You pose some interesting questions and thoughts here. As you know, I have some unease about Indie Next as well as other indie efforts, such as Independent Bookstore Day. I would also love to talk more about what fantasy books we need to stock - I have such an aversion to romantasy, so I have tended to steer clear. Coffee again soon? 🙂
I feel like it’s become very commercialized as the ABA sells a lot of branded swag for us to resell and once IBD is over, nobody wants it. Just my opinion. But it’s still a fun day; a lot of people come out for it, although this year did not do as well as the day before.
I guess no matter how idealistic indie bookstore managers/staff are, they need to make a bigger effort than ever to make a profit and pay the bills, so they'll almost necesssarily put a lot of emphasis on the books that they know will sell? I guess selling a lot of blockbusting books is exactly what allows them to remain open and give *some* space to less well known books? (in other words, without them sellingt he blockbusters, they might not be able to to remain in business and sell books of mere mortals)
These are good points. I just wish it was a little more balanced - more pairing up with blockbusters with lesser-known books, etc. I keep wondering if it's possible for a wider variety of books to sell well if given the chance (or the push from bookstores or publishers)...
You pose some interesting questions and thoughts here. As you know, I have some unease about Indie Next as well as other indie efforts, such as Independent Bookstore Day. I would also love to talk more about what fantasy books we need to stock - I have such an aversion to romantasy, so I have tended to steer clear. Coffee again soon? 🙂
What are your hesitations about Independent Bookstore Day? And yes, let’s get coffee soon. It’ll be fun to talk fantasy….
I feel like it’s become very commercialized as the ABA sells a lot of branded swag for us to resell and once IBD is over, nobody wants it. Just my opinion. But it’s still a fun day; a lot of people come out for it, although this year did not do as well as the day before.
I guess no matter how idealistic indie bookstore managers/staff are, they need to make a bigger effort than ever to make a profit and pay the bills, so they'll almost necesssarily put a lot of emphasis on the books that they know will sell? I guess selling a lot of blockbusting books is exactly what allows them to remain open and give *some* space to less well known books? (in other words, without them sellingt he blockbusters, they might not be able to to remain in business and sell books of mere mortals)
These are good points. I just wish it was a little more balanced - more pairing up with blockbusters with lesser-known books, etc. I keep wondering if it's possible for a wider variety of books to sell well if given the chance (or the push from bookstores or publishers)...