tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post4046600311003155147..comments2024-03-13T07:34:24.149+00:00Comments on The Age of Uncertainty: Dumb it downSteerforthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-53526344592244880482008-12-09T23:19:00.000+00:002008-12-09T23:19:00.000+00:00Well yes, Waterstone's still have a fantastic ...Well yes, Waterstone's still have a fantastic range of books. I'm just judging them by their own standards. 20 years ago they had an even better range and their front of shop area wasn't clogged-up with television tie-ins.<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't want them to go under (I still have friends working for Waterstone's), but I would like to see some radical changes to the management structure and company culture. No more middle managers from M&S please. <BR/><BR/>I was patting myself on the back for spending a whole year surviving on second-hand books until Ms Baroque reminded me about royalties. I suppose the answer is to ensure that authors also receive royalties when books are resold.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-79459546689339988992008-12-09T22:15:00.000+00:002008-12-09T22:15:00.000+00:00Well I continue to stand up for chain booksellers,...Well I continue to stand up for chain booksellers, mainly because before Dillons (as it then was) and Waterstone's came to Belfast, we had one tiny bookseller, Mullan's, which closed at 12 noon on Saturdays.<BR/><BR/>As a result, mindful that I would like Waterstone's to stay in business, I've been shopping there as much as possible and have bought very few books online recently. I never have any trouble finding things I like: on Sunday, Antjie Krog's <EM>Country of My Skull</EM>, today the new Vintage Classics triple-decker of Henry Green's <EM>Nothing, Doting</EM> and <EM>Blindness</EM>. Oh and a new one of those Penguin Gothic Reds each time I visit (if you're reading this, Mrs Self, JRSM made me do it).<BR/><BR/>I might be worrying unnecessarily, as someone in Waterstone's once told me that their Belfast branch was one of the most profitable or highest grossing in the chain (come to think of it, that's probably my doing anyway).<BR/><BR/>On a more general point about retail, figures released yesterday showed that consumer spending was down 0.5% in November year-on-year - a much better figure than was expected. And this was before the VAT cut and every store offering 20% off everything in store. So people probably would have spent even more if prices hadn't been reduced, and figures would have been up year on year. We'll never know.John Selfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05761816149593541133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-44857667349989985402008-12-09T12:18:00.000+00:002008-12-09T12:18:00.000+00:00Well, Jeanette Winterson et al. would say that if ...Well, Jeanette Winterson et al. would say that if you buy books second-hand you're doing authors out of their livelihoods. But then, with half the good stuff OP what are you going to do. And anyway, the bookdealers have to feed their kids too! <BR/><BR/>I was in Borders Islington the other day and it was a depressing sight. It wasn't even just the Christmas books: the fiction shelves for 5-9-year-olds were full of what you could only call brand products, with nary a real book to be seen.Ms Baroquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01836227454899083962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-39518627591621516872008-12-09T09:41:00.000+00:002008-12-09T09:41:00.000+00:00As for supermarkets and airports, forget it, I'...As for supermarkets and airports, forget it, I'd NEVER buy a book there. And the only books I buy on Amazon are those I can't find anywhere else, but I always give the terrestrial shops a chance first & also buy at least half my books secondhand anyway.The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31282710707697107712008-12-09T09:38:00.000+00:002008-12-09T09:38:00.000+00:00About five years ago some kind soul gave me £40 of...About five years ago some kind soul gave me £40 of Waterstone's book vouchers for birthday/Xmas (being one of those December birthday people). I spent about 3 hours wandering around my local (4-floor branch) finding enough to make it up to £40, such was the uninspiring selection. <BR/><BR/>I am the backlash Steerforth. And I'm not alone. But then I don't suppose you'll be returning to bookselling in a hurry!The Poet Laura-eatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779308486569849157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-57638913851942256892008-12-09T09:07:00.000+00:002008-12-09T09:07:00.000+00:00What a great quote. I shall remember it for future...What a great quote. I shall remember it for future use.<BR/><BR/>It may be true that without this Faustian pact, publishers wouldn't have the cash to spend on the riskier literary titles. However, has recent glut of misery memoirs and celebrity biographies been matched by an investment in new writers? I haven't noticed any great literary renaissance.<BR/><BR/>How did publishers survive before the likes of Ms Katona decided to bare their souls?<BR/><BR/>Publishers are raking it in, but booksellers aren't. In order to compete with Tesco and Amazon, Waterstone's and the other chains have to discount titles to the point where some are almost sold at cost price. <BR/><BR/>I'd like to see booksellers stop chasing the bottom end of the market, but they're too frightened of losing their market share.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-31794557510345376442008-12-09T03:26:00.000+00:002008-12-09T03:26:00.000+00:00The standard argument is that the big-selling idio...The standard argument is that the big-selling idiot titles subsidise the riskier, better books. But I've heard people in publishing argue that we should be so pathetically grateful for this arrangement that we shouldn't even criticise the latest ghosted turd by Jordan, Beckham, Katona, Rooney or whoever.<BR/><BR/>Andrew O'Hagan best summed it up; he'd slagged off Miramax films, to which their PR oik responded that without Miramax, there would be no British film industry. O'Hagan responded thus:<BR/><BR/><I>"...if somebody doesn't like your book, there's no point in going on the radio to tell everyone what you're doing to keep people in jobs in the publishing industry. You defend your art, if that's what you're inclined to do, otherwise you take it on the chin and shush."</I><BR/><BR/>The bestsellers may well stop the wheels falling off the publishing industry entirely; but as books they're mostly meretricious shite, and it doesn't do anyone any favours to pretend otherwise.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-66380169374767786712008-12-08T06:54:00.000+00:002008-12-08T06:54:00.000+00:00So which of the ten would you buy--The Big Book of...So which of the ten would you buy--The Big Book of Top Gear, right?<BR/><BR/>BTW, just got my 2nd-hand copy in the post of David Karp's 'Leave Me Alone'. Huzzah!JRSMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430775461763521797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-40509201311393616392008-12-08T01:58:00.000+00:002008-12-08T01:58:00.000+00:00Freudian slip. I meant to say 'You're quite right'...Freudian slip. I meant to say 'You're quite right'.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-61660995904218375272008-12-08T01:57:00.000+00:002008-12-08T01:57:00.000+00:00You're quite write. The Brighton shop is excellent...You're quite write. The Brighton shop is excellent. I think that the chains have some wonderful booksellers who are passionate about reading. Unfortunately this wealth of talent is all-too-often stifled by the retailers who have moved into bookselling.Steerforthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07627936539372313828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32570460.post-56336498685361051292008-12-08T00:52:00.000+00:002008-12-08T00:52:00.000+00:00What you say is generally true, but I know of one ...What you say is generally true, but I know of one chain bookseller in Brighton which employs a lovely blogger and writer of short stories. I will make an effort this Christmas to go and encourage her shop (even though it is not my local branch by any means).pierre lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371090008924140199noreply@blogger.com