News on Bookselling June 2014 by Robyn Huppert

VOLUME 14 JUNE 2014

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION

IT ALL BEGAN WITH A CONVERSATION ABA 9OTH CONFERENCE & TRADE EXHIBITION The 90th ABA Conference tag line was ‘everything begins with a conversation’, and there certainly were conversations to be had, about expansion, technology, opportunities, and books themselves. ANGELA MEYER Angela Meyer is an author (Captives, Inkerman & Blunt), editor (The Great Unknown, Spineless Wonders), literary journalist and former bookseller. literaryminded.com.au

Booksellers were reminded of why they got into (and stay in) this business, despite its ups and downs. Conference-goers seemed fairly relaxed. Indeed, ABA President Patricia Genat said in her conference introduction that in the January annual survey 69% of booksellers said sales had been better last Christmas than in the previous year. Only 3% of booksellers said sales had gone down. Each talk at the conference was a conversationstarter, and so the best way to give you an overview is to summarise the main and pertinent points, to allow you to experience (or be reminded of the experience) of being at the conference this year, and to allow you to carry on the conversations in your own store and among your own staff and community.

Mitchell Kaplan, Books & Books ‘No matter where we are there is nothing like a room full of booksellers to make us feel at home’, began Mitchell Kaplan, superstar bookseller, founding owner of Books & Books, co-founder of the Miami

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Conference Report CEO’s Report President’s Report Conference report con’t ILF Report

Book Fair and former president of the American Bookseller’s Association. Kaplan started his bookselling journey almost 35 years ago, working part time for a chain. ‘Authors were my heroes’, he said. Kerouac’s Dhama Bums led him to Boulder, Colorado where, in a ‘marvellous class taught by an ageing poet’ he learnt about the iconic bookstores essential to various movements, such as Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, and City Lights in San Francisco. In Miami he opened the first Books & Books in 1982, at the age of 25. The city at the time was a ‘fairly bleak place’. Racial tensions bubbled and riots racketed the city. The New York Times declared that Miami was a ‘paradise lost’. From the very beginning Books & Books had events and readings. ‘Even in the early days we developed strategic partnerships with everyone in the

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Guild Insurance Inventory Management ABA Bookseller Awards Bookseller Profile

CEO’S REPORT

Like everyone who attended 90th Conference, I experienced many highlights. Our article by Angela Meyer covers much of the detail, but there are a few additional events worth noting. You had to be there…

JOEL BECKER

The gala dinner was truly a celebration, not just of bookselling, but of booksellers. Aside from someone suggesting that if I ever retire from the ABA, there might be a place for me as a ‘town crier’ (getting 250 people’s attention at pre-dinner drinks without the aid of a microphone). The raw emotion was there for everyone. Barbara Horgan was being honoured for a career as an innovator and supporter of so many books and booksellers; mid-career West End ‘legend’ Fiona Stager being acknowledged for her contribution to bookselling and to the ABA (12 years on the Board!). Perhaps the comment of the night was a semi-private one to me from Fiona about Jenny Barry. Fiona said that she was glad that her acknowledgement as a Life Member happened before Books Plus bookseller Jenny gave her moving thank you because she would have been bawling her eyes out. Keeping to the ‘conversation’ theme of the Conference, Anita Heiss’s pre-dinner speech was a zinger, and Richard Fidler was a fantastic MC – seamless in style and respectful of books, authors and bookshops. Like everyone else who managed to stay until the end, Shaun Micallef’s closing keynote will resonate in my memory (the bits I could hear through the laughter). His ability to get through a 30-minute talk without once promoting his forthcoming book, The President’s Desk, published by Hardie Grant in October, or letting the audience of booksellers know what other books they can turn into fossil fuels in order to make space, showed his mastery of the gentle art of persuasion. A preview of John Howard’s unputdownable biography of Menzies – ‘a real doorstopper of a book’, and his tribute to our absent friend, Richard Flanagan, kept the paroxysms of laughter rolling. And whatever your views of eBooks and eReaders, it will be hard to get out of your head, the refrain, ‘You can’t smell an e-Reader’.

