The London Book Fair 2012

This year’s LBF was a vast improvement on previous years. An expanded digital zone sees the industry acknowledging the importance of digital publishing in all its forms. One particular growth area was an increased number of eBook aggregators, eBook conversion companies and the apps area. It was good to see Amazon showing their faces (literally) as this is usually such an anonymous company. So the opportunity to make contact and speak with representatives of the behemoth was refreshing. It was good to talk about what Amazon has been doing with its Select programme and how it really does not work in the favour of any publisher, small medium or large. Why Amazon insists on exclusivity to join a promotion to give away your publications is beyond me, especially when its platform only publishes the Mobi format. I can’t see the logic in denying publishers the chance to have their books simultaneously published on other platforms that use ePub. Its a spoiling tactic too far and one which if abandoned would not affect the Kindle sales one iota. Either Amazon must open up their platform to allow ePub or give up on this programme of exclusivity that does nothing except harm the cash flow by stopping eBooks appearing on other platforms. It will be interesting to see what Amazon’s response is.

Barnes & Noble had a presence in that they were sponsoring various areas in the digital zone and had a small stand to help with Nook conversions. It was interesting how tight lipped everyone was about the industries worst kept secret the Nook coming to Waterstones (Wook). Even Waterstones representatives were not confirming nor denying anything about the forthcoming collaboration.

One thing the LBF lacks is any form is a connection with the end user…the reader. The fair seems quite happy to continue blithely ignoring the most important factor in the reading equation and I do wonder if there is a way to include readers in the fair to help the industry prepare for the next few years in the exciting developments in publishing. If they are cut out of the equation don’t be surprised to find the continuing growth of self-publishing at all levels grow out of hand. The industry needs to work at all levels to ensure the value of books is not lost on the tidal wave of un-edited but enthusiastically self-published books being given away at Amazon and other sites. I am entirely for the democracy of this new era of publishing but there are unscrupulous fakes out there who are just churning out rubbish (some of it badly plagiarised) and cashing in very nicely while robbing many of only a few pence but selling thousands of copies. Sorting the wheat from the chaff is the biggest challenge facing both the reader and the publisher. 

Talking of democracy, China were the focus country. It seemed half of Beijing was encamped in Earls Court. I do wonder who LBF will invite next…Zimbabwe, Rwanda, or Iran or another country will an equally exemplary record on free speech. While commerce with China is an increasingly important factor as we move forward in the 21st century; lets face it the traffic has been pretty much one way, with countries falling over themselves to get in to bed with China and precious little in return. Certainly not the individual rights of people in China. But don’t worry, as long as we are trading with them and they are out-pricing our workforce or making remarkably cheap (and similar looking) TV’s, computers or eReaders then all is rosy. Who cares about human rights or jobs in the UK. Oh and don’t worry about China’s mounting inflation problems (these will make Europe’s problems look like an end of day cash float miscalculation) worrying housing problems within its own property sector and massive environmental and waste impact. Because by the time we do it will be too late.

Overall though LBF 2012 was a success and a step in the right direction for publishing…albeit a small one.

How The ‘Meddle’ Man Nearly Ruined Our Business

There are elements of publishing which are needed and play a great art in the fulfilment and logistical chain. These elements such as Gardners or Bertrams can add benefit to large publishers who have a massive churn of books costing them little more than pennies per copy. You know these books they line the shelves of bookshelves of stores and supermarkets and often are sold for anything from a £1 to £5. However smaller publishers are often operating at much higher costs per unit on books and cannot afford to sell titles at prices which are not realistic or at a loss. Third party distributors or middlemen who add nothing to the equation except cost, carbon footprint, excessive handling and most importantly delay add very little in terms of quality to small publishers or even to the retailer who experiences a severe cut in their margins.

I am not for a moment saying that Gardners or Bertrams do not carry out an important role in publishing, they do, but not for every publisher. Many retailers are tied into contracts with these third party distributors and they have not seriously looked at options for cutting out unnecessary waste in the supply chain. There are instances where Gardners and Bertrams can be easily cut out of the supply chain to increase efficiency and profit.

In the past week I have received emails from more than one Waterstones store telling me that book events were in jeopardy because of delays incurred through ordering direct through Gardners. I know for a fact that I can order books from our printers (Lightning Source/Ingram) and have them delivered anywhere in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and Europe within a week. Waterstones orders through Gardners and suddenly it takes 3 to 4 weeks at the earliest.  What is happening to the books in the intervening weeks? They are sitting in a warehouse being ignored.

