Borders bookstore chain is wobbling on the brink of oblivion and considering the forces against it, I don’t think it’ll be long before it plummets over the edge. Voices lift above the muttering of the crowd: ‘They charged too much. Why pay $25.95 for a novel when I can get it at the supermarket for $10? If they’re going to rip off their customers, they deserve to go under.’ The mob brandish pitchforks and hold flaming torches aloft. ‘Tip ’em over! Tip ’em over!’
Who can compete with supermarket prices? If we can get a 4-pack of John Grisham novels for $12.95 the lot, we’re laughing all the way to the checkout. Supermarkets have already put many mum & dad petrol stations out of business; and friendly local liquor stores; and butchers; and greengrocers… Recently Woolworths have been advertising that we should go to them to get our eyes checked and buy our new specs! For goodness sake, do they want to take over everything? Where’s it all going to end?
Do you realise that when you buy a book from a $5 bargain table (and I’m ashamed to say, I’ve done it too), the author gets nothing. That’s nada, zip, zilch, zero, NO MONEY AT ALL! I mean, it’s bad enough that they usually only get about $2 per book at the bookstore price. You have to sell a mega-load of books to be a rich author. Did you know that only about 6% of Australian authors make enough from their book sales to be able to give up their day job? Why do they do it? It’s their passion, it’s their calling and they love their art.
I know they cost more, but when you buy a book from a regular bookstore for the R.R.P you don’t just get something that will enlarge your world, enlighten your understanding and brighten your day. You keep the store in business, you keep their staff employed, and you ensure the person who wrote the book gets to pay their bills and put food on their table. As it is, they’re only making about $2 per book, so while you’re at it, buy a few for your friends.
Well said, Wendy. Exactly how I feel about the whole sorry saga, and I fear we merely onlookers or small-time players in this tragicomedy being enacted in our shopping malls, a story only in Act 1 of many to come.
I refuse on principle to buy books from supermarkets; I should extend my protest to petrol et al. but the wallet is very persuasive. At least in MB we have an excellent locally owned greengrocer selling locally grown produce of far better quality than the big boys in town.
There is an uneasy peace with my son on the subject of book prices; he remains firmly of the opinion that he will continue to buy overseas via the net books for $15-20 plus postage when the same title sells here for $50+ off the shelf. His opinion is hard to argue against.
I fear the war is going to last a long time. Meanwhile, we must make ourselves as comfy as possible in our sparsely furnished garrets.
Department stores are no the only option to chains like Borders. I shop at a real bookshop. It’s about as big as my family room, but has a whole shelf along one wall with books as special orders for people. There are a couple of staff who DO know about books and will get you something from anywhere in the world. Some months back I tried to get a book from Borders but couldn’t. My local bookseller got it for me and at $10 less than Borders listed it as (although they couldn’t seem to get it).
I’ve seen the list of closures and the one Borders bookshop that is closing is the one at Rouse Hill where I couldn’t get any satisfaction. I think we should support small, personal, local booksellers.
I’m all for supporting our local bookshops, and I’m sorry that didn’t come across. I have no strong feelings about Borders per se; their situation is merely symptomatic. But, if the bigger chains can’t compete with the ‘discount’ group, then the small local store is going to struggle even more. Hence my encouragement to be prepared to keep buying books at the full cost, in a proper bookstore, rather than a supermarket.
I didn’t know they got nothing. That’s awful! I know Lionel Shriver was saying one of her books was sold in a way that meant she got no royalties, I wondered how that worked. I know even with book clubs I get something even though they’re given a deep discount.
People really need to know the truth about the situation. I was surprised recently when Margaret Atwood said only 10% of writers are able to give up their day job. That’s sad.
Is your son buying local or overseas books? If he is buying overseas versions of local books he may not be getting the real thing. They always tinker with the product, particularly in America. Late Night Live offered the example of a documentary narrated by Jack Thompson. A TV station played the version of this from America. They had decided that Thompson’s accent was too hard to understand and had re-dubbed the doco with a US voice.
There’s also the issue of “ordering to the net” which occurs in supermarkets and chain bookstores. This is a really stupid, computerised, way of ordering books that looks at the fact that if eight out of ten books are sold then that is “only!” an 80% sales rate and the computer notes that only eight copies of the next book that author writes can be ordered. Statistically, 80% of these books will sell, so, instead of seeing 80% as a really good sales rate and ordering 20 books so that 16 books can be potentially sold, now only six or seven books will be sold. The computer logs this as a failure on the author’s part to sell the same number of books, and thus indicates that fewer books are to be ordered next time… until none are ordered.
Apparently only independent bookstores use human common sense, knowledge, and intuition to order and stock books. So, if you want to support an author, buy only from the indies.
First of all, what a ridiculous system! Gosh, even the AFL lets the team that comes last get first pick of the quality draft choices next season. To punish someone for having 80% sales is bordering on lunacy. Why oh why are people so weird about writers? Second, I agree that we should support the indies = God bless ’em. Unfortunately the general public have no idea about any of this. They’re just looking for a bargain. This leads me to despair for the independent bookstores, which can’t compete financially with the big stores.
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