Amazon is more expensive shock!

There are many reasons to avoid ordering through Amazon. Their policy of ripping us off collectively by choosing not to pay taxes, their anti-union regime, the enormous discounts they charge publishers and because we do value bookshops. But, it is easier to say than do. You might not live near a bookshop (increasingly that is the case, thanks to Amazon), you might need a book in a hurry (and there is very little chance of Waterstones stocking a specialist book) or you are on a low income and need to watch your expenditure. But a good way to save money is to not use Amazon, or at the very least shop around.
Here are the prices of some current Five Leaves books, four recent and one backlist. These may not be fully representative of our 200 books, but the message is obvious (though we would still prefer you to buy from an independent bookshop, over the counter). Note that Book Depository is owned by Amazon, though is less grasping on discount, and is the only way to my knowledge of overseas customers obtaining books post free.
The Killing of Emma Gross (retail £7.99)
Amazon: £7.99
Waterstones.com: £7.99
Guardianbookshop.co.uk: £6.39
Book Depository: £7.99
Foyles.co.uk: £5.59
London Fictions (retail £14.99)
Amazon: £14.24
Waterstones.com: £14.24
Guardianbookshop.co.uk: £11.99
Book Depository: £11.68
Foyles.co.uk: £10.49
Talking Green (retail £7.99)
Amazon: £5.99
Waterstones.com: £8.99!
Guardianbookshop.co.uk: £6.39
Book Depository: £6.10
Foyles.co.uk: £5.59
Versions of the North (retail £8.99)
Amazon: £6.74
Waterstones.com £8.99 (with the book marked "availability uncertain")
Guardianbookshop.co.uk: £7.19
Book Depository: £6.74
Foyles.co.uk: £6.29
Jazz Jews (retail £14.99)
Amazon: £21.24
Waterstones.com: £24.99
Guardianbookshop.co.uk: not available
Book Depository: £19.74
Foyles.co.uk: £17.49

In summary, in five out of five cases Foyles.co.uk is the cheapest in every case. Waterstones is the most expensive in every case (and seemed to have difficulty with book information). Amazon's prices vary between second cheapest and equal most expensive.
I am only commenting on price rather than service, but if I was a regular or even occasional book buyer I would go to Foyles.co.uk as my first choice, or at the very least check their prices. I should say though that they only give post free if orders are over £10, so if the books are cheaper than £10 it is best to wait until you have more than one book. Foyles is a tax-paying company with bricks and mortar shops, which normally charge full price. For the avoidance of doubt, I have no direct connection with Foyles, nor have I ever discussed prices with them or offered them extra discount. Indeed, Foyles asks for less discount than any of the other companies mentioned. I was not aware of this significant price differential until half an hour ago.
If anyone were to buy all five books, this would be the charge:
Amazon: £56.20
Waterstones.com: £65.20
Guardianbookshop.co.uk - excluded from total comparision as one book not carried
Book Depository: £52.25
Foyles.co.uk: £45.25

Down with all pesterers

If you are a regular at Waterstones, or even an irregular, you have probably come across authors, book in hand, approaching customers for a chat. One author, with a backlist of some excellent fiction books, Stephen Benatar (ex-Nottingham as it happens) has been doing this for years to great success. Here's an old article about what he does: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2007/nov/08/sellingyourself. His books are good, but there has been a rash of other self-published writers getting in on the act, leading to customers feeling pestered. I found it bad enough when buying a book during the period when Waterstones staff would ask if I would like some populist dreck off the counter at a reduced price when I was buying something intellectually stimulating (or when I was buying other populist dreck), in the same way that WH Smith keep trying to sell me a giant bar of chocolate for only £1.20 when all I want is Private Eye. Annoying, and embarrassing for the staff as far as I could tell. Does Waterstones still do this? Not the last couple of times I've been in.
But I have digressed... Some of the books being sold by pestering hand-sellers have been grim, according to accounts, and one customer wrote to Waterstones complaining that they'd felt pressured into buying a badly written, badly produced self-published book by a pest. Waterstones responded by banning such practises. Unfortunately some managers reacted by banning everything in sight and some authors panicked. Below is Waterstones' statement, which is, I think, pretty clear. Some of our writers have had great success from signing sessions - I hope this all settles down to the benefit of real writers, Waterstones staff and Waterstones customers.
"Our aim at Waterstones is to host as many appropriate events as possible. These may be author signings, children's storytimes and activities, ticketed evening talks and many other sorts of events. Many of our shops have active events programmes and it is our hope that given the necessary support and encouragement we can build on this and get even more events happening in our shops. However, Waterstones’ reputation is built on service and on recommendation, and it is never acceptable for us to outsource either of these attributes. This means we will no longer allow open-ended handselling 'signings' where authors spend long periods of time in our shops approaching our customers. We will encourage our shops to support local authors, be they published professionally or independently, but never at the expense of the customer experience. So while open-ended, handselling events will not be acceptable, shops should consider other more appropriate events, such as evening talks or book launches."

