) to somebody they know, preferably a non (or lapsed) reader. Unlike WBN, this initiative would be cheaper to run, would include everybody young or old (even if they only found out about it on the day itself), would involve books that really were close to the giver’s heart and I’m sure it would be good for bookshops as the lenders rush in to replace books they haven’t received back (which does actually happen a lot anyway). Well it’s just a thought and I do accept many of these free WBN titles WILL be gratefully received I’m sure. Equally many of them will end up ungiven, sat in boxes in spare rooms or under beds.
I did notice that the BA gave bookshops the opportunity to opt OUT of World Book Night rather than IN. Name a bookshop that would be happy to take money off one of their regular customers for a recent publication while at the same time someone they’ve probably never seen before comes in asking to collect 48 free books. Hmm. Well I’ve opted out.
The B.A. should be accountable to their paying members, or at least polite!!! Vanessa is right. In 15 years as an independent bookseller I have only had direct contact with the B.A once. They sent a rep to see us. He arrived late. He was drunk.
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:58 am
I am all for encouraging people to read, however, I do have fears that giving books away like this will have a negative effect on independent booksellers in particular.
I recently opened a bookshop in a small town, with a small but tight knit community. I have had several of my customers tell me that they are WBN givers. And this does worry me. These free books by and large won’t be given to people who aren’t already readers, they will be given to the people who make up the core of my customer base. So following WBN i worry I will potentially lose sales as these people won’t need to buy a book as they have a freebie to read. Maybe these are just the anxieties of having a new business, and i’m being silly, only time will tell I guess.
the other thing that irks me is the timing – it doesn’t seem logical to have World Book DAY and World Book NIGHT 3 days apart. Wouldn’t it have been better to have them either on the same day or 6 months apart? If I was to chose to promote both events, I think it would seem very muddled as it currently is.
February 10th, 2011 @ 10:35 am
Just to be clear here I am not the Dan Franklin who runs Jonathan Cape. I am not Mark Haddon’s editor. That Dan never worked at Canongate and I don’t want my comments misconstrued as his.
February 10th, 2011 @ 12:01 pm
If content is worthless Steier then companies like Amazon have no value. What do they sell? Content (no more and no less than that spam site to which you so thoughtfully posted a link).
Who makes the content? Authors. Who doesn’t know how to sell the content? Publishers.
Please go back into the stockroom and learn something about the book trade before embarassing yourself.
February 10th, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
How wonderful to hear a voice of reason. Several things have boggled me about World Book Night. First, I read a number of book bloggers at the end of 2010 telling authors to resolve always to be paid for their work in 2011, and decrying those in the underground/independent sector who do stuff for free. Many of the same people who think WBN is a great idea and don’t see the problem. Surely a case of do it on a small scale and it’s fraud, do it on a large scale and it’s business if ever I saw one.
Second, weren’t Nestle boycotted when they did something similar with formula? Weren’t Microsoft slapped with anti-competition injunctions when they did something similar with Explorer? Isn’t this what heroin dealers do when they want to capture a market?
Third, I don’t see how this will get NEW readers. It will ensure people who love books anyway will get their hands on more – and that instead of paying for a title from a small press, they will not pay for one from a big press.
Fourth, if free culture is something to be celebrated (which I rather think it is) then why is the book trade and media machine not pointing out that tens of thousands of ebooks are available for free all day every day to everyone who has a computer/ereader?
Have your World Book Night by all means but please fess up as to why you’re doing it and stop pretending it’s about getting people reading. It’s a marketing gimmick. And its purpose is to bolster big business and squeeze out smaller presses by capitalising on market position – coming back to Microsoft, I always thought there was a technical term for that.
February 10th, 2011 @ 3:02 pm
I’m really pleased to see so many people contributing to the discussion of World Book Night and quite relieved and pleased to see that it isn’t just me and some other booksellers that have their doubts about the scheme.
