2014 2015
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION
INSIDE THIS REPORT
02 03
President’s Report CEO’s Report
08 09
Treasurer’s Report Kids’ Reading Guide Report
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Hello to our bookseller members and colleagues, and welcome to our Annual Report for 2014-15. It is always a pleasure to look back on a successful and challenging year and feel confident that we have the settings in place to provide the services our members need. We always welcome your feedback and I look forward to connecting at Conference and throughout the year as we listen to your concerns, successes and requests.
PATRICIA GENAT
In my own company, we work on a ‘no surprises’ policy, which means that open and frequent communication must take place to ensure staff and team leaders are always in control because they know what’s happening. I hope it’s the same with you. YOUR MEMBERSHIP Your membership this year provides access to information, savings, education, networking, social media updates and legal or policy updates as appropriate. At the ABA we work hard to ensure that all our member benefits are aimed at making your businesses better, stronger and more profitable. Recent changes to the Australia Post contract have made it even easier to introduce to your business and any new or existing member will see the immediate savings. New member benefits such as hotel and insurance offers are now available, as well as our basic offers – banking and freight. OUR BOOK INDUSTRY Booksellers will be watching keenly in the new financial year as the roll out of the promised $2 million per annum for three years for the Book Council of Australia. Nab me or email me or a committee member at Conference to make sure we know your range of views about how this gift can be wisely expended for our industry and businesses. We continue to raise awareness and debate about anomalies regarding GST, pricing and the digital landscape. We recognise that our industry is changing as the world does, but we fight to protect our businesses and our cultural collateral within Australia. YOUR ABA ENSEMBLE The ensemble based at our Victorian office continues to provide us with programs, advice, news and all the general administration needed to support our 600 members. Thank you to Joel,
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Robyn, Kal, Steve, and Sallie as they heave a sigh of relief as the 2015 Conference concludes, and prepare for the next set of challenges with Kids’ Reading Guide, National Bookshop Day, Christmas Book Voucher sales, Book Council of Australia and our seasonal marketing promotions. THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE This year the Management Committee welcomed two new members - Jane Seaton, Beaufort Street Books, Perth, and Laura Herft, Dillons Norwood Bookshop, Adelaide – who have added to the good debates and shared their energy and enthusiasm. We meet four times a year and discussion is always lively and constructive. This past year we have also appointed Peter Strong, COSBOA and exbookseller who adds his considerable political knowledge and sense of humour to our table. My particular thanks go to Joel Becker, Rolf Wilkens and Tim White who provide the leadership and required reporting and follow up of the committee each meeting. Our other valued members this year – Leesa Lambert, Jon Page and Kerstin Brown – round out our Committee with their skills and expertise. A sincere thank you to Chris Redfern who doesn’t stand again this year as his successful new shop requires him even more than we do. If you have time this year – please provide us with ideas or issues you would like the Committee to discuss. If elected again, the next twelve months will be my last year as President, and I’ve loved every minute. This AGM will set the new Committee in place for the year ahead. Your support for the Committee is appreciated. And finally, a reminder of what we do: OUR MISSION ABA is Australia’s industry organisation for booksellers, providing advocacy, training, partnerships and commercial benefit to members. OUR VISION Australia’s booksellers are a commercially thriving industry, profiting from technological advances and participating in active and prominent community partnerships. Thank you for the privilege.
CEO’S REPORT
The period 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015 saw overall growth in sales for Australian booksellers – both in units and dollars.