It's good news week at the big W

Except it will soon be a small w. Waterstone's has announced a rebranding programme, moving to lower case "w" as the logo. The will be "rolling out a new brand", having announced that "It's important that we re-engage with our customers in a much more impactful way", getting away from the "stifling homogeneity" of the recent past. Never mind the dreadful construction "much more impactful way", this is good news for all readers, most publishers, Waterstone's (or is that now to be waterstone's?) staff, and people who write real books.
Provided budget follows promise, it looks like a return to more autonomous branches, which can better reflect the book buying public locally. There are nice words being said about working with local publishers and local writers and a significant reduction in floor space devoted to price promotions. I assume that with the closure of Borders there is less need for price promotion. But even the announcement that branches can put up their own best-sellers list indicates a return to trusting branch staff who have in the past had to cope with merciless centralisation and big redundancies.
A big independent in every town and city would be great, but that is not going to happen, so the health of the Waterstone's chain is important. Some have argued that the business model of Borders/Waterstone's is over. Maybe, but these changes will give the chain a fighting chance to survive. And make it nicer to work there.

Hurry - final weeks!

Today's Guardian usefully sums up the disastrous state of bookselling today. On page 13 Waterstone's has taken out a big advert promoting Nigella Christmas for under a tenner, less than half price. For a penny under half price the main literary bookseller in the UK will sell you the Guinness Book of Records, and for the same low retail price you can buy a volume of letters to their younger selves by Rolf Harris, Jonathan Ross, the racist bigot Alan Carr and others of that ilk.

One page 19 WH Smith offer up to 75% off another bundle of useless books that is only redeemed by the presence of Andrew Marr's book on Modern Britain. The Guinness Book of Records is a tenner though - you can save a penny by sticking with Waterstone's.

Two pages on, Borders, in their last gasp, is offering up to 60% off their stock as they are closing down. I'd never noticed their mission statement printed next to their logo before - "Let's escape" it says. And they will, as fixtures and fittings are also up for sale.

Look again at the figures.... half price at Waterstone's, up to 75% off at Smiths, up to 60% off at a chain that is closing at Xmas.

Someone trying to tell us something here?

No Borders

The problem with Borders - see financial pages and book blogs everywhere - is that they just simply got it wrong in the UK. They thought this was America, and it isn't, yet, but rents are higher. Driving to a huge out of town bookshop was not for us. Now 45 shops and about 1,000 workers livelihoods are at risk as the company slips into administration.

Borders always bothered me, particularly since I got my hands on the Borders (USA) managers' manual for smashing unions. Some of the content was hilarious, along the lines of advising managers that if they saw workers who don't normally talk to one another speaking together, beware, they could be talking unions. Worry if managers are not invited to staff nights out - they could be talking unions. From 1996-1998 the independent union the Industrial Workers of the World started to get a toe-hold in Borders USA, which led to firings and a Boycott Borders campaign. Like so many US companies they come over as all hip (the Guardian made much of their appeal to the Friends' generation) but at heart they were an anti-union firm, keen to hire till jockeys for low wages, operating a central buying system.

Yet their bankruptcy is terrible news. Many smaller publishers can't get into Smiths, can't survive off the indies and Amazon alone, which give Waterstones immense power over certain types of books. If they use that power wisely we all gain, if badly, we are stuffed. Yet I imagine the biggest losers will be the big publishers who need volume and need - to some extent - to be able to play someone off against Waterstones.

And Borders had its strong points - it stocked, at times, a very good range of magazines, literary and political. This will impact on Central Books, the main mag distributor to shops (and our distributor). From time to time they got behind local books in a big way - the Dundee Borders ordered 100 copies of our The Lost Sister, even though the author works at Dundee Waterstones.

There is a welcome spread of good indies, and small chains and good indies may be the future, but meantime we are in for a tough ride.