Becker enters the Twitterverse #abaconf14 the one time of the year @joelataba starts tweeting! Jon Page @BiteTheBook 06:36 AM – 17 May 14 If I am allowed to be self-referential for a moment, Jon Page’s comment cut me to the quick, and got me thinking about how little I use social media, and how it can be such an effective tool. Add to that the amount of

exposure the Conference got through the tweets of Anita Heiss and our two conference Tweeters, Karen Wade and Louise Fay; and the brilliantly conceived session Social Media session by Yvonne Adele, and I have become a late convert. Earlier this month I sent out a few tweets about the GST and online purchases, and got some real traction (new followers and everything!). It’s a terrific vehicle to starting some conversations, and keeping others going.

ABA Management Committee Welcome to Kerstin Brown. Kerstin joins the Management Committee after more than thirty years as a bookseller. Kerstin and her husband Andrew, own Collins Booksellers in Smithfield, a tropically leafy suburb of Cairns. They first established the shop as AB Books, before becoming a Collins franchise. Kerstin is also a director of the Collins Booksellers Group. She joins the re-elected President Patricia Genat, Vice President Tim White, Treasurer Rolf Wilkens, Immediate Past President Jon Page, CEO Joel Becker and members Chris Redfern, Leesa Lambert and Peter Strong.

Data Rules Led by Jon Page, the ABA has set up a Data & Supply Chain Committee. The aim is to work with booksellers, publishers, and information providers regarding data standards for onix files and exported bibliographic data and to coordinate bookseller needs to ensure that TitlePage services provide for the needs of booksellers and the entire supply chain. The objective is to have consistent, comprehensive and accurate metadata for the industry. One of the anticipated outcomes is to develop benchmarks around operational standards for the industry throughout the entire supply chain, and ensuring booksellers, publishers and distributors work within these industrywide standards to ensure best information and fastest supply. We hope to release recommendations within 4-6 months. Other committee members include Jane Seaton (Beaufort Street Books), Angela KellZippermayr (Booktopia), David Seekamp (ALS Library Services), Rolf Wilkens (Swinburne University Bookshop & ACBA) and Ben Abadilla (Co Info Pty Ltd). Also... we hope you enjoy the new look of News on Bookselling.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dear Members, I’m writing this while on holiday. After a very busy quarter and our wonderful conference in Melbourne last month, it was time to take a short break for sanity and refreshment. We’re staying with old friends and enjoying the delights of a new country–Crete, northern sunshine, good local food and conversation based on many shared memories.

PATRICIA GENAT

One of those shared delights is the books we’ve read and interestingly, the emotional response to those books – which varies widely of course. Discussion arises about the difference between critical and emotional responses to writing, and then broadens to include political, football (three of us are Pies supporters) and cultural issues. In Europe the new right wing influence on the EU is creating buzz and some concern. In Australia, we should also be concerned and make time to discuss not only the books we read but also our businesses, our politics and our economy. Many wiser heads than mine have written about the federal budget and its impact on businesses but my plea to you, our ordinary members, is twofold: Firstly, keep the conversation alive, and secondly take your place at the front of your community in leading it to a sustainable future. The conversation is all important–and like all important things, must be planned and practised. Have some words ALWAYS up your sleeve about how your business is doing, what impact a local or federal change of law or tax may have on your business, your payroll, your ability to open all hours. And remember to ‘Accentuate the Positive’. It’s a cliché but its true – everyone needs a good news story to offset the easy bad news rubbish. Has your 1,000th member just joined your book club or loyalty scheme – let the paper know. If the news hounds contact you about a local shop or bookshop closing – remind them that you’re still in business and have (insert your number)% of the local community as a customer, footfall has increased since you started selling the wonderful range of (notebooks, classics, children’s series – you name it) and that local author (x) is going to launch his/her wonderful new book later this month at a combined event at the local library/café/community centre, and this book and the authors output has successfully contributed many thousands of dollars to businesses in the area. And, yes, the books are available in both print and digital formats.