JOEL BECKER
The resultant growth kept pace with the CPI, with a 2.3 per cent increase in the calendar year 2014. There continued to be significant challenges for bookshops. The weakening of the dollar has been a mixed blessing. While allowing booksellers to compete more effectively against the overseas online discounters, early 2015 has seen price increases on overseas titles reflecting some of those price changes. Businesses continue to innovate, in terms of stock mix and sidelines. The significant growth in children’s book sales is reflected in trade booksellers increasing floor space and stock for children’s titles. For many shops, 2014 Christmas sales resulted in their best figures ever, or at least since pre-‘the death of the bookshop is nigh’ days. Confidence is growing with bookshops opening in areas that haven’t seen bookshops since the closure of some of the REDGroup shops. We’re also delighted to see the commitment from several booksellers to expand to multiple locations. ADVOCACY In late 2014, the Minister for the Arts announced an allocation of $2 million per year for three years beginning in July 2015 to create the Book Council of Australia, an advisory body to make recommendations to the Art Ministry for strategies that will connect the writer to the reader. The ABA, through the President and CEO, has been in consultation with the Arts Ministry staff and Australia Council, as well as other key industry bodies, including the ASA, APA, ALIA, Copyright Agency, and David Throsby, who chaired the Book Industry Consultative Council to ensure that the essential role that the bookshop, and booksellers serve, in connecting writer to reader, is acknowledged and supported. The lack of a GST on overseas purchases continues to be a pre-eminent concern for the ABA, and a key focus in our advocacy to government. Aside from the lack of a level playing field, it is losing the government (across retail overall) at least 2-3 billion dollars per year in revenue. We are delighted to see that this is finally on the agenda of the government – both the collection of GST on low cost purchases, and offshore-based companies paying their fair share of taxes. We see the current situation as ‘reverse protectionism’. There is lip-service paid to the notion of a globalised free market,
but when local business is taxed and their off-shore competitors are not, they are being protected in legislation and regulation by the Australian government, and this has to stop. Bruce Billson, the Minister for Small Business, has been supportive of the ABA’s position, and this is appreciated. We’re also pleased to note that the OECD is addressing these issues on a global level. The ABA continues to advocate support for many of the outcomes from the Book Industry Strategy Group and the subsequent Book Industry Collaborative Council in promoting more cross-sector industry and government collaboration. The Speed to Market initiative continues to be revisited annually with the ABA still a signatory. We continue to keep the conversation going with government about predatory pricing concerns raised by some e-commerce providers, and we will continue to argue that consistently selling significant portions of stock at or below wholesale cost price is anticompetitive and in violation of both the spirit of the regulatory authority and the practice. The ABA plays a prominent role in the public debate on these issues, and resources have been expended to ensure regular communication with government and other advocacy bodies. We continue to see areas where we wish to work collaboratively with other organisations like the APA and ASA when interests align. FINANCIAL The Management Committee allowed for a budget showing a small deficit using existing cash reserves in the last financial year. This was to support marketing activities that assist the ABA membership. As a result of the 2014 Conference breaking even, a financially successful Kids’ Reading Guide, and a significant ‘write-off’ for unused gift vouchers, we showed a surplus of just over $10,000 for the financial year. 2014-2015. We are conscious of the ABA’s need to ensure a financially sustainable model over the next several years, and have developed a strategic plan, and economic modeling that will continue to ensure that the ABA will provide the range of services and support for our membership that is required, and ensure that we build on that in the coming years.
ABA ANNUAL REPORT
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CEO’S REPORT
Continued from Page 3 Some of the highlights for the year included:
MEMBERSHIP
•
Membership for the ABA remained stable during the year, with an overall decrease in the number of members of slightly more than one percent.
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National Bookshop Day – the ABA delivered the fourth NBD in August 2014. The main national ‘grab’ for the 2014 day was voting and a leaflet with Australia’s Favourite 50 Kids Books. We celebrated the fastest growing sector of the industry, with children’s books accounting for more than 32% of books sold. This resulted in significant positive print and electronic media coverage. The Kids’ Reading Guide had a distribution of more than 97,000. Robyn Huppert did a stellar job in managing the process. Robyn worked with Kate Colley and a fantastic team of expert booksellers who selected and reviewed the books. We were aided this year with Terry Denton’s artwork from The 52-Storey Treehouse. We thank the publishing industry and booksellers for getting behind the best and most respected Kid’s book catalogue in Australia.
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We continued with our successful marketing of gift vouchers into the schools market. We continue to develop strategies to go into the schools and corporate markets, and we offered incentives to schools for reaching target levels in their purchasing decisions.
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The ABA continues to play a linchpin role in assisting the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. As well as supporting fundraising during the year, Robyn Huppert acts as our liaison person, and we have been actively seeking more shops to have donation tins and information in their shops, as well as supporting Indigenous Literacy Day. This year the ABA actively supported major fundraising events in Sydney and Melbourne – trivia nights – which netted more than $30,000 for the ILF.
