Good Books. Any way you want them. Even These Days.
The National Book Festival in Washington D.C. marked its 20th year this fall and, like everything else of its kind, it was virtual. The Washington Post recently ran an oral history of the first festival, and it showed, unequivocally, how much has changed since September 8, 2001 — one of the last days of that relatively tranquil period at the turn of the millennium.
On the opening night, there was a black-tie dinner in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress and every member of the George W. Bush cabinet was there, with Laura Bush as the honorary chair along with the featured authors, their families and other notables. The next morning, Bush hosted a White House breakfast for the authors, which, according to the Post, was an “intimate opportunity to get to know each other.”
Seventy-two hours later came 9/11, the beginning of our sustained period of anxiety, revenge and division compounded these days by factors that do not need to be named. We know what they are.
So, what about books?
Surprisingly, the world of books is doing well in many respects because of greater access for readers, availability in multiple formats, hot topics and a renewed belief in the value of storytelling and revelations. As with all things, there are winners and losers. But despite pessimism about so much else, books are arguably in better shape than they were in the halcyon days of 2001.
My concern in the past was that books — except for bestsellers, classics, the most popular children’s books and the Bible — could be hard to find in stores. Setting out to buy a book could be an uncertain mission rather than an assured purchase. That is no longer true.
Want a book? Amazon probably has it. It can sell it to you in print, as an e-book instantly and often in downloadable audio. Print books are so in demand that you may have to wait a bit for certain titles. But the urge to own is easier to satisfy than it was — which drives other booksellers to distraction.
Amazon is dominant now. There are, however, other factors to be considered. The independent sector is small but apparently vibrant. The “indies” have shown they have close connections to the communities they serve, a place for people to gather, to meet knowledgeable booksellers, hear authors, have coffee and enjoy browsing. Being an independent bookseller in the age of Amazon and COVID-19 is not easy — it never has been — but the paths to success of its kind are clearer.
In the past quarter century, there has been a rise and decline of what are known as chain stores — Walden, Dalton and Borders are all gone. A weakened Barnes & Noble which now has 627 stores nationwide has new owners and the leadership of James Daunt, the British bookseller who moved from an independent to revive the Waterstones chain franchise. He is reinventing B&N in ways that are meaningful, although the task is considerable. If you are a book person, take the time to listen or read Daunt’s recent session with the Book Industry Study Group.
I use the term advisedly, but I found it inspiring. (link).
He contends that customers looking for a book should be able to buy it rather than be sent away or told to return because the book is not in the store. This tends to send consumers to Amazon, which does not say no even if it tells you to wait. Every child (now an adult of a certain age) can tell you about the excitement of anticipation once you have sent in your cereal box top or $.25 for a decoder ring.
Daunt sees value in B&N’s Nook reading devices and app. For a time at Waterstone’s, he even sold Amazon’s Kindle. The reasoning, he says, is that anything that gets people reading is a plus. People who read come in all sizes and ages and do it in multiple ways — print, digital, audio, hardcover, paperback, large print, high and low end. Some of the most dedicated readers I know, favor audio. Younger people who are all-in on the Internet and social media say that when it comes to books, they favor holding them in print.
The pandemic, hard as it has been across the board, has shown the indies how important it is to update their selling techniques. They have had to ramp up selling online to credit card users, provide access to e-books and reassure customers that the books they order in print will definitely arrive. It is also true that virtual bookselling denies consumers the pleasantries of the store. Most virtual author events sell fewer books than when they took place in person. At one excellent session I attended, 210 people signed up. Not a single book was sold.
Daunt also foresees that by empowering his store managers to bring in stock based on their understanding of the communities they serve, he will reduce the rate of return on unsold inventory. Buying nationally as the chains were doing meant that many books were essentially shelved as wallpaper because of their subjects and style. Books can be returned to publishers for credit and returns from B&N and Borders were as high as 50 percent.
The impact of events and personalities on book sales has also been a growing factor in the marketplace, for better or worse. Donald Trump in all his facets has been a bonanza for book sales. Simon & Schuster, currently for sale by Viacom, has rolled out the work of John Bolton, Mary Trump and Bob Woodward since June, a portrait of Trump that is staggering in its horrific detail. Sales have been in the millions.
My least favorite development is the fact that someone like Donald Trump Jr. can self-publish what he contends is a book — Liberal Privilege — and see it land at #6 on a Wall Street Journal bestseller list and #8 overall for the week on Amazon. Political propaganda designed to make money is not in any respectable tradition I can think of.
On the other hand, the ascent of self-publishing has made it possible for anyone who wants to write a book to do so. With actual letter writing in decline, composing memoirs, journals and photo albums and then copying them assures that these words and images will be preserved in one form or another for posterity. I doubt that archived e-mail or texts will be found in trunks in attics a century from now.
The world of books evolves as everything does. The “Big Five” publishers — Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Hachette as well as Simon & Schuster — are all in various stages of restructuring with new leadership and perhaps new owners. They are all committed to improve diversity, recognition that the nature of writers, staff and the audiences they attract are fundamentally different than they were, say, a half-century ago.
Complacency is a curse in any creative field. That is not evident in publishing. Pessimism is common among the writers and sellers of books. So, the notion of optimism about what is happening these days and maybe in the future may be hard to accept. Permit me to repeat: the signs are encouraging.
