Working in the book industry, then, one would assume that I prefer independent bookstores. And I have, mostly, throughout my life, just as I've preferred going into other independent, small shops in my neighborhood. I'm a big fan of supporting one's local stores. Even though I love the online revolution, that should not keep us from shopping at stores in our areas. Doing so supports our neighbors and friends and helps us connect with the area in which we spend our lives.
Ever since I've started publishing my own books, however, I have grown to recognize a hypocrisy in a lot of independent bookstores, which has soured my view of them. When I began distributing, I thought that my best allies would be these smaller bookstores. The owners would surely understand the spirit of independent business, as they themselves struggle in that difficult industry. A few of them were supportive. A Novel Idea in my home town of Lincoln, Nebraska, and The Bookworm in Omaha, Nebraska, have been extremely good to me, not only carrying my books, but arranging signings, and promoting my books on their websites, etc. A few independent bookstores in San Francisco have been supportive as well. But the majority of them have not.
When I went to independent bookstores in the area I live now, (Los Angeles,) every independent bookstore turned me down. One of them, Vroman's, allowed me to pay them to carry it on their shelves, but they would not consider ordering them under any circumstances. This pattern repeated itself in almost every bookstore I've approached nationwide. The reason they all gave is because my books were not published by a major, corporate run publisher.
I did consider the fact that perhaps my books were just not what they wanted, but I looked at what these bookstores carried, and aside from those people who paid Vroman's to carry their books, (and the few great bookstores like A Novel Idea,) no one carried independently published books!
These bookstores have been struggling to survive. Large book chains like Barnes & Noble first started taking all the business away from them as many customers preferred the vast selections. Then, with the advent of the internet, Amazon and other online stores sucked away even more business. Finally, ebook readers have made buying so easy for the customer that it's nearly decimated the independent bookstores. They are struggling to stay alive.
They have fought this trend with the same acumen that I presented at the beginning of this writing, that people should support their local stores. They also argue that people should support independent retailers in general as large corporations generally are not interested in individuals, and wind up employing people at minimum wage who might otherwise run their own businesses and make a comfortable living.
So why, then, do they reverse their thinking when it comes to independent publishers? Why is it that people who purchase books should do so at an independent bookstore, but independent bookstores should purchase only from big corporate publishers? They are telling the public that they should avoid the convenience of online purchasing, and the variety offered at large chain stores in order to support local, independent stores, but they refuse to support local, independent artists.
It is an inexcusable hypocrisy, and one that I believe ultimately is hurting them. As more and more authors publish independently, they are seeing which bookstores are supporting their work, and which ones are not. And here's the ultimate irony, the companies that are being supportive of them are the big ones.
Amazon has been the biggest supporter of independent authors. Their Createspace website gives authors the ability to publish paperback copies, and directly onto Kindle. They then sell the books on Amazon, giving them the exact same exposure they give all other books. When someone purchases a book similar to mine, Amazon lists my book as another possibility the purchaser might like, right along with every major publisher's work. And they don't charge me for it. They simply take a percentage just like anyone else would.
Barnes & Noble, while not having a service like Createspace, does carry independent books if they believe they will sell. Doing so is a very bureaucratic set-up, but even if you don't go all the way through the system, simply making your books available to Createspace's expanded distribution service makes them available to individual Barnes & Noble chain stores who want to carry it. For instance, when I published Pro Bono - The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate, I first tried to go through the Barnes & Noble system. They sent me a kind letter saying they probably would not carry it in all their stores because they prefer to have large orders that require massive stocks of product, which independent publishers can't generally afford, but the book was in their system, and individual stores could buy them. So I went to the Barnes & Nobles in Lincoln and Omaha where the story took place, and all but one began carrying the book.
I want to support local, independent bookstores. I love being a part of the community of A Novel Idea, even though they are more than 1,500 miles away from me. I would like to do the same with bookstores closer to me. But as long as this hypocrisy exists, my books will continue to sell in the larger stores. And who do you think I'm going to be supportive of, Amazaon, who has helped me in my endeavors, Barnes & Noble, who does occasionally carry my books, A Novel Idea and The Bookworm of whom I've become a part of the community, or the majority of independent bookstores which refuse to even look at my books?
And as more and more people write and independently publish, more and more will learn that this hypocrisy exists. And who do you think those tens of thousands of people will support? Where do you think they'll send their customers during their promotions, radio interviews, on their blogs, and in their social media? And if independent bookstores think people will simply buy their independent books at Amazon, but will get the books from big publishers at their stores, think again. Once you're in Amazon and you purchase one book, they reward you for buying more there with free shipping, discounts, recommendations, etc.
If independent bookstores do not get wise soon, this will be the next wave of trouble that hits them. And this time, I doubt they'll survive.
As for me, what I do when searching for books, I look to see if the store carries independently published books, even if I'm not going to be buying one that day. If they are asking customers to purchase from their independent stores, who are they to turn down independent publishers? I know they can't carry every independent book, there are far too many. But if they will not even consider them; if they carry no independently published books, then I'll do the same thing they do; I'll turn them down because they're independently run.
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