Closing Too Soon
I just found a used bookstore for sale via the internet. In the listing, the current owner writes, “Looking for a new owner who knows people read something other than the Kindle.”I’ve seen a few bookstores liquidating inventory, listing their store for sale on eBay, and simply closing up shop. My immediate thought isn’t, “Boy, it’s a shame the market shut them down” or “I guess the e-readers drove them out of business.” My response is, “They closed too soon!” I know of one former bookseller who closed his shop after 6 months of poor sales. I tried to make suggestions about things he could improve, but he had already “checked out” from bookselling. He was discouraged because another local used bookshop was closing down at the same time. I told him that he’d be the only game in town, things would get better, and to think about the years of positive cash flow he had. “Stay in there” is easy to say when you’re running successful shops. With 5 stores, I can have a slow quarter at one location as long as other locations are staying strong. There are many advantages to owning a multi-store chain. However, I do think that the solo independent bookstore, new or used, can make it nowadays. These booksellers need to stick it out, fight the good fight, and let this fad called “e-reading” subside.
When will we, as booksellers, give up? I hope the answer is, “never.” I don’t know about you, but I sincerely think that the e-reader revolution is a fad. I think that, unless you’re a traveler, the e-reader-revolution will end abruptly for you. I think people will realize very soon that being able to carry 100 books on one device, yes, is nice, but who needs to carry 100 books at a time? What about the bragging rights you get from sitting in a public place reading a good book? Unless I peek over a Kindle owner’s shoulder, I have no idea which book they are currently browsing. I might make quick judgments about the reader… the large man with a baseball cap is reading a fishing magazine or the young woman with cropped hair is reading a style guide or the man in a business suit is reading Good to Great. I like having people judge me by the books I’m reading! I like showing them that I love Steinbeck or C.S. Lewis or the latest book about bookselling. Why must we close ourselves off from the world by denying ourselves the expression we have through showing off our latest book pick?
I just don’t see the e-reader longevity. It’s been said that the “truth will always win.” In a sense, I think the printed book is the purest, truest form of literature’s dissemination. I think it will come roaring back, although I don’t want to count the book altogether dead. It’s far from that.
My hope is that young people can learn how to read from the printed page rather than a light-up screen.
So, my answer to when we will give up bookselling is simple: “Why would we stop?” For the used bookseller in particular, we have our own set of advantages. New books are getting higher and higher in price. Yet, with the margins the used bookseller maintains, we can keep our prices for secondhand books relatively flat. Yes, I think there will still be a place for new bookstores in the next 10 years, but I think the competitive advantage is with used bookstores. New bookstores like Barnes & Noble can’t prevent the price hikes for new literature. They will need to adapt somehow. On the other hand, I think used bookstores can weather almost any storm. They can fare well during peak book years and lean. With my 5 stores, we’ve seen that to be true. I’m encouraged when I think about the future for printed books… essentially, we can only go up from here! Take heart!
Sincerely,
Shane Gottwals
Walls of Books Franchising
Walls of Books Franchising
www.walls-of-books.com
1-888-94-BOOKS
1-888-94-BOOKS
I don’t think ebooks are just a fad. I’m not a full-traveler, but I’m an avid reader. And with hundreds of books, I’ve already run out of places to store them. And I’m tired of moving them with me every time I move. I like the convenience of buying a book and reading it within minutes.
When a person with an ereader is sitting next to me, and I’d like to strike up a conversation, I simply ASK what they’re reading. And every single time I’ve done so, they’ve responded.
Having said that, my 8-year old isn’t excited about reading on an ereader – unless it’s late at night and she’d rather not have to use a flashlight to sneak and read her book ;). But my 6 year old loves reading on an ereader. To each his own, but I enjoy mine. All 4 ereaders, plus the cell phone.
I don’t think e-books are a fad, but I do think that it will come down to cost: Amazon is aggressively trying to monopolize the publishing and e-reader market, as well as selling e-books at (be)low cost, and once they accomplish this in a few years, then – like all monopolies – they will raise the prices back to where printed books were before electronics. Compare that to used books, where the prices are about half that of new and can be returned for some value (or shared), and if lost or damaged represent only a few dollars, and you don’t need to buy a device to read them in the first place, and remember to charge it up regularly. If there is a threat to printed books it is on the printing front: the number of new copies WILL be reduced, and therefore the secondary market will have less to trade in. On the flip side, with the ever aging demographic, the flood of back catalogue titles from those downsizing their lifestyle is likely to increase in the next two decades. However, that brings up two things about the baby boomers: with failing eyesight, the advantages of backlighting and enlarged font will appeal to a tech savvy generation. And, being one of the last generations to have read as a hobby before the advent of video games, the decline in book readership is likely to continue much as church attendance. But, to think that printed books will disappear – they have been around for 500 years! – is highly unlikely. And the margins in used books are high enough to make them an attractive business (look at most other retail lately), and I would recommend that every community maintain at least one used bookstore.
OMG! You sound like my fellow typographers in the 70s when phototypesetting was introduced and like photo-typographers when their clients started buying Macintoshes. Yes, the ebook is going to go away, but it will be replaced by something smaller, faster, sexier, and something that holds entire libraries, or entire topics. How could readers resist a device that contains every book ever published about WWI, or every cookbook, or every mystery novel since the 19th century? It will fit in your shirt pocket and weigh as much as a sheet of paper. And that is just the beginning.
In the 60s, I made the transition from hot metal typography to photo-typesetting typographer to Quark user, and now InDesign user. Since 1995, I have worked as a book designer for a major publisher. When I design a title, I have to take into account every format: Hardcover, TP. MM pbk, and 3 formats for ebook.
As a used book-seller you probably have a better chance of surviving than B&N. But have you been to a B&N lately? The reading chairs are gone in the NYC locations—there is nowhere to sit except in the cafe. The store employs floor walkers to make sure that everyone sitting in the cafe has a purchase from the cafe! The Union Square location, in spite of being near NYU, New School, Lang, Parsons & Pratt’s Manhattan campus has the smell of death about it. The store is crowded but the register lines are empty. I will not be surprised to walk over here one lunch time and find the store closed. (Who knew we’d be rooting for B&N).
I have a huge library of books all related to books about books, typography. printing and design. I design and make miniature books as my hobby or art. I love books, but my Kindle has dozens of Sax Rohmer mysteries on it—downloaded from the Gutenberg Project—all out of print, unavailable anywhere. I am also reading Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, The Gods of Gotham, and the History of Japan. While I might revere a beautifully designed and bound book, my chief interest in books is the content—I am not married to the object. If you are an avid reader this is the best time to be alive since Gutenberg!
Sorry to disagree but I think you are so wrong about ebooks, although I do love reading your blog & wish you good health and steady wealth.
If you are an avid reader this is the best time to be alive since Gutenberg!
That’s my advantage… I actually HAVE Sax Rohmer in stock! I have faith that people will continue to value the bookstore, new and used.