Disclaimer: I worked for both Borders and Barnes & Nobles WAY BACK in the day. I like them both and even though they’re chains, having any bookstore is better than none at all. This is not a recollection of my memories from that time, but a commentary on the current state of bookstores.
This weekend I made a trip to the local Borders bookstore, for shits and giggles. It had been a long time since I had perused the shelves of any bookstore and thought it a great way to kill a couple of hours. If you’ve walked into one chain bookstore, you’ve walked into them all. Coffee bar (with corporate coffee sponsors), bargain books (aka remainders) up front begging to be purchased, constantly shifting genre sections and the general homogenous feel of cookie cutter convenience.
Being the geek that I am, the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror sections are where you’ll usually find me. I loved spending countless hours searching those shelves, scanning the spines for a diamond in the rough which would expand my literary horizons. This visit was nothing like that instead filled with disappointment. The experience has been nagging me since then and I had to share some of the things that irked me while I walked through my favorite sections.
Series, Series, Series
Barely any single novel books were on the shelf except for the standard "big name" authors. Every available space was crammed with series after series. I understand this is a direction being pushed by publishers and for fans of a particular author it’s a fantastic way to get more of what you like (I’m looking at you Jim Butcher), but I would like the opportunity to taste an author’s style before committing to the long haul. I also find that one-off novels add more variety to a writer’s repertoire than one concept stretched across 10 books.
Out With The Old & In With The New
Classics were almost non-existent unless a major movie was tied to them (ie. Tolkien). Older titles (70′s and 80′s) were in rare supply. I might find one or two previous titles from the more established mid-list authors, but it was barely a drop in their extensive bibliographies. Without understanding the standards hammered out by pioneering authors many new readers are missing out in the richness of the genres. As much as I love Stephen King, he’s not the only author to have penned a scary tale.
Variety BAD, Mega-Seller GOOD
Promoting what’s hot or popular in literature makes good business sense which I cannot argue with. Making it the only promotion you run creates tunnel vision for both the readers and the store. If you were to use Borders as an example of literature in general, you’d think there are only hundreds of authors actually writing as opposed to the tens of thousands slaving over their keyboards. With libraries being downsized (or closed) and bookstores offering a smidgen of what’s out there, it feels impossible to stumble upon anything different or unique.
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Genres
The Horror section had barely 4 shelves (1 bookcase) to its name. Sci-fi keeps shrinking with Fantasy being absorbed into it without so much as a shelf label. One of the main benefits of brick & mortar over internet sites was the ability to wander the shelves and discover hidden gems. With the space for these books disappearing fast, you’re more likely to find newer reading material from Amazon’s recommendations than your local store.
Merchandising! Where the real money is made!
Toys, games, tshotshkes, t-shirts, journals, mugs and just about every impulse item you can think of is jamming its way into Borders. The Paperchase section is constantly expanding and at the rate its going looks like Borders will become a stationary store by 2021 (don’t worry Levenger, you still rock socks in my book). It feels like books are becoming more of a nuisance than a raison d’être. I wonder if books will transform into a lure for customers (like CD’s at Best Buy) with the business really focusing on all the ancillary products. Who needs to read when you can just wear the gear?
Is This Where It’s All Headed?
I would love to see a resurgence in the traditional style of bookstores like Leakey’s Second Hand Bookshop in Inverness, Scotland. Sadly I know the realities of the modern market make businesses like this hard to maintain. The change in focus away from books, as seen in our chain stores, is an attempt to adapt to the shifts in economy and cultural spending habits.
I’d like to think this aberration was specific to my area, but I’ve seen it in other places as well. Bigger stores, smaller stores, stores in a mall, they all seem to have the same ratio of books-to-everything else. How soon before the term bookstore becomes a misnomer?
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
As for the series, I’m seeing authors who never wrote series, doing it now. Whether they’re backstories or continuations of stories, it seems it’s what’s going on now. And the tie-ins, esp. for children’s books. Toys, dolls, games…. It’s the trend for now.
Great post!
Twitter: retrohack
May 17, 2010 at 11:43 am
Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of the hours at a stretch I spent in the “First Edition.” It was a neighborhood bookstore that was in an old 7-11 building, just close enough for me to bicycle to. I think most of my allowance, and all of the cash I got for birthdays or Christmases went to that place from the time I was 8 until I went away to school. The little mall in Blacksburg had a book store across from where I worked, and again, most of my free cash went to buying fantasy, sci-fi, or Russian magazines (well, okay, what was left after beer and pizza anyway.) These stores had something most of the chains do not…character. Crammed floor to ceiling with treasures waiting to be found, and always attended by someone who loved the books for what they were far more than ‘just a job’ could explain.
Sure, I read (and still read) mostly series, but the greatest thing about those stores was the tactile experience you got from being able to pull a book from the shelf, read the back cover, maybe even the first chapter, to see if it appealed. Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, Anne McCaffrey, Fritz Leiber, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Robert Forward, Philip Jose Farmer, Robert E. Howard…the list could go on for pages. Today I have Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher(thanks to a recommendation from you, not a book store, and not Amazon) and a nostalgia for the old-school stores that the local B&N just cannot touch.
Twitter: gabrielnovo
May 17, 2010 at 12:22 pm
@Anne, series are the fad right now. Well, I don’t know if it’s fair to call them a fad, more like the business strategy publishers are employing nowadays. I just hope the single novel doesn’t fall through the cracks as meta-narratives sweep the shelves.
@Ed, I know exactly how you feel. When I walked into Leakey’s in Inverness I was FLOORED. That was exactly what I had always wanted from a bookstore. An amazing selection, floor to ceiling, with a knowledge staff who obviously loved books. I’m glad you liked my reading recommendations (Butcher is like crack to me). It’s hard to get good ones these days since so few people read.
Sometimes I think book stores will become like those Red Box machines outside of McDonalds. People will go into other stores to get something, and there will be a “book vending machine” at the entrance, with a computer screen and display for different titles. Punch in what you want, run your credit or debit card, and the machine churns out the paperback for you. That way there is no wasted shelf space and no book need be replicated in print any more (or less) than it needs to be.
I could see this model — doved with iPad and Kindle e-sales — taking over, and thus the Big Brick book shops lose a ton of market edge. Maybe they folk up entirely, and the independent booksellers make a comeback? I know lots of people who would love that, as the indies could fill the inventory and backlist gap that the vending machines can’t or won’t touch.
Twitter: gabrielnovo
May 19, 2010 at 9:37 pm
@Brad, that’s a good point and one I didn’t consider. Convenience will be the overriding factor, turning mass market books into ubiquitous impulse items. The indie bookstores can re-emerge as providers of the “bookstore experience”, but still leverage POD technology so they don’t suffer from the same old inventory problems. I think that might be a sweet spot for bibliophiles like us.
I want to find a cool independent book store!
I’m also discouraged when going into Borders and such, despite my addiction to big book stores. It feels so… hm… claustrophobic and limited, I guess.
Hope you’re doing well!