But I should point out to Dan Franklin though that I’m not anti-Jamie Byng. I’m sure he’s a lovely chap, but he’s positioned himself very firmly as the figurehead for World Book Night (at least within the trade) and so he has to expect the criticisms to be levelled at him. But I don’t think he realises the problems that the coal face of the book trade face and it’s a shame that the Booksellers Association didn’t temper his enthusiasm with a dose of realism about how tough it is to sell books these days without a million free copies being handed out.
You say that the books on the WBN list have all sold large quantities and are now backlist titles – for many independents those backlist titles are our bread-and-butter. A lot of these books are prime book club choices and still selling steadily. That you’re unaware of this shows that you’re somewhat out of touch with what people are reading.
But thanks for your contribution and I’m sure Jamie is delighted to have you poised to leap to his defence.
February 10th, 2011 @ 4:58 pm
An excellent perspective, Vanessa, and one which we, as an independent bookseller, wholeheartedly agree with. We will open on 5th March evening so two of our valued customers, who were successful in the WBN draw, can give away their books. Hopefully it will also draw some people to us that haven’t had a reason to come in before.
The bottom line, we feel though, is that the value of the written word is forever being challenged; from the removal of the NBA, to the loss-leaders in the supermarkets, to multi-discounts in the chains, to the threat to our libraries. Chains, by the way, which appear to be struggling – so much for that marketing strategy then.
When a Premier League football match may cost north of £50 for 90 minutes of “entertainment” how can anyone say a book that will last considerably longer and provide much more depth is worth so much less.
We seem to be losing the plot and when the libraries and bookshops have essentially disappeared, everyone will be nostalgic for the good old days. But then we’ll only have oursleves to blame.
Time for the independents to come together and challenge the status quo.
February 10th, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
Vanessa Robertson’s post, whilst raising some legitimate concerns with which I am sympathetic, is so full of misinformation that it distorts the issues and is extremely misleading about World Book Night. I cannot respond to all the points she tries to make but Dan Franklin’s initial post is worth reading as a useful counter to much of what she says (and yes he did he work at Canongate for a number of years and no he is not Mark Haddon’s editor – not least he is much hairier and younger than Mark’s editor who also happens to run Jonathan Cape).
But hopefully what follows will give people an alternative perspective on what we are trying to do with World Book Night. As well as explain why those behind it believe that it celebrates writing and encourages reading in innovative ways and that ultimately this will lead to the selling of more books. If we don’t achieve all these goals then I think the initiative will have failed.
Interestingly, at no point has Vanessa Robertson ever tried to contact me to discuss World Book Night or to check any facts (which is particularly surprising considering “[she] comes from an academic background where every assertion has to have substance”!).
1) It needs to made clear that World Book Night has had great support from across the book industry. Of course there have been some people who have reasonably challenged what it is setting out to do but these people are in a small (and vocal) minority. Over 1200 libraries and 800 bookshops have embraced World Book Night, including many of the best independent booksellers in the UK and Ireland. And many bookshops have significant plans for promoting World Book Night in the run up to the 5th March including Waterstone’s who are putting a World Book Night table front of store in every one of their 300 shops from February 15th to March 20th.
2) I was asked to develop the idea of World Book Night and this million book giveaway after a meeting of the Booksellers Association and the Publishers Association last summer at which they agreed this was an initiative worth pursuing. Shortly afterwards the BBC committed their support to World Book Night. Having such a key broadcaster as a partner is one of the reasons why the publishers have all supported World Book Night because they recognise that the raised profile that this initiative has been giving to books is benefitting not just the authors whose books are featured amongst the 25 but books more generally. And what has enabled World Book Night to do as much as it has in such a short space of time is because of the truly collaborative nature of the initiative which has involved every single part of the book industry, many of whom have contributed enormous amounts of time and effort because they believe that what we are trying to do here is something that could make a positive difference.
3) Vanessa Robertson’s extremely cynical “explanation” as to why the publishers are willing to participate in World Book Night is so off the mark that it deserves a detailed response. She claims that the books are being printed for free and suspects that as a result “the printers have tied those publishers into contracts regarding the amount of business they’ll put their way in the next few years, thereby covering their costs. I’d be amazed if that’s not the case”. For the record one printer, Clays, is printing all 1,000,000 copies of the World Book Night editions and is donating all the labour and machine time. All they are charging is for the glue and boards and paper. The publisher of each title is paying this reduced print bill and there are no strings attached. And despite this cost, each and every publisher has been happy to pay to have its titles included.
