BAIPA

Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

Member Login
  • Home
  • Members
    • Member List
    • BAIPA Bookshop.org
    • Books Published by BAIPA Members
    • Member Login/Logout
    • View & Edit Profile
    • Membership Account
    • Membership Cards
    • Get the Most Out of Your BAIPA Membership
    • Volunteer with BAIPA
    • BAIPA Book Awards
      • 2018 BAIPA Book Awards Contest
      • 2016 BAIPA Book Award Winners
      • 2015 BAIPA Book Award Winners
  • Join
    • Member Benefits
    • More About BAIPA
    • BAIPA Board
    • Submit Testimonial
  • Events
    • Meeting Format
    • Morning Only Meeting Format
    • Meeting Location & Directions
    • Want to Present at a BAIPA Monthly Meeting?
  • Blog
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Author Interviews
  • Member Portal
    • Member Only Resources
  • Contact
You are here: Home / independent bookstores / Independent Bookstores
loading...

Independent Bookstores

January 2, 2014 by Jeffrey Samorano

By Joseph T. Sinclair

The news in 2013 was that independent bookstores are making a comeback. The question is, what are we talking about? A book, The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, published by St. Martins Griffin, gives us an inkling of what this comeback is all about.

The author of the book, Wendy Welch, and her husband started a bookstore in a remote West Virginia town in 2008, the year of the Great Recession. And it has been successful. It seems to be a countertrend. After you read the book, however, you may come to the conclusion that it’s not a countertrend. It’s an old trend updated, one that may not have much significance for the publishing industry.

First, the Big Stone Gap bookstore is primarily a used-book store. Second, it’s small. Third, it’s a mom and pop business. Fourth, it may be more of a meeting and activities center than a bookstore.

Thus, it’s not a place where a significant number of new books are sold. It doesn’t have the large inventory of a Barnes & Noble, which attracts a lot of business. It’s essentially a very small local business, unlikely to produce a large sales volume. It’s also a very management-intensive mom and pop business that may not scale well; that is, mom and pop may not be likely to open branches in other places. Finally, to stay in business it must become a community center with food, activities, local author readings, club meetings, and the like. It must be a friendly place to hang out.

The more important question may be not whether independent bookstores are making a comeback, but whether B&N can simulate being an independent bookstore. Certainly it has tried. Over a third of a typical B&N store is devoted to music, gifts, and an Internet cafe, not books. B&N also promotes a myriad of local activities, but it just doesn’t seem that B&N can become a place to hang out. It doesn’t have the ambiance of intimacy and friendliness that many independent bookstores do. Can a corporation duplicate mom and pop?

What will happen in the bookstore business tomorrow and next year is a matter of conjecture. This article makes no predictions. Rather the point here is just to raise the question of whether the comeback of independent bookstores is meaningful for the publishing industry. More bluntly put, will independent bookstores sell new books in meaningful volumes?

For those interested in answering this question, there is a new bookstore in Napa, Bookmine (http://www.napabookmine.com), which opened in October 2013. A visit there might indicate the nature of the trend.

Michael Larsen predicts in his blog The One Safe Prediction: 10 Guesses About Publishing in 5 Years (http://sfwriters.org/blog/category/technology-and-writers/) that Espresso Book Machines (EBMs – http://www.ondemandbooks.com) will eventually make independent bookstores viable sellers of new books. That seems a reasonable prediction, until you consider that the price tag is $150,000 for an EBM and that they haven’t caught on in the six years they’ve been available. You have to sell a lot of books to lease or amortize a very expensive machine.

 

©2014 Joseph T. Sinclair. All rights reserved.

 

Share this…


  • Facebook


  • Twitter


  • Linkedin

Filed Under: independent bookstores Tagged With: BAIPA, independent bookstores, Joseph T. Sinclair

← Writing by Voice
Brian Jud Speaks Saturday, January 11, on How to Sell Books to Non-Bookstore Owners →
Becky Parker Geist of Pro Audio Voices

Welcome to BAIPA

UPDATE: BAIPA continues to meet via ZOOM ONLY. However, we held a very successful HYBRID meeting on May 6. The board is in discussion about future events like that one, and we will get the word out as soon as decisions are made. Even when we decide to resume regular in-person events, we will continue the Zoom option. We are implementing all the recommended precautionary measures to keep our meetings private and safe for all participants. All members and visitors who register in advance will receive a link to attend via Zoom video conferencing. On the … More

Current BAIPA members do not need to register for our monthly meetings. The night before the meetings, they will receive the Zoom info. However, members must log in to get a discounted ticket for workshops. 

Upcoming Events

  • Workshop: Putting Your Audiobook to Work for You with Becky Parker Geist
    Image credit: Pixabay
    • June 17 Audiobook Results workshop with Becky Parker Geist
       June 17, 2023
       10:00 am - 12:00 pm
  • What's happening in Indie Publishing?
    • Andrea Fleck-Nisbet on Current Trends & Challenges for Author Publishers
       September 9, 2023
       9:00 am - 12:15 pm

BAIPA Monthly Meetings

IMPORTANT
BAIPA is now meeting on the first Saturday of every month via Zoom only for now. In general, if the first Saturday falls on a holiday or holiday weekend, we will meet on the second Saturday.

We are also having workshops on the third Saturday of every month (also via Zoom only for now. In general, if the regular monthly meeting moves to the second Saturday, then the workshop will be two weeks later.

Future Events

  • May 6th: HYBRID EVENT (In-person in Novato, CA + Zoom, followed by MEMBERS ONLY in-person celebration party) What every author needs to know about Amazon NOW with Ruth Schwartz of Wonderlady Books
  • June 3rd: Becky Parker Geist on the latest trends in audiobooks
  • June 17th: WORKSHOP with Becky Parker Geist on audiobooks
  • July 8th: Patti Thorn of @BlueInk Review shares how to get #book reviews that count to enhance your #book marketing efforts. NOTE: that this is the SECOND SATURDAY of the month.
  • August events TBD
  • September 9th: Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Book Publishers Association on the latest trends in indie publishing.NOTE: that this is the SECOND SATURDAY of the month.
  • October 7th: Melody Owen speaking on how to partner with podcasters to build your following and sell more books.

Keep up to date with BAIPA

Member Search

Search Members

  

Looking for Something?

Copyright © 2023. Bay Area Independent Publishers Association. All Rights Reserved. Website created by MakeChico.com and managed by WPinOneClick.com.

Copyright © 2023 · BAIPA Genesis Child Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in