File spoon-archives/avant-garde.archive/avant-garde_1997/97-01-27.165, message 77


Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 14:43:47 -0500 (EST)
From: "Pauper's Books" <paupers-AT-wcnet.org>
Subject: Re: new books from Autonomedia/SMALL PRESS stuff 



On Tue, 24 Dec 1996, Heiko Recktenwald wrote:

> On Mon, 23 Dec 1996 15:24:56 -0800 Tosh said:
> >
> >Also the fact that one of the better independent stores Midnight Special is
> >surrounded by Borders and B&N. What is the purpose of the two giants
> >competing within one block of each other?
> 
> Maybe some kind of ancient chines politics: they compete but also work
> together for books in general. Maybe cities and books need such places.
> 
Books certainly *don't* need the mega-stores, if by "books" you mean 
anything that isn't likely to sell a gazillion in the first 30 days. I'm 
a Waldenbooks survivor - left just before they might have promoted me - and 
currently an independent bookseller, so i've seen various sides of all 
this. Trust me, the chain stores are dumb, dumb, dumb, and depend on the 
reading public being at least a tad dumb as well. And the big stores 
thrive on picking the bones of independent bookstores. B&N was on record 
years ago, admitting their predatory practices, and surely everyone has 
heard about Border's union-busting practices, now that Michael Moore 
starting agitating. 

If publishers like Autonomedia get into stores like Borders, it's purely 
as "product." "Supporting" one set of little folks while you ride 
roughshod over others is a strategy that has worked pretty well in the 
music industry, and publishing/bookselling isn't lagging too far behind.

The situation in mainstream publishing/distributing/bookselling right now
is one where no censorship is necessary, since everything is preselected
for short-term profitability. Management at places like Waldenbooks is 
almost always dominated by people from the apparel business, and book 
knowledge is not necessarily even encouraged for booksellers in the chain 
stores. "Best Seller" figures are generally based on chain pre-orders, 
rather than customer sales. When i was with Walden it was not unheard of 
for a title to be on the Top 10 before it reached any stores - or even to 
be on the corporate returns list before it had shipped from the warehouses.

The punchline is pretty simple: don't support the giants, and *do* support
independents, particularly those who stock small press books. 
Independents are usually better able to give you information, and can
often even get special orders *faster* from the *same sources* than the
big guys. (Books that take an average of 3-4 days from my little store
take a minimum of 7 from our local chain store. Go figger.) And be
understanding when a special order takes a couple of weeks. Trust me, most
small presses are still faster than the majority of academic presses, and
the folks who work independent distribution - like AK, Koen, Left Bank, EG
Smith, etc - *work hard* to keep alternative information flowing. If you
don't see presses you're interested in your local bookstore, then request
them. Often, independents have to rely on customer suggestions to gauge
demand, so they can allot their usually meagre budgets most effectively.
I'm very happy to have reached the point where i can now keep a regular
stock of some of my favorite publishers - Automonedia, AK Press, Black
Rose, Common Courage, Ill, Book Publishing Company, etc - in my little
store, where people can actually *browse* through the stock, and very
thankful to the great folks who work the alternative distribution channels
for making it possible. For me, bookselling is part of the process of 
helping folks educate themselves by providing a wide range of information 
options and the expertise to help them make use of that. (When amazon.com 
can provide similar service, i'll feel better about their effect on 
publishing and bookselling in general.)

But, hey, enough about me...

-shawn                    
 swilbur-AT-wcnet.org

Shawn P. Wilbur, Manager       |   Resources for Sustainable Community:
Pauper's Books                 |   Green, Vegetarian & Anti-Authoritarian
206 N. Main                    |   
Bowling Green, OH 43402-2420   |   paupers-AT-wcnet.org
(419) 352-2163                 |   http://www.wcnet.org/~paupers



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