4) Vanessa Robertson also insinuates that the authors are not happy with the arrangement or have been hoodwinked into going along with this. The living authors involved, as well as their agents, have been delighted to be part of this initiative, willingly agreed to forego their royalties as they have the foresight to realise that this will almost certainly result in more of their books selling over the coming months and years.
It is true that we cannot know the exact outcome of World Book Night. But it is widely accepted that word of mouth and personal recommendation are both hugely important drivers for book sales and World Book Night is above all a celebration of the personal recommendation. Having 20,000 passionate readers giving out between them 1,000,000 books they love on one night is going to create word of mouth for books on an unprecedented scale.
I am also interested by this question of value and the suggestion that by giving something away you automatically devalue it. If something of inherent value (and I think the 25 books featured in World Book Night are all great reads and therefore have a high inherent value) is given away in the right way then I think this value can get increased.
If because of the highly personalised gifting of these million books, a large proportion of these great books get read and passed on and read and passed on, this could have a hugely positive effect on reading on this country. And this in turn will result in more people buying books.
I do understand the nervousness that is felt by certain booksellers. The challenges facing bookstores have never been greater and I am seriously concerned at what the impact of online retailing and digital publishing will have on the traditional bookstore.
I also accept that we might find that this huge public celebration and sharing of books does not have as great a positive impact as I and many others believe it will have. But World Book Night is going to happen regardless of whether certain people are sceptical of its objectives or its outcome.
The key thing surely is to embrace the possibilities that it offers which are enormous and forward-looking rather than cynically dismiss the idea before it becomes a reality.
And as a final point – because of WBN over 15,000 books are going to be given out in prisons around the UK and Ireland. Surely even those who are worried about us flooding the market (Nic Bottomley’s riposte to this in Ben Page’s piece that has just appeared in the Guardian puts the giving out of 1,000,000 books in its rightful context) will recognise that getting great reads into places where they might not otherwise be readily available is a good thing.
Yours sincerely
Jamie
February 10th, 2011 @ 9:34 pm
There are so many good points made here. Some people, in comments on this blog post, have suggested excellent ideas and I’d love to see some of them effected. So, I salute Jamie for having the energy to put into effect his plan, with all good intentions – I just think there are a) unintended consequences and b) other ways we could have done it. I’m especially attracted by the idea of bringing some benefit to libraries into this, in view of the current threats to them.
February 11th, 2011 @ 11:34 am
Hi Jamie,
I’m sure you don’t remember me, but I’ve been selling books long enough to remember you begging me to sell your first titles when you couldn’t get arrested selling Iceberg Slim in Kensington, and indeed visiting me in Clapham. The last time we spoke was a hilarious (!) redirection from directory enquiries whereby you thought you were talking to the Bookseller Magazine. Oh how we laughed! Do you remember we talked about Miranda July? You called me a fucker for selling American imports and invited me to her launch party. You told me to email you. I did. Twice. You never replied. I’m sure you were busy. I feel sure however that Vanessa would have found you far more available, so I guess that we all feel a bit shamed on her behalf that she didn’t talk to you first.
I am ambivalent about this project rather than antagonistic towards it. I will however defend a fellow booksellers right to have a contrary opinion and write about it on her blog without being patronised or, as happened on Facebook, be accused of being miserable and angst ridden, which in turn was all the excuse her accuser needed to never visit an independent bookshop ever again. Convenient in the lip service stakes, I’d say. A vocal minority; it was ever thus.