have good rapport with national press and community leaders. However, that doesn’t exempt you from that responsibility in your own circle of influence – however small. When you first opened the doors to your shop, you also took on the responsibility of every small retailer – to be part of the successful creation of wealth for your community. That wealth can be cultural, but I need to remind you that most families won’t read (or buy books) if their cupboards aren’t full. Recently we had business researcher Michael Porter, in Sydney for the World Business Forum. He reminded his audience that our strategy should be our unique competitive position – and that all good strategy will probably upset some customers. Leadership is like that – we can only be good leaders if we understand the strategy behind our reason for being – being booksellers, retailers, parents, friends, community members. That reason may have something to do with being happy and providing good things to a local community, but it should also have everything to do with being sustainable and adding to the local community. Whether it’s parenting or business, the best end result is a selfsufficient, successful, growing organism, which can then recreate the process all over again. At the ABA office, our team hear stories of both hardship and success. At Management Committee level, we temper our meetings with practical issues to guide our strategic intent and always keep in mind that the best picture we can paint for community and press is a growing, successful membership. To this end, we find new offerings (Guild Insurance, Dell computers, Kobo digital solution) and hone existing ones (Australia Post best rates, Commonwealth Bank mobile banking). If you have any suggestions about how we can serve you better, please let us know, and as always, the invitation to continue this conversation is open. We will be the best Management Committee you have had if you are the most engaged members you can be.

The leading is often a little harder, but critical. You may, quite rightly, tell me that some Australian booksellers already lead well and

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

What is your favourite children’s or young adult book? Vote for up to five of your favourite children’s or YA books, and you could win one of ten $50 Australian Book Vouchers which can be used at your favourite bookshop. The Australian Booksellers Association will announce Australia’s 50 Favourite Kids’ Books and the winners of the vouchers on National Bookshop Day, Saturday 9th August. The catalogue of Australia’s 50 Favourite Kids’ Books will also be available at participating bookshops on National Bookshop Day. For Full TermS AND coNDiTioNS, ViSiT www.BooKSellerS.org.Au

ABA 90TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE & TRADE EXHIBITION

Continued from Page 1 community’, and Books & Books developed a strong following with art, architecture and photography, plus poetry, fiction and essays from university publishers. They therefore built their own unique customer base. ‘And we created a very beautiful bookshop’, including rolling ladders.

Kaplan shared with us what he thought were the four elements of Books & Books’ approach that made the store stand out: - Ambience - Selection - Staff - Community involvement In 1989 Books & Books opened a second store on Miami Beach, a place that was ‘raw’ at the time, said Kaplan, with a homeless problem and criminal element. The store followed the same mantras as the previous one, and built more community ties, hired great staff, and had a specialist selection. Rents were cheap so artists began to move into the neighbourhood, and became customers. For small bookstores that want to grow, Kaplan said delegation is key: ‘Let other staff members have a sense of ownership, let them do and let them be.’ Then you’re free to think of expansion. An era of challenges was to follow, one we all know well – discounters, superstores, Amazon, ebooks; for Books & Books there was also 9/11 and a cessation of tourism. Kaplan was president of the ABA at this time and he saw memberships fall. ‘Many friends left the business and closed their shops, others panicked and changed, often unnecessarily.’ Analysis became the order of the day. ‘We were looking for ways to reimagine who we were. It was no longer the golden age that I remembered.’ Kaplan’s mantra became ‘why not?’ in this period, and he dared to move one of the stores into a building three times the size. ‘I decided early on that we wouldn’t become victims, that we would take control.’ A full service café with alcohol was added to the store. Then they opened a full restaurant. The next ‘why not?’ was when a woman came to Kaplan and said: ‘how would you like to open a store in the Cayman Islands?’ It’s now been five