The answer that will stop my business from going out of business through delays in the supply chain from meddle men is for Waterstones to deal direct with Lightning Source/Ingram. Waterstones get the full wholesale discount, they receive the books direct from the printer and on time and everybody is happy.

Retail is in crisis, publishing is in crisis, yet here we are locked into antiquated systems which add NOTHING to the equation. This is the fourth instance in as many weeks where I have been contacted to let me know that a book signing will have to be cancelled because Gardners cannot get their act together. I guess Gardners are too busy counting the 21% rake off for destroying my business to care. Fortunately Waterstones do appear to care and hopefully taking steps to redress this situation.

Our Most Important Week

On Monday 19th March Caffeine Nights release four titles:

Abide With Me – Ian Ayris

Consequences – RC Bridgestock

Frank’s Wild Years – Nick Triplow

The Late Greats – Nick Quantrill

Each book will also be given away free for a very short period on Amazon Kindle as part of a promotion to get the books a wider and richly deserved audience. We have sent out copies of each book to numerous book reviewers at all of the national daily newspapers and other important media. We done this even though we knew these reviewers are tied up with books from major publishes in the hope that they will be prepared to look at something new. Each book will be supported with a book tour at regional level thanks mostly to the support of Waterstones, and often put a jeopardy by Gardners squeezing the life out of our wholesale discount and adding delay to the fulfilment process. Each book will be supported with a public relations campaign targeting the media at national, trade, regional and local levels.

Unlike the major publishers, we cannot flood the stores with thousands of copies of each title. We have to work very much at a one to one level because of an arcane ordering and distribution system monopolised by Gardners and Bertrams who are happy to take over 21% of our wholesale discount for doing nothing except delaying the ordering process. Despite trying for over two years to persuade Waterstones to deal direct with Ingram (a company with excellent distribution links to the book industry) and keep the entire wholesale discount they drag their heels and offer lame excuses. The sad thing is this denies small publishers anything close to parity with the larger publishers whose cost per unit is pennies not pounds.

So we fight the best way we can and that means we have to be aggressive and take extraordinary risks with our new titles by giving them away free on Amazon Kindle in the hope of gaining a ground swell of downloads and taking on larger publishers in a fight for the readers attention.   We have to be more aggressive with our approach with book signings and fighting for space in regional and local media and occasionally grabbing the attention of national media. Nothing is taken for granted and nothing is expected. Every fight, every battle won no matter how small is a victory of hard work and the extraordinary talent of the writers and their books which truly deserve as large an audience as possible.

The End of Publishing as We Know it and Amazon’s Part in it

Well, the end of publishing dates anyway. Amazon have chosen not to respect the launch dates set by publishers. They seem to operate alone in the world of retail at ignoring the launch dates set by publishers. Why does this matter? Often small publishers pin a lot of credence on organising publicity and book tours and this is timed to the actual launch date which the publisher issues with its metadata to all retailers (including Amazon).

Almost in isolation Amazon chose to ignore this and send books out to any customer who orders the book the moment it is available to order. There is a difference between a book being available to order and it being available for release. Book lovers may argue that it doesn’t matter as long as they get their books. But what does matter is the respect other stores show in respecting the launch dates if they can do it, why can’t Amazon. 

Amazon have fundamentally changed publishing and many aspects of what it has done has been a much needed kick up the arse for an industry which was pretty much set in its ways. It would be easy to argue that I am asking for things to remain in stasis and that would be true if over 95% of retailers did not respect publishing dates. Amazon are just trying to steal the market share from underneath other retailers and their lack of respect for publishers and other retailers is worrying.

We have four titles due for publication on March 19th. Many of these have been eagerly awaited by readers through a campaign of online social media  activities by the authors. Every single one of these books is being sold and dispatched by Amazon over a month before the titles are actually due for release. A month before other retailers will dispatch the books.

They are one of the most difficult, frustrating and non-responsive company’s to communicate with at any level. You almost get a sense of hubris from their actions.

There is no such thing as an even playing field

and don’t be fooled into believing that because you can publish your own eBooks and paper books that the publishing world is a fully open utopia for all.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The large publishers in the UK – the Random Houses and Harper Collins of this world – still have the whole world neatly sewn up. From monopolising reviews in our national papers to having the financial clout to swamp our stores with their content. Its a capitalist democracy and that is their right. 

The real issue though is the roadblocks put in place to stop smaller publishers making ingress into that territory. What few bookstores remain in the UK seem less and less interested in supporting new publishers. In fact in my experience there is only one major book chain prepared to work with new publishers and new authors and that is Waterstones.