On the one hand if this stunt – as Stewart Evers above, would have it – is a success it will almost certainly in the following years gain corporate sponsorship of some kind be it glasses, chocolate or condoms and inevitably the supermarkets will become involved. On the other hand, if it is a failure – and how do you measure this? Has that question even been asked? – it will be the bricks and mortar bookshops who are left with a sizable hole in their backlist sales. Neither have you answered the question of how this will actually work – aside from mentioning word of mouth in the same breath as the telly (and not just telly, but Marks and Spencer’s telly) and Dan’s assertion that you are an alchemist. I really would like to ‘embrace the possibilities’ which hopefully will be enormous, but I would like to know, sort of, what they are. I’ve sold books in unfashionable parts of London for the last 25 years or more, so I like to think I’m more than a little adept at embracing and rebooting. And yes, I am supporting it along with three of my customers who are each having their books delivered to the shop.
As far as Nick Bottomley’s riposte goes, I think he needs to look at his figures again. Unless he’s really suggesting that there are 250,000 bookshops in the country.
February 11th, 2011 @ 12:25 pm
If you run a pub or a bar you’d never call ‘Free Drinks’ a promotion … Why is guy from Cannongate being credited for such a simplistic and ordinary promotion? This whole thing just highlights how feckless and uninspired the people in the upper-echelons of the book trade are these days.
I’ve been banging on about the need for an Independent book shop day that is relative in scope and quality to Independent record store day. Exclusive products, readings from top authors, local authors and everyone in-between. But most importantly the book trade need to find some belief in what we sell and confidence in what we do. The entire industry just seems so desperate. Giving away our product only heightens the lack of confidence that files down from the top to the bottom.
http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home
Also, someone needs to send Nick Bottomley a calculator. We’ve got a 144 books incoming and so I don’t appreciate it when someone goes on a national newspaper and gives wildly misleading figures to support a tepid argument. Didn’t he used to be an accountant?
February 11th, 2011 @ 3:41 pm
Dear Jamie,
Thanks for stopping by and I’m sorry that you thought my post was unfairly negative. And I’m sorry that you feel hurt that I didn’t contact you directly. I too feel hurt that you didn’t call me directly to clear up any errors before you spoke to the newspapers. However, I didn’t think you’d get back to me and as Jonathan points out, you don’t have a great track record at returning calls. I did try to clarify some issues with the Booksellers Association but just received standard, somewhat patronising emails informing me that I am the only person who has voiced their concern. The comments on this blog post from authors, fellow booksellers and readers rather give the lie to that don’t they?
To address your points specifically,
1.I doubt that 800 bookshops actually signed up for this. The email informing us that we need to opt out arrived at 1.18pm on Christmas Eve; probably our single busiest hour or so of the entire year. I didn’t even read it until back at work at the beginning of January and so missed the deadline to opt out. I wouldn’t be surprised if quite a few of the bookshops who have ‘embraced’ WBN are similarly listed as participants for the same reasons. Not remembering or having time to opt out is a long way from actively opting in, wouldn’t you say? In the last couple of days or so though, since I wrote this blog post, as well as the comments posted here, I have received a dozen or so emails from other booksellers, mostly agreeing with me and only a couple suggesting that there might be some positive benefits. It is a shame that the most vocal bookseller in favour of WBN was one whose maths let him down when trying to play down the proportion of free books to independent bookshops.
2.You were indeed asked to develop the idea for World Book Night and I know that I and probably all the other dissenters appreciate the effort you’ve put in. Out of interest, when you were spending all that time on this did you talk to independent booksellers? I’d love to hear that you did because then some of the objections that I and others have would have been considered, especially regarding the chioce of titles which make up a large part of our sales. We have already have someone return a copy of One Day by David Nicholls because they’d heard it was the one they were being sent for World Book Night and although we may not get many more returns, I am fairly confident that sales for these titles will drop off significantly. I’ll let you know. In fact, that title (and possibly others) are now being supplied on non-returnable, firm sale terms which doesn’t imply huge confidence of an uplift in sales on the supplier’s part does it?