Category
Membership Breakdown Apr-15
Apr-14
Variance
ACBA/CO-Op
63
63
0
ASSOCIATE
30
29
+1
FRANCHISE/CHAIN
74
76
-2
COMMUNICATION
29
31
-2
INDEPENDENT
336
338
-2
INDIVIDUAL
0
10
-10
LIFE
14
13
+1
SUPPLIER/ RELATED
48
41
+7
Total
594
601
-7
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS After a very lengthy negotiation period the ABA and Kobo have signed an agreement to provide Kobo eReading devices and eBooks to members who sign up to the offered scheme. The agreement is non-exclusive for members, and shops can stock devices, and sign up customers to purchase eBooks, with the shop getting a percentage of the sales, or if shops do not wish to stock devices, they can sign up customers on the Kobo ‘App’, and get a percentage of the purchase. Kobo does provide a low-cost solution to bookshops who wish to add eBooks to their service range for their customers. The ABA continues to develop relationships with providers that assist our membership through a range of services at advantageous terms and rates. Over the last year we have developed new partnerships for office supplies and stationery, computers, telecommunications, design, accommodation and fixtures and fittings. These complement our existing relationships with Australia Post, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Book Systemes International and others. We recently announced a new partnership with Port Phillip Insurance Services that we hope our membership considers.
EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES •
The ABA also sponsored major Christmas celebratory events with the state organisations in NSW and Victoria.
•
As CEO, I represented the ABA attending the following conferences:
educational, informative and quite eclectic news items?) and the quarterly News on Bookselling. Robyn also takes minutes for the Management Committee, is the liaison person for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and responsible for the Kids’ Reading Guide – and beyond all that provides much appreciated advice, wisdom and corporate history. Robyn celebrated her 10th anniversary with the ABA earlier this year.
o Booksellers NZ annual conference o ALIA annual conference o Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) meetings and Summit
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Kalpen Tripathi (Financial Officer) continues to do a wonderful job keeping our books in order and all of us on our toes. As well as providing financial advice, Kal is responsible for Australia Post accounts, and was very involved in the changeover from MYOB to Exo in late 2014.
•
Steve Jones (Conference and Marketing Manager) runs our annual Conference and Trade Exhibition. Steve is also responsible for developing marketing strategies to assist our member shops, as well as internal marketing strategies. Over the last year, Steve worked on the redevelopment of our website, and developing a cache of marketing campaigns that our members have access to. Steve also is responsible for National Bookshop Day and Australian Book Voucher sales.
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Sallie Butler (Member Services Officer, since November 2014) is responsible for maintaining and rolling out member services, and is instrumental in developing and maintaining our database. Sallie has been very actively engaged in building and maintaining our suite of member services, including recent connections with Shop for Shops and epidote website design.
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Tamara Seldon Truss (Member Services Officer, on parental leave since November 2014) rolled out our new database, Exo, which also links to our accounting system, allowing for greater communication through our internal systems. She is currently taking care of a new addition to her family, and we hope to have her back in late 2015.
•
Lara Tumak (Administration Officer until April 2015) has been the front-of-house face of the ABA, and along with Sallie, depending on the day of the week, is the person that you’re most likely to talk to about Australia Post, book vouchers, bags, or any of a myriad of areas that the ABA services its membership. Lara left in April to pursue other interests, and we wish her all the best.
o Winter Institute 10 o English Language Booksellers Association meeting (ELBA) – at Winter Institute 10 •
I represent the ABA on various organisations, boards and panels, including: o COSBOA (member) o Going Down Swinging (Board) o State Library of Victoria Creative Fellowships (panel) o APA/ABA joint working parties
Australian booksellers visiting the Ingram warehouse in Nashville
STAFFING A great delight every year is having the opportunity to recognise staff for their contributions at work and support of our bookselling community. With one exception, our staff remains the same as last year. •
Robyn Huppert (Communications Officer) does a fantastic job, keeping booksellers up to date with the weekly e-news on bookselling (where does she find all those
ABA ANNUAL REPORT
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CEO’S REPORT
Continued from Page 5 MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
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Chris Redfern (Member) has been a bookseller for 29 years. Chris has brought a wealth of experience of an independent bookseller. Chris will be retiring from the Committee at the 2015 AGM, and we thank him for his engagement over the last two years. Chris owns The Avenue Bookstore (Albert Park and Elsternwick).