years and it’s thriving. Following that, Books & Books set up in Miami Airport, and another store was opened by an interested couple in West Hampton Beach. These last three Kaplan called ‘affiliate members’. These arrangements have ‘allowed us to extend what we do in ways that speak to our core competencies’. With a friend, Kaplan developed The Newsstand by Books & Books, a books and food franchise. Then Kaplan developed Books & Books publishing services, with two ‘publishing refugees’ in New York. Then, ‘a big leap for me came when I found I had very early access to books’, Kaplan said. He started a production company that would bring books to film and TV, and they have now optioned over 15 books. In store, Kaplan has been trialling a ‘scan and pay’ business model of taking books on consignment and paying publishers when the books sell. He now has this system working with 15 different publishers. In return, Kaplan gives the publisher ‘branding opportunities’, featuring their range in store. It means better cash flow, and not paying invoices with returns. This was certainly a conversation starter at the conference. Would any publishers do that here? Kaplan said that ‘a bookstore must be viewed as a community asset’. Booksellers ‘survive another day so we can put a good book into a customer’s hands’, which also means the survival of ‘our beloved literary culture’.

Alex Malley, CEO of CPA Australia Alex Malley hosts the Nine Network TV show The Bottom Line and CPA Australia’s online community and reality series for students The Naked CEO. The first conversation that mattered to Malley as a child was when he was 12 and visiting his chronically depressed mother in a psychiatric hospital. People came in and out and didn’t speak to him. But there was a cleaner in the room. ‘You must be Alex, your mother talks about you all the time,’ the cleaner said. This is about insight, Malley told us, ‘knowing what to say at the right time’. Malley avoided using a computer until 2005. Now he’s in the digital world talking to 1.3 million people. ‘All I’m doing is being a human being and using the forum available to us’, he said. It personalises the business. ‘I want

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NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

ABA 90TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE & TRADE EXHIBITION Continued from Page 5 you to add the dimension of personality in your business’, Malley insisted, ‘I want people to come to your shop because they like you’. There is certainly a point here. Do customers know the faces behind and in some of the most successful and well-loved bookshops in this country? Yes, they do. Malley talked about considering what you want to achieve, and bringing it into your conversations with customers: why books matter to you, why they matter to society. There’s so much a book can bring to people, he said, but you’ve got to sell it with a passion, with conviction. ‘They’ve gotta believe you want to be in that bookstore’.

Scott Westerfeld & Justine Larbalestier

Bookselling: think globally, act locally This panel gave some industry insiders the chance to talk about some developments and products that could shape future bookselling. John Mutter (Shelf Awareness) spoke on the US market. There are tens of thousands of tiny publishers and more and more every day, said Mutter, ‘it’s ‘easy to publish books, harder to reach the reader’. Bookselling has become more diffuse. One new trend he noted is the bar and bookstore, ‘anecdotal reports say that book sales increase after a few rounds...’ The indies, according to Mutter, have in the past few years recorded their best sales ever. In Shelf Awareness they are now publishing more stories about openings, and stores opening second and third locations, as opposed to stores closing. Indies are doing a variety of things to keep competitive: making themselves into community gathering centres, working with locals, offering more sidelines, creating more hybrid stores, and some publishing in store with POD machines. A striking thing is US lately, he told us, is the levelling off in the sales of ebooks. 2013 ebook sales were up only 0.8%. One major reason for the slowing of ebook growth, he said, is the adoption of tablets, on which readers have a choice of competing media.