3.Now you accuse me of being especially cynical: ‘She claims that the books are being printed for free and suspects that as a result “the printers have tied those publishers into contracts regarding the amount of business they’ll put their way in the next few years, thereby covering their costs. I’d be amazed if that’s not the case” ‘. If I am wrong then I apologise. Given the parlous state of the British printing industry with regular reports of companies going into liquidation I am surprised that Clays haven’t linked their support to a commitment from publishers regarding future business. Good for them and I am delighted that they feel able to avoid attaching strings to their sponsorship. Out of interest though, and in our spirit of openness and sharing, just how much is it costing to have Life of Pi printed? One of my concerns was that the costs involved in taking part in WBN would be a barrier to the involvement of many small publishers whose books would be perfect choices and whose authors would benefit hugely from the increased profile.
4.“Vanessa Robertson also insinuates that the authors are not happy with the arrangement or have been hoodwinked into going along with this.” Actually, the authors whose books have been selected are undoubtedly happy – they wouldn’t be taking part otherwise would they? My concerns are for the precedent this sets for other authors whose sales are smaller and incomes lower and for the growing feeling in some quarters that content should be free and that authors don’t deserve to be paid for what they create. With giveaways of books where authors are paid as little as a penny a copy and now WBN where no royalties are being paid, surely you can see that this is an issue?
5.Jamie, you say “It is true that we cannot know the exact outcome of World Book Night”, but can we not even hazard a guess? The Big Read in 2003 must have thrown up some data and even the Quick Reads project would give some indication surely?
6.I am delighted that 15,000 copies will be going to prisons – this is the first I’ve heard of this. However, given that the National Literacy Trust reports that half of inmates have serious problems with reading and four-fifths with writing, I’m not sure how welcome those books will be. There are better ways of tackling the serious problem of adult literacy and helping the reduce the link between functional illiteracy and recidivism. I’m not sure that Seamus Heaney or Gabriel Garcia Marquez are ideal. But no doubt, you’re working with organisations such as the National Literacy Trust and the prison service to provide help they think they need. More here: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/resources/sectors_we_work_with/prisons
7.“Surely even those who are worried about us flooding the market (Nic Bottomley’s riposte to this in Ben Page’s piece that has just appeared in the Guardian puts the giving out of 1,000,000 books in its rightful context) will recognise that getting great reads into places where they might not otherwise be readily available is a good thing.” Indeed I do see that as a good thing but I perhaps wouldn’t use Nic’s innumeracy as a way of backing up your argument.
Got to go now but, as I said, thanks for dropping in and if you want to clarify any of my points do get in touch.
Best
Vanessa
ps – you could stop referring to me as ‘Vanessa Robertson’ – overly formal on my own blog, no?
February 11th, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
For those who still need it, there is a point-by-point explanation of what has incorrectly been called the ‘cynical’ position on this blog: http://methvenite.wordpress.com/
Have a nice weekend.
February 11th, 2011 @ 7:10 pm
I see it as a huge marketing opportunity for independent bookshops; they should be hosting events for regular, favoured customers to give away books, if someone in their area is a giver, and to make sure they have all 25 selected titles in stock…wine, nibbles, butter ‘em up and take their money! But make sure they have an enjoyable time, too.
When I worked in retail, for a while in the book trade, I regularly hosted social evenings but with a motive!
February 12th, 2011 @ 12:56 pm
I just left a short explanation of my (admittedly slapdash) maths as a comment on the Guardian discussion page for anyone interested. That should address Jonathan Main’s point above.
But just to clarify for Merlin who has commented further – (a) I was trying to give a comment to the Guardian on the gross “cost” of WBN to a given shop if you regard there as being one in terms of the 1 million book giveaway as against the trade’s annual sales volume. I was not giving any comment on the no. of books that might be picked up from a given shop – i’m sure that’ll be in the hundreds for any participating shop as you rightly point out (and obviously it couldn’t be less than 48). (b) I didn’t “go on” a national newspaper to give wildly misleading comments, I was called up and interviewed and gave a comment (with an appropriate caveat re: my calculations being very rough) to support what I personally believe to be a valuable initiative and (c) no I didn’t use to be an accountant.
February 12th, 2011 @ 4:57 pm
Nic – read your clarification. Very good, except, and I’m not trying to be difficult, I said 250,000 bookshops implying that I meant the whole of the market. I never mentioned indie.
