Beloved Librarian Becomes Enemy to Indie Bookstores
From the Seattle Times:
She’s the country’s most-beloved librarian, whose book recommendations are avidly sought by her fans.
Nancy Pearl is so famous that tens of thousands of her prim-looking action figures, wagging a shushing finger, have been sold by novelty-seller Archie McPhee.
And overnight, this 67-year-old Seattle grandmother has become … a greedy betrayer of the small, sometimes-struggling, bookshops that so supported her?
“Yes,” says J.B. Dickey, owner of the Seattle Mystery Bookshop about such an assessment. “By aligning herself with Amazon, she’s turning her back on independents. Amazon is absolutely antithetical to independent bookselling, and, to many of us, truth, justice and the American way.”
If things sound like they’ve gotten a little heated over Pearl’s latest project, they have.
On Wednesday, Amazon.com announced it was issuing “Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Rediscoveries series, a line of Pearl’s favorite, presently out-of-print books to share with readers hungry for her expert recommendations.”
. . . .
Pearl, a former Seattle librarian who is a regular commentator on NPR, says she did consider the reaction from independent bookshops when signing up with Amazon.
She says she is sympathetic to independents, having managed one in Tulsa, Okla., for nine years, from 1979 to 1988.
“I had hoped, perhaps naively, that they’d see the benefits of this project,” Pearl says. “This has been a dream of mine for a decade or more, to have these books back in print. It seemed to make the project very worthwhile.”
. . . .
In the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Dickey isn’t much for making peace with Pearl, and his shop will carry nothing issued by Amazon.
He writes:
“She’s no longer going to be simply a librarian; she’s now a publisher and, as such, cannot be viewed as objective. No publisher is. And, by being affiliated with Amazon, she’s lending her ‘brand’ to them and can no longer be viewed as free agent. No matter what she recommends from now on, the appearance, suspicion or assumption will always be, fair or not, that Amazon is calling — or at least influencing — her shots.”
Pearls laughs when told of the accusation.
“I think that anyone who knows me knows that I have always spoken the truth to power. I have always been honest in everything I’ve done,” she says.
. . . .
Victoria Sanders, Pearl’s New York City-based agent for the Amazon deal, says: “The fact that people are in such an uproar about this … I’m a little taken aback.”
She says that “every major publisher in New York,” and numerous midsize publishers were approached about Pearl’s idea of bringing back the out-of-print books.
Sanders says that inevitably, the publishers bowed out after deciding it wasn’t worth the effort, particularly because negotiating the rights to so many books was involved.
“But the people at Amazon, they got it. They love these books,” says Sanders.
Link to the rest at the Seattle Times and thanks to Sherri for the tip.
Let’s see – terrific books that are now unavailable are being brought back into print and book store owners are up in arms.
Passive Guy thought indie bookstores were on the side of readers.
It’s not about readers. It’s not about authors.
It’s about control.
Yeah, I have felt for a long time that indie booksellers were really destroyed when the big box booksellers targeted them. This fierce blame of Amazon or ebooks is only self-destructive.
It’s like when the owner of a struggling restaurant takes to standing around glowering at people. No matter how good the food is, you just don’t want to eat there.
You can’t build a business out of declaring war on someone who serves your customers well. All you do is alienate your customers. Do that, and you’ve lost the war before it starts.
Nancy Pearl is a rock star here in Seattle (she’s the retired head librarian of Seattle Public Libraries) and does a monthly book discussion/call in show on local public radio station KUOW. It’s not a book review show, it’s a book recommendation show, and it fills up an entire hour. In a popularity contest, I suspect Nancy Pearl wins in a landslide over J.B. Dickey.
You should have issued a “beverage alert” for this one, PG.
Shees, are they all morons? The only thing that astonishes me is how people like Dickey managed to stay in business at all, with or without Amazon. Then on Twitter I saw Galley Cat’s quote of the week: “People who read poetry are the unsung customer base for independent bookstores.” Really? This is a business strategy? Does anybody BUY poetry?
