Using Giant Market Share for Good
When I browse independent bookstores, I love exploring the books more prominently displayed than others. Especially the ones on the shelves—as opposed to the “New” or “Clearance” tables—because they are usually staff favorites and include a personal recommendation of the book. When I visit chain stores, I purposely don’t pay attention to books at the entrance of the store or that have anything but their spine turned toward me on the shelves. Call me paranoid, but I figure special displays are part of the mega stores’ evil plan to get me to buy books they want to push of the shelves or allow them larger profit margin. I may have to change this attitude now that I’ve discovered B&N’s Discover Great New Writers program. (It’s been around for twenty years, I’m a little slow on discoveries.)
Through this program, publishers recommend writers making a strong literary debut who have fewer than three previously published books, have not received a major literary award, or whose net sales have not yet reached 10, 000 copies. Literary fiction, short story collections, and non-fiction with strong narrative qualify for submission. B&N in-house volunteers read the books and choose 12-22 the titles each season who receive face out displays in the “Discover bay” in each of B&N’s stores for 12 weeks, including an individual “shelf-talker” with a “teaser line.” They also receive major marketing support for things like book group discussions and through the B&N website. Previous year’s selected titles include The Lovely Bones, The Kite Runner, and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
But wait, there’s more! Each year, a panel of previously “discovered” writers picks the winners for the Discover Awards. The 2009 awards were just announced and the first place fiction and nonfiction cash prices of $10 000 went to Victor Lodato’s “haunting debut” novel Mathilda Savitch and Dave Cullen’s “meticulously researched” Colombine. A short-story collection and a cartographic history received the $5000 second place prices, while another novel and a memoir collected $2500 each for third place.
What do you think? Does this promotion of literary writing dilute some of the hatred we so love to feel for non-independent stores?
I’ve never heard of that program, but I Shop at B&N all the time. I’ll have to look when I take my planned trip there later today.
I don’t have a problem with big-name bookstores. To me, buying any book at a physical store is better than ordering online (and buying new is better than used), but beyond that, I tend to shop at whichever store is closest to me.
The last time i was in a Barnes and Noble, in Idaho at Christmas, I found several books that I had not been able to find at my favorite independent store — solid literary works by not-quite-so-famous writers like W.G. Sebald and John Banville. They had, for some reason, four copies of Blood Meridian. Now, I’m not giving up on my preferred store or anything, but i can simply not hate any store that’s got four copies of Blood Meridian at the ready.
I guess since I work at B&N I’m biased, but then again you might consider that B&N loves to hire people who read (I think they realize they get their money back faster that way). We, as low rung staff, have little power over what goes on the big displays, but we have some discretion in what gets ordered and what goes on the local store displays. (I managed to get our store to order several copies of Todd Boss’s new poetry book, YellowRocket and kept a few more copies of Jess Walters’ new book Financial Lives of Poets than we were modeled to have.) While many of our staff are firm genre readers, I’m in charge of the staff rec display and I’ve seen coworkers recommend several literary titles as well (big surprise, English and writing majors like working in bookstores). I guess the long and lengthy point is simply that while the conglomerate may be after the almighty dollar, the lower rungs of the big chain have a voice too and, not benefiting quite as much from the sales dollars, we tend to push what we like, popular or not.
Good points Tiffany. I have several friends that work at Borders and Waldenbooks and so I often shop there because I know they will give me good recommendations. Now I’ll have to go find you at B&N. :-)
I don’t mind bigger bookstores. I’d prefer that they didn’t shut out independent bookstores’ business in some areas, but I think any place that encourages the buying of physical books and supporting the local economy in however small a way is a good thing.