I have to say however, that the fact that Jamie took your figures at face value and used them for his argument doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.
February 13th, 2011 @ 10:07 pm
[...] a highly critical blog posted on the website State of Independents Robertson says many booksellers are “horrified” by the “misguided and [...]
February 14th, 2011 @ 10:37 am
I disliked the idea initially because of the selections (see http://paulonbooks.blogspot.com/2010/12/world-book-night-one-million-free-books.html for comment) but didn’t go on to explore the financial implications for shops I love. Day by day the idea seems worse.
February 18th, 2011 @ 10:35 am
I have just recieved an email from the BA, informing me that I have 12 “givers” who are coming to collect their books from my shop. With the handy use of a calculator, this amounts to 576 FREE books arriving in my shop, which I am meant to store until I am contacted by said “givers”. I, however, am unable to contact THEM to arrange for collection, due to data protection issues. When I contacted the BA to ask where I was meant to put said books, I was asked “didn’t I have a basement?”. Well, as it happens, I do have a basement – however it is half of my retail space and the idea that anyone in the independent sector would leave such a large amount of rentable space free from potential income is truly remarkable. I also have another shop about 3 miles away (also without the assumed basement)- at this shop we have 14 “givers” who are expecting to collect from the shop. By my now exceptional use of the calculator I realise that within a 3 mile radius in suburban southwest London (not an area that traditionally needs encouraging to read books) 1248 FREE books are being given out. To say I feel targeted is to understate the case somewhat. To put it in storage terms, 17 cartons of books are to be stored “somewhere” in this small shop (and 20 in the other, much smaller, shop) until an unspecified “giver”, whose contact details we are not allowed to have, chooses to come and collect them. It is not the lack of backlist sales that I am worried about, it is the lack of any sales at all, given there are so many free books for people to read; they will not come in for frontlist either.
February 18th, 2011 @ 2:36 pm
I’ve just received an email informing me that 40 people have requested to collect their books from my tiny shop. Despite the Bookseller’s Association’s helpful suggestion to store stock upstairs or in a neighbour’s shop I have had to scale the numbers down to 10. My staff and I are working on our fitness in preparation for the warehouse duties ahead. Should any other deliveries arrive we may have to start digging a tunnel.
February 19th, 2011 @ 4:15 pm
What arrangements, if any, are envisaged for handling of books that fail to be collected within a certain time?
February 20th, 2011 @ 7:57 pm
Oooh steady Paul, I think you’ve just asked a question that comes under the heading of “Practicalities”. Something I suspect, given the evidence so far, that didn’t make the memo…
February 24th, 2011 @ 4:09 pm
I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Book Giver for World Book Night and I am looking forward to handing out my copies of “Northern Lights” by Phillip Pullman.
Rather than simply handing over copies to people in the street, my friends and my family, I have chosen to contact places in my local area where I feel the books will be well received and reach people who may not have access to books.
So far I have managed to secure drop offs at our local residential children’s homes, a local cancer charity who have respite care centres, and local school libraries including a school for children with special educational needs. I am hopeful that I will be able to donate copies to homeless shelters, the dialysis unit and the chemo/radiotherapy units at the local hospital as well. Everyone that I have contacted so far has agreed that the WBN idea is a brilliant one, and they are delighted to receive copies of the books to give to those who need them or add to their libraries.
Far from taking away from bookstores, I am hopeful that people will reaquaint themselves with reading, and take pleasure from being able to lose themselves in a story which takes them far away from the troubles that they face on a daily basis. When choosing which book I would like to give away, I specifically liked the idea of giving away copies of “Northern Lights” as it is the start of a wonderful trilogy of books that appeal to both teenagers and adults alike. Perhaps independent bookstores will not feel too much pain if the recipients of the free books then decide to buy additional books by the same author or in a similar genre?!
I have to say that after reading the above article I am appalled that anyone could be trying to undermine what is meant to be a lovely gesture, and shows warmth and kindness between individuals. What better gift is there than the gift of reading, after all?