•
Peter Strong (Member) is an ex-bookseller who is an appointed member of the Committee, brought in for his wealth of experience in the business community and as an advocate in Canberra. Peter has been invaluable in making connections to government and other sectors within small business. We have also worked very closely with the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia, which Peter leads as Executive Director.
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Kersten Brown (Member) is a bookseller who has a long-established shop in the northern suburbs of Cairns. Originally an independent bookshop (AB Books), it has been a Collins Booksellers franchise since the early 2000s. She co-owns the shop with her husband Andrew.
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Jane Seaton (Member) is a Perth-based independent bookseller, who has been trading for four years, after engaging in a mentorship program with senior booksellers in Brisbane and Sydney. Jane owns Beaufort Street Bookshop.
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Laura Herft (Member) has been a bookseller for more than ten years, starting off at Angus and Robertson Norwood. The shop, owned by Ross Dillon, became Dillons Norwood Bookshop more than four years ago, and Laura manages the shop.
•
Joel Becker (ex-officio Member) is CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association, and has been in bookselling and related parts of the industry for 43 years. He has been CEO of the ABA since 2010.
Once again I would like to thank our Management Committee. We are blessed to have such a skilled and dedicated group at the ABA, and that the combined ‘skill sets’ of the Committee have been enormously valuable to me, and to the organisation as a whole. I’d like to thank: •
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•
•
•
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Patricia Genat (President) has been an exceptionally active Committee Member, always ready with a well thought through opinion, and bringing her expertise into so many areas. Her advice and counsel has been invaluable. Patricia has actively engaged with the issues, bringing her experience in publishing, distribution and the library sector. In addition Patricia and I work closely with the APA Trade Chair and CEO. Patricia recently joined the board of ALIA and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Patricia is Managing Director of ALS Library Services. Jon Page (Immediate Past President) for his leadership role in the industry, particularly over the last three years as President. Jon has also run with the key role in working with the Book Industry Collaborative Council. Jon is Managing Director of Pages and Pages Booksellers and Boomerang Books. Tim White (Vice President), who brings his skills as a specialist bookseller. His background as a lawyer has proved invaluable; Tim has been actively engaged in our ongoing relationships and contract negotiation with Australia Post. Tim owns Books for Cooks with his wife Amanda. Rolf Wilkens (Treasurer) has been a strong advocate of the interests of campus and academic booksellers through ACBA, and brings nearly 40 years of experience in the industry to the ABA. Rolf is Managing Director of Swinburne University Co-op Bookshop. Leesa Lambert (Member) brings considerable skills in areas of children’s bookselling, and in working cooperatively with other booksellers. Leesa is co-owner and Manager of The Little Bookroom (Carlton North and Melbourne).
A FINAL WORD I recently realised that I had reached a milestone of five years as CEO of this wonderful association of booksellers, and I thought back to comments that a couple of close friends made when they heard that I had been offered the position. From one, ‘Congratulations, you’re on a hiding to nothing.’ The other just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. Well, five years on, I think about the adage that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. While I would have preferred, as I am sure that all my bookselling colleagues would have settled on being relaxed and comfortable (going from strength to strength), I think that the many of of us who have made it through some tough times over the last few years, and are still facing challenges, have become stronger.
We will continue to work collaboratively and cooperatively with the other key partners in the supply chain: the author/creator, the publisher and the distributor. We will continue to strive to improve that relationship. And where necessary we will raise our voices to be heard above the din. We will ensure that the Australian Booksellers Association continues to play a pivotal role in ensuring the viability of the sector, highlighting the crucial role that booksellers play in the economic and cultural life of the Australia.