I do not in any way, shape or form understand the attitude that some businesses are sacred and somehow deserve to stay in business despite their failure to serve their customers.
I was having a discussion with the old man about a different subject, but it’s oddly apt in this situation: “You can’t win a fight unless you learn how to take a hit.”
I admit that I think some businesses should stay around… But really only to provide competition to the near-monopolies of other businesses. Basically, something that the bigger business has nipping at its heels, so that if they slip too much, the little pint-size yappy-dogs could, piranha-like, actually draw blood.
On the other hand, I want to bonk the so-called competitors on the noggin for just sitting around and whining about how tough those ankles are! Stop whining! Figure out what you do better and DO IT.
independent bookstores have been failing me as a genre reader since i walked into my first one 15+ years ago. unless you count used bookstores which are often mostly sff or romance dedicated. as far as i’m concerned indie bookstores are a vanity business anyway. the ones i have encountered look down on what i like to read bc they cater to the people who read poetry. fair enough, if that’s what they want to be in business for. but it’s not a business i care to frequent, or visit, or whose absence from the world will make one iota of difference to me. go hang.
You are often right, but in defense of SOME indie book stores, not always. Powell’s for example, I am convinced would never behave so stupidly.
As for Mr. Dickey, over a period of time he has proven himself to be a whining twit. He has a “mystery bookstore” that doesn’t carry the biggest names in mystery such as McBain because he’s in a snit with Amazon. And then he wonders why he’s losing business and blames it on Amazon. *snort*
Stupidity.
I don’t understand these evangelists. You are there to sell books. A bookstore I frequented for 20 years was rude to me when I asked to sell a book on consignment. It is an anthology including local authors, and is for charity. It is self-published. Her attitude was adversarial.
Another local indie is gladly selling it. Guess who my favorite new bookstore is? It helps that they are also part of their community, hold writer’s workshops and signings, and so on. But their attitude made all the difference.
Interestingly, attitudes seem a little different in my country (Ireland). I spoke to three indie bookstores in Dublin (which is three more than Waterstones have there since they closed them all) about (a) stocking my books and (b) stocking e-book gift-cards. Two out of three were interested, and the third is going to see how the other two get on. There was way less resistance than I expected.
Attitudes towards Amazon and self-publishers seem a little more entrenched in the UK, but I was surprised at the openness to new ideas among Irish indie booksellers – and I’m hardly selling at a level which makes it a no-brainer for them.
If you’re wondering how poorly Seattle’s indie books stores are doing thanks to big, bad Amazon and the horrible Ms. Pearl, here’s another article from the Seattle Times, published less than a month ago. The headline is, “Good story this season for smaller bookstores,” so you know things have gotten really bloody: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017075602_bookstore23m.html
You know, America has this little concept called a free market. If you have a business you’ll have competition. You don’t really have a right to get upset when someone you like decides to do business with your competitor. Especially if that business has to do with a service you don’t provide. It would be like getting mad at her for buying power tools from home depot.
Pearl’s interest has always been fairly evident: getting more books into the hands of more people. It is not her fault you misunderstood her mission and thought she was your bosom friend.
These comments are more fun than the OP. Vanity business – I like that term.
Our local Indie bookstore closed – reopened as a used bookstore and rumor has it they are turning it into a liquor store now the city had gone ‘Wet’ as opposed to ‘Dry’ and alcohol free.
Am I the only person who sees the irony in that progression?
I’d rather support my friendly local gaming store than an indie bookstore. They carry the genre books I like to read, buy appropriate supplies (like dice bags, etc.) from local artisans, are part of the community and make a point of supporting local authors. The indie bookstores looked at me like I’d tracked dog poo in when I would stop by on my way home from the Renfaire and I’m in full costume. The FLGS asks for my card and pimps my services to people who are looking for costumes.
I think they’re on the side of ‘I’m entitled to make a living selling books! Me! Entitled! You can’t take that away from me without being evil! And I can do anything I want!”
The Independent Bookstore owner reaction to Amazon is completely irrational. Who the hell do these people think they are? And what do they think they’re doing?