I might add at this point that I have previously worked in bookstores and both private and public libraries and I found previous events to encourage reading have been well supported.
February 27th, 2011 @ 11:18 am
Hi. Nicola’s linked to this post in her’s today so I’m only just finding it, and want to say that my grandmother brought up world book night etc about a week ago and I told her I thought it was a great way to get people reading and publicity, but also that I disagreed with it greatly. I explained to her why but I’ve not been vocal in the sense of writing a blog post or anything. And today is the first day I’ve heard (read) of anyone else having misgivings, and I am so glad that I’ve read this post. High five to you for being bold and pointing out that WBN has its down sides.
I’ve not read all the comments, just the first few, but I want to highlight Nicola’s: “When things are free, people tend to forget that someone always pays.” Says it all, really, doesn’t it?
February 27th, 2011 @ 11:54 am
To clarify Catt’s reference to my blog post today, it’s here: http://helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com/2011/02/our-world-book-night.html
In it, I suggest a win-win way of joining WBN without annoying anyone at all, with no downsides, and with benefits for any writer, reader and bookseller you choose.
February 28th, 2011 @ 10:55 pm
[...] send round the memo marked “Practicalities.” There are criticisms about it which you will find here and here and here and here (I really urge you to read this last one) which I agree with. But I also [...]
March 1st, 2011 @ 6:57 pm
[...] Opinion over the giving away of thousands of books on World Book Night seems to be divided – but whatever side you fall on Morgan’s proposition is too good to resist. Her suggestion is that you buy one book you love, from a bookshop you love, and give it to someone you think might love it. Bookshops get the much-needed sales, and we as readers get to choose something that we have sponsored rather than the publishers. It is the ideal time for those who love popping into a good book shop to get back into the buying habit. [...]
March 1st, 2011 @ 7:43 pm
[...] Opinion over the giving away of thousands of books on World Book Night seems to be divided – but whatever side you fall on Morgan’s proposition is too good to resist. Her suggestion is that you buy one book you love, from a bookshop you love, and give it to someone you think might love it. Bookshops get the much-needed sales, and we as readers get to choose something that we have sponsored rather than the publishers. It is the ideal time for those who love popping into a good book shop to get back into the buying habit. [...]
March 2nd, 2011 @ 11:51 am
[...] only that, but World Book Night itself was taking a beating in the press. There was concern from some quarters about the impact a flood of one million free [...]
March 2nd, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
[...] When I first heard about World Book Night I thought it sounded like a great idea. That is until I realised that the 1,000,000 book giveaway was limited to only 25 titles. And each World Book Nighter would only be able to select a single book to give away to 48 people. While my out and out favourite book on the list of titles would be David Mitchell’s ‘Cloud Atlas,’ I would be hard pushed to think of nearly fifty people who would enjoy it. In the run up to WBN on Saturday there have been plenty more issues raised about the event. [...]
March 3rd, 2011 @ 3:08 pm
Two days to go and we still have 6 uncollected cartons clogging up our shop; this extreme junk mail has been our bane for the best part of a fortnight now. When the ‘givers’ deign to come in, they rush in, pick up the boxes (usually two per person) and rush back out to their waiting car – they do not stop and buy anything. So much for extra footfall.
When the original WBN blurb came we binned it without any further thought, not realising that we had to actively opt out of being a dumping ground – so we were shocked and surprised when a few weeks back we were told we had loads of people expecting to pick their freebies up from our shop. We immediately protested to the BA, but decided reluctantly to accept the situation as was by then too late to stop it without generating bad PR.
If the lunatics behind this scheme want to do it again, may I suggest they get the books delivered to offices of local publishers so they can experience the fun of storing the books and waiting around for a couple of weeks for the ‘givers’ to remember to collect the boxes. They’ve probably got more space than we have.
And what is the legal position if any boxes remain uncollected by Saturday night ? Can we dump them, burn them, sell them for 1p on the internet ?