We are stronger because we have stood up in the face of financial and digital disruption and come up with solutions that work for our businesses. We are stronger because we are more prepared to stand up for ourselves in the face of those who didn’t think we’d survive. Those who thought we were dinosaurs have long been proven to be wrong. Who can forget, ‘In five years other than a few specialty bookshops in capital cities you will not see a bookstore.’? Thank you, Nick Sherry, for proving that just because you’re a (now former) government minister, you don’t necessarily know what you’re talking about. We continue to face the challenges of rising costs, particularly fixed costs – leases, utilities, telecommunications – which effects other cost centres, including staffing. Our highly skilled bookselling community continues to rise to the challenge, and look for solutions. We are increasingly encouraged by positive signposts. Some of the greatest nay-sayers, including parts of the media and even some of our industry colleagues, are no longer asking us when we are closing, but rather becoming focused on our survival, our growth and our innovation. We will provide the tools and advice to assist bookshops by providing information and resources to make decisions about how to allow them to serve their primary role: to bring books, in all their glorious manifestations, into their communities. Where we succeed tell us. Where we can do more, we need to know.
ABA ANNUAL REPORT
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TREASURER’S REPORT
The 2015 financial year for the ABA continues to reflect the challenging times this industry finds itself in.
The ABA is showing a surplus of $10,848 for the year ended 31st March 2015, compared to a deficit of -$82,695 for the year ended 31st March 2014.
ROLF WILKENS
Our revenue from memberships and sales of book vouchers and products has unfortunately decreased again at around the 8.1% mark over the previous year but is consistent with expectations and our budget for the 2014/15 year. The 2014 Conference happily ran at a surplus this year, even though revenue was less than last year. Well done to the organising committee! Interest income has again decreased as interest rates continue to show low returns on investments. The Kids’ Reading Guide revenue was similar to last year as we once again managed to hold printing costs’. Expenses were generally held in line with the 2015 budget. Unlike the previous year the ABA has shown a small surplus this financial year, thanks primarily to the write-off of unredeemed Book Vouchers. The Committee is aware of its reliance on this revenue and will keep a keen eye on expenses as we enter our new financial year.
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The Association’s Balance Sheet remains in a strong and stable position. Net assets now stand at $733,628 compared to $682,780. I would like to thank Kalpen Tripathi, the ABA’s Financial Officer, for all his hard work on behalf of the membership. Kal’s knowledge and attention to detail was once again most helpful to this ABA Treasurer. I would also like to thank our CEO, Joel Becker, and all the staff who do such an excellent job of catering for the broad range of our members’ needs. And of course my sincere thanks to Patricia Genat in her role at President who keeps us all on our toes, and working hard and my fellow committee members who contribute so much of their time, experience and expertise to make a difference in this wonderful industry of ours.
KIDS’ READING GUIDE REPORT
The 2014-2015 issue of the Kids’ Reading Guide was a great success
ROBYN HUPPERT
The presentations for the Kids’ Reading Guide (KRG) were generously hosted at the offices of Simon & Schuster. This year 20 publishers presented to the selection panel of booksellers, made up of representatives from the Children’s Special Interest Group and other participating bookshops. Thank you to all those involved in the process for your ongoing enthusiasm and commitment to the KRG. Your willingness to share your time and knowledge is invaluable. Thank you to Pan Macmillan for permission to use the wonderful Terry Denton illustrations from The 52-Storey Treehouse. Along with our designer Bernadette Fricker we were able to produce an engaging and highly readable Guide that appealed to both adults and children. This year over 97,000 copies of the Guide were distributed throughout bookshops and public libraries across Australia with several online retailers also making use of the Guide via their websites and online networks. Participating bookshops reported strong sales of the titles included in the Guide. The KRG booksellers and publishers met in February to discuss the 2014-2015 issue. Along with some very positive feedback there were also several suggestions for the forthcoming issue such as use of social media, point of sale and increased bookseller involvement. This meeting also provided a great opportunity for booksellers and publishers to share general ideas on children’s books. Thank you to Amelia Lush and Better Read than Dead for hosting this meeting. I am looking forward to another exciting year with the Kids’ Reading Guide.
ABA ANNUAL REPORT
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Left: Fiona Stager receiving Life Membership. Right: David Lawrence and the middle school girls at Tiwi College, ILF Field Trip
Left: NBD 2014 at Dymocks Melbourne. Right: NBD 2014 at Books for Cooks.
AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION Incorporated in Victoria, ABN 56 365 379 358 Unit 9, 828 High Street Kew East VIC 3102 TELEPHONE: 03 9859 7322 EMAIL: mail@aba.org.au WWW.ABA.ORG.AU