News flash – they’re not some special super-awesome repository of cultural identity or whatever touchy-feeling bit of nonsense they try to say they are. They’re businesses. And they’re supposedly run by businessmen/women. But apparently not, from listening to them.
A few months back, I remember they talked about boycotting sales of writers who went with some of the Amazon imprints. Because they were with Amazon, the great and evil. Or something. Utterly stupid, and cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
I wrote a blog post a few months back on this very subject: http://michaelkingswood.com/2011/06/23/cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face/
This sort of behavior from independent bookstores makes me want to never set foot in one ever again. I cannot abide people who are willfully ignorant and stupid. I see no reason to give them my support.
Heck, some of my local bookstores sell used books through Amazon. Now when I am buying something used, I scroll through the first page of sellers to see if any of my local stores are selling it. Madison has so many bookstores that I usually only check one or two before going online. (No, I’m not complaining.)
“She’s now a publisher and, as such, cannot be viewed as _objective_.”
He doesn’t mean objective. He means loyal. He lacks the insight, or perhaps the honesty, to perceive the difference.
This is infuriating. I’m used to that attitude toward indie writers and Amazon in general, but I’m infuriated on Nancy Pearl’s behalf. (She seems to be handling the knee-jerk reaction with class, though. Good for her.)
Here is a woman who obviously has a deep love of books and an appreciation for readers. She approached the big publishers with a great idea that would match her years of book savvy with a growing market. And Amazon was the only one who “got it.” So she’s partnering with them to find gems that have been out of print and make them available for the reading public…and her reputation is questioned.
How incredibly insulting and small-minded.
I, for one, can’t wait to see what she recommends and how the program goes. Who knows, I might find a new favorite book! I hope I do.
A librarian bringing back out of print books .. that seems like a good thing. Get more readers out there interested again. Of course the Traditional Publishers look at these books as competitors to their current catalog rather than making the pie bigger.
Now for the indie book stores .. many of them have watched their stall-mates, the other little stores near them, disappear as Walmart and Home Depot and Walgreens and so on moved into town with the deep resources and supply chain to offer things the small stores struggled at. And so Amazon is viewed with the same wary eye, fear, trepidation, and terror.
Of course, the small indie stores could figure out a way to leverage Amazon’s position for their own gain, rather than fear it:
1) A small book store could run a reading club or have a blog that collected local reader’s book orders and sent them in a batch to Amazon for super low bulk shipping.
2) Some other way to shrink their store’s inventory (which is a big carrying cost that ties up a lot of capital) but increases their customer engagement. Remember, Amazon’s ‘also bought’ list is a very very simple algorithm (because it has to run fast for a lot of customers) where it still offers you more children’s books because you happened to buy one for a niece’s birthday a year ago. A bookstore could have a terminal and the sales people talk with readers and bring up books on the Amazon site that a reader might never see. And it’s ready for pickup the next day (a second engagement opportunity) or direct to the readers house (with a ‘gift note’ from the local book store saying thanks).
3) Maybe they have twelve monthly reading/discussion groups. The January group sells their books at a discount to the December readers while buying the February group’s books. The store keeps a percent of those sales (like a used book store or slightly less since there is a program and a lot of guaranteed exchanges).
4) Maybe the store runs the discussion or at least offers talk space in the back of the shop? And sell drinks and snacks (via local restaurants and wine shops) during ‘the party’. Maybe the local restaurant sends over the chef to open the meeting with a quick discussion of the six cheeses the restaurant is currently using in it’s dishes ‘here taste this!’. Or ‘we are testing this appetizer before putting it on the menu .. what’s your feedback?’
5) When 40% of book sales are Romance .. have a romance night or a ‘book and jewelry party’ that brings in a local multi-level-marketing person to pitch their stuff before a book reading/discussion. Other genre theme nights are possible. Amazon could never throw such a party.
6) Work up something to find the Local Authors and Writers. Bring them in. Get some ideas from them.
So that’s a start. Think creatively.
[note: I'm a writer, engineer, and business consultant .. contact me via the URL attached to my name on this post]
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