As a publisher we know our duty to fully support any activity we have with the stores we work with. After all, the investment we as a publisher put into a single book signing is often well into hundreds of pounds of hard earned money in a shrinking market.

This is why we are happy and proud of the support of stores like Waterstones and more than a little disappointed by the reaction of chains such as WHS and Foyles.

Caffeine Nights is never going to have books in ASDA for a £1, nor are we going to have books in the £3.99 range, this is not our business model nor is it the market we feel is supportable. However there is a space for our books in all decent book stores which attract readers who know the value of great entertaining books at a fair price.

I have spent hours being bounced around various buyers in WHS trying to organise a simple local book signing and I understand their position of having to make decisions about titles. But the reality is that events such as local book signings bring fresh blood into stores and if handled correctly by the publisher, the store and importantly, the author, then they can and should be the beginning of a great working relationship. 

Waterstones absolutely get this. WHS and Foyles do not. With such limited outlets for small publishers it is a shame that these vital avenues are being closed. As a publisher we have a duty to our authors to support their hard work and get their work noticed, be that through reviews, book signings or any other activity we can manage.

As a publisher our investment and risk is actually higher than that of the store…much higher. The store will fight for a large wholesale % a good proportion of which is well deserved for their work and support, the rest, well, you can’t blame them for trying to get to boost their profits. They however have the benefit of ‘sale or return’ thus reducing their exposure, another financial burden publishers have to bear.

It seems odd to me that there is not a model in place for small publishers to work more efficiently and profitably with retail outlets. Though the answer is clearly that in the scheme of things we don’t really matter that much when compared to the big boys. The fight goes on…

Why Foyles will Not ‘Abide with Me’

Occasionally life throws up disappointments. Some huge, some small. Sometimes the smallest of disappointments can be the most frustrating, especially if decisions are made “on instinct” with no real basis or foundation. Today Foyles “England's legendary bookseller” in Stratford decided “on instinct” not to have a book signing with Ian Ayris. It’s doubtful that they will stock the book. True, this is entirely their decision and their right. What disappoints is this decision was made from the store in Charing Cross, a million miles from Ian’s heartland and the hub of Ian’s excellent debut novel, Abide with Me, which is set in London’s East End. Stratford is the perfect place for a book signing where the demography is right, the support is right and the media would be a friendly ally. The decision today shows that Foyles are not interested in the real people of Stratford and the surrounding area. If they really want to know about the area I urge them to read Abide with Me. It may do more for their sales than they know.

Maybe Foyles are only interested in the new money in the area. Maybe they are only interested in the Olympics and what it can do for the area. Much like all successive governments.

I dare say even the present incumbents in power would be happy to sweep away the past, the history. Hence the Marathon route will avoid exposing how the shameful neglect of the area is still written large in towns like Aldgate, Bow, Stratford, Forest Gate, East Ham, Manor Park, Poplar, Limehouse, Hackney, Stoke Newington.

My ‘gut instinct’ is that the real people in these areas will continue to be the forgotten people. People who rarely are given the break they need. Foyles will need to be in the East End a few more decades to gain a real understanding of the area, so today’s decision from Charing Cross can maybe be understood.

It would have been great to have a signing in Stratford. For Ian, yes and for me as the publisher of Ian’s book. I was born in Forest Gate, schooled and lived in Stratford. Ian and I understand what it takes to make people notice you.

So thank you Foyles for your understanding and your instinct.

A Dropped Apostrophe But What Does It Really Mean

Waterstone’s has become Waterstones, the change is hardly perceptible but behind it there is a canny move by James Daunt to erase the past and Tim Waterstone to boot.

The bookseller rather confusingly is reverting to the original Baskerville typeface dispensing with the last rebrand which saw it adopt a lower case ‘w’ within the logo.  “Waterstones is an iconic brand deserving of a capital W,” said Mr Daunt, but obviously not an apostrophe.

The irony of course is for a major book chain to adopt a grammatically incorrect form of spelling of it’s (note the apostrophe) name. There is a real brouhaha stirring up in the world of apostrophe pedants but as rather correctly pointed out if MacDonald’s and Sainsbury’s can get it right why can’t Waterstone’s.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph there is more to this than English grammar. Mr Daunt clearly want to stamp his own mark on the book chain. I can’t help but think though in this case he may have been misadvised. An apostrophe so it seems, is a simple thing in a complex world.