Christmas sales were down in book stores this year. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is not seeking new manuscripts (!!??!!), bookstores all over the country, of both new and used books, are struggling, asking workers to take unpaid leave, going bankrupt, closing their doors.The economy is bad, of course, but according to an article by David Streitfeld in last Sunday’s edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, this is one we can’t blame on the current economic crisis. It’s all our fault. Yes, us.
We’ve changed the way we buy books, he explains. Although we love to go into book stores and browse, and we certainly want them to remain open, who wants to pay $29.95 for a book you can get for a buck-fifty used online?
Streitfeld includes himself in the group of transgressors. In theory, he admits, we really want to support these businesses, yet when it comes down to it, we decide cheaper is better. And not just cheaper—easier, too. Almost any book you want can be found online in just seconds. One former bookstore owner says that buying books online “was not morally dubious, but it is tragic. It has a lot of unintended consequences for communities.”
I found it really interesting that this article appeared just across the page from an article about Oxford, Mississippi’s Square Books, a nationally-known bookstore that receives real support from its community. When I was in Oxford doing my residency, hardly a week passed that I didn’t go to Square Books at least once. Sometimes I bought, sometimes I browsed, but I always enjoyed being there. I often attended readings and signings by visiting authors in their annex, Off Square Books. Even now, every trip to Oxford includes a visit to Square Books, and it was to their balcony overlooking the Square that I retreated with a cup of their pumpkin spice coffee last October to calm my nerves and prepare myself mentally for my oral comps later that afternoon. I’d hate for the world to be without places like Square Books.
But, not being able to buy used books online means that I’ll own fewer of the books I need and love. It’s truly a dilemma for book lovers.
8 comments:
Is it just smaller, privately-owned bookstores that are feeling the crunch, or even the biggies--Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.? I have less of a problem buying full price books in Square Books than I do in B & N, for example. Although I can't help but think, when I see a $35 cookbook at the store, that I can get the exact same new cookbook on amazon.com for $23! I agree--it's a dilemma.
This is so sad! I love going to a bookstore. And...you can't get pumpkin spice coffee from Amazon!
It's the big chains, too. The article mentioned Borders, Powells, and another chain that I'd never heard of that is big in the Northeast, but not B&N. I read in another article that B&N is the most likely buyer for Borders, but it said that B&N's profits were also down.
And I agree--I don't like paying higher prices, but I'd rather do it at Square Books than anywhere else I know. I guess you have to look at "value added"--signed editions, visiting authors, the ambience, etc. I guess I can quiet my guilt by buying at Square Books when I'm in Oxford and online when I'm home. :-)
I do love local bookstores and it's a shame that they're consistently failing. The oldest bookstore in Philly will close its doors forever this month, the Gotham Book Mart in NYC closed last year (I've never been more in love with a book store, and I happened upon it completely by accident) and I'm sure countless more have failed--it's like You've Got Mail in real life.
That being said, I just can't afford to get all my books for classes from physical stores. I'm so grateful for outfits like Amazon where I can get dirt-cheap used books. Despite the frequency of my online book purchases, I usually do want to but from a small book store.
Like most others (including Ian), I simply cannot afford (or don't want to spend the money) on new books from a bookstore. In fact, I think it rather absurd to buy a book new when so many people are willing to sell books they've read (or not read).
I think coffee shops, bars, and other congregational sites are taking over the role as meeting place to discuss books. It's like London in the 18th century again. Square Books is exceptional, methinks. Places like it will probably always be around. They reputations.
Your blog ate my word "have."
Books are a business like anything else. The publishers will adjust to more electronic formats like the Kindle to reduce costs. The chain stores will try to sell more for less to achieve economy of scale. The very small stores that will survive will do so as venues for author readings and because what they're really selling is an "experience." Used bookstores will only survive if they're the sort that -- like a classy antique stores or art dealerships -- have owners who are good at tracking specific orders of highly valuable first editions, etc. That's the future we've been looking at for years now.
One thing about ordering books "dirt cheap" online. I think that's okay for books of dead authors or totally overpriced textbooks. However, I always buy a book new if the author is still living. Otherwise, s/he gets no money. Authors see very little of the money that each book makes anyway; I think it's more than a little unfair to deprive them of their usually rather limited livelihood. An issue of basic human decency, I think.
JGR--I agree with you. The article barely mentioned the issue of author profits, though. Pretty much what I do is order older texts used online (like all the 18th century novels I had to read for comps), get most of my newer books online from places like amazon.com, where they are usually cheaper than physical bookstores but still give the author his/her share of the profits, and then buy the occasion new book when I'm at Square Books or some other book store and can't control my impulse to purchase while I'm holding a book I've really been wanting in my impatient little hands.
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