March 4th, 2011 @ 10:46 am
World Book Night is a dramatic illustration of mindless profligacy. Why could not young or new or unpublished authors have been encouraged, instead of established authors who don’t need the publicity? That might have sent a message to the sclerotic agent/publishing axis of evil – that there’s a lot of good work out there, unpublished. Let the readers get it free (initially) – and judge for themselves.
I fear that many of WBN’s freebie books will end up at car boot sales and Oxfam shops. Foolishly, I offered to distribute some to my local old people’s homes. Then I cancelled. I could think of no way to give good homes to all 40+ copies of Sansom’s Dissolution.
WBN acknowledged my cancellation. But…
nonetheless, my local library received a case of ‘my’ books and is now wondering what to do with them!
What a waste of money…
March 5th, 2011 @ 12:26 am
[...] this blogger writes, you need to pique people’s interest like with the children’s World Book Day where the kids got vouchers to exchange for [...]
March 5th, 2011 @ 1:15 am
[...] this Edinburgh book trade blog writes, you need to pique people’s interest like with the children’s World Book Day where the kids got vouchers to exchange for [...]
March 5th, 2011 @ 5:01 am
[...] a highly critical blog posted on the website State of Independents Robertson says many booksellers are “horrified” by the “misguided and [...]
March 5th, 2011 @ 1:13 pm
[...] you may or may not know it, I am taking part in the (apparently controversial) World Book Night [...]
March 5th, 2011 @ 3:49 pm
[...] Opinion over the giving away of thousands of books on World Book Night seems to be divided – but whatever side you fall on Morgan’s proposition is too good to resist. Her suggestion is that you buy one book you love, from a bookshop you love, and give it to someone you think might love it. Bookshops get the much-needed sales, and we as readers get to choose something that we have sponsored rather than the publishers. It is the ideal time for those who love popping into a good book shop to get back into the buying habit. [...]
March 7th, 2011 @ 10:13 pm
[...] Carré, and J.K. Rowling, but not everyone shared their enthusiasm. In a highly critical blog post, Edinburgh bookseller Vanessa Robertson wrote: [While] some [booksellers] are cautiously positive, most of the people I’ve spoken to are [...]
March 11th, 2011 @ 10:16 pm
[...] this Edinburgh book trade blog writes, you need to pique people’s interest like with the children’s World Book Day where the kids got vouchers to exchange for [...]
March 24th, 2011 @ 3:28 am
[...] booksellers in general, not a month after two different Borders’ chains closed their doors, World Book Night was further devaluing the books by pushing the price of some major titles down to nothing. [...]
May 3rd, 2011 @ 8:37 am
[...] authors and publishers, raised concerns that, in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930s, it might not be in the best interests of the trade to give away a million books. In an attempt to keep this post as concise as possible, I’m not going to re-state my [...]
September 20th, 2011 @ 7:13 pm
[...] Books, and bookseller Vanessa Robertson, owner of the fabulous Edinburgh Bookshop, who has been vocal in her reservations about the delivery of WBN, and I wanted to do something to contribute to the spirit of the venture in a way that I can be [...]
November 6th, 2011 @ 1:52 am
[...] booksellers. Victoria Robertson, owner of the Edinburgh Bookshop in Bruntsfield, commented in a blog post that the type of bestsellers making it onto the WBN lists account for a large share of sales in [...]
April 10th, 2012 @ 4:24 pm
[...] Books, and bookseller Vanessa Robertson, owner of the fabulous Edinburgh Bookshop, who has been vocal in her reservations about the delivery of WBN, and I wanted to do something to contribute to the spirit of the venture in a way that I can be [...]
August 6th, 2012 @ 11:34 am
[...] to authors can be slim to say the least, perhaps these concerns are understandable. One blogger suggests that the problem isn’t so much that the giveaway will lead to an erosion of book sales, but [...]
September 21st, 2012 @ 3:36 pm
[...] Books, and bookseller Vanessa Robertson, owner of the fabulous Edinburgh Bookshop, who has been vocal in her reservations about the delivery of WBN, and I wanted to do something to contribute to the spirit of the venture in a way that I can be [...]