To Amazon. The company’s share price dropped recently, revealed Mutter. Nonetheless, Amazon is the single largest retailer of books in the US, around 30-40% of market share. Publishers are still in a sticky spot – while Amazon is their biggest customer, the company is a brutal negotiator. (You may have heard about their recent feud with Hachette.) Overall, ‘Amazon continues to be the Death Star of the book industry but is showing some vulnerability,’ is how Mutter put it. Jenn Risko (Shelf Awareness) sat next to Jeff Bezos from Amazon in bookselling school. ‘What I can tell you is he has really weird sharkey eyes,’ she revealed. Risko informed us about Shelf Awareness, a twice-weekly newsletter featuring 25 best books, author interviews, and ‘book candy’ (titbits, memes, cat pictures etc.). They can co-brand their newsletter to go direct to readers on behalf of booksellers. With the 25 book reviews, there’s a buy button that can go directly to the product on the bookseller’s website. But, Risko said, it’s about exposure, not just click-through sales. Stores receive an email 10 days before the customers do so they know what to stock up on. They are thinking of expanding into Australia. Perhaps it would do well for them to partner with an existing Australian-catering newsletter and review aggregator such as Books+Publishing. Jen Slajus spoke about Edelweiss and Above the Treeline, ‘systems that foster collaboration and greater efficiency within the book industry’. Edelweiss is for new releases: a catalogue and preview service with social tools. Publishers post their catalogues and make digital review copies available. Sales reps mark up these titles for their individual clients with notes, order quantity suggestions etc. Booksellers can then browse the marked-up catalogues or general catalogues across publishers. Slajus has begun the process of signing up Australian publishers to post catalogues and digital reading copies. Register for free and play – edel.bz or edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com

Unplug Your Kids With books This panel examined current states in children’s and YA literature. Shaun Symonds, general manager of Nielson Book in Australia revealed that in 2013 seven out of the top 15 bestsellers were children’s books. Susannah Chambers is commissioning editor for children and young adults at Allen & Unwin and a Beatrice Davis editorial fellow for 2014. As part of her fellowship she travelled to the US: ‘We’re experiencing an age of American blockbuster YA fiction’.

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There are the blockbusters with huge advances and promotion which also have an impact locally. It’s up to booksellers, partly, to find those other gems (such as great Australian YA books) on the shelves. She spoke about some trends in regards to what she saw editors acquiring overseas:

Contemporary realism Going forward, Chambers feels it’s important that YA literature reflects the diversity of the world. In order for YA to thrive young people need ‘mirrors that reflect the make-up of their lives but also gateways to another world’. We heard from YA authors Justine Larbalestier and Scott Westerfeld, who talked about their new works, Razorhurst and Afterworlds, respectively. Larbalestier has always been ‘powerfully drawn to fiction set in a world unlike my own’, and she achieves a balance of the real and the supernatural. She was also drawn to the evocative underbelly of Sydney after viewing images in a police museum, which not only showed the crimes but the insides of houses – how people lived. Afterworlds is two novels in one, a paranormal romance and the story of a young girl who writes a first draft of a novel, gets an agent and becomes the next big thing. The stories ‘speak to each other internally about the process of creation and writing’. Westerfeld said, regarding certain ‘distractions’ for readers, ‘The internet doesn’t compete with reading, the internet facilitates reading.’ Teenagers want to be social. They want to talk about books with their friends’, he said. Running a teen book club was briefly discussed between the panel and audience as a good idea. How would you run it? ‘Feed them and don’t try to control things’, was the general advice. And they really like advance reading copies, the panel said, the perk of reading something before their friends have.

Social Media: Unplugged Yvonne Adele gave us four Cs to remember when thinking about using social media for your store: • Creating • Curating • Connecting • Culture The best social media users are curators, said Adele. 75% of people prefer informational articles over ads. Make content so compelling and comprehensive that people are compelled to share it. Since booksellers stock books on a broad range of topics, you could choose one staff member to be the curator or reporter for each month – to make a video, take pictures, create and curate content to be shared. Listen in on ‘relevant bubbling conversations’ happening on a topic relevant to your business. Adele suggested using Google alerts as a tool to stay abreast of conversations (or the competition). Set up your alerts so you can be a broadcaster and curator of a particular topic.

People who receive great service on social media tell an average of 42 people. 83% of people backed out of a transaction due to social media silence in response to a question. Adele also said that 70% of mobile searches lead to action in one hour. Decide which social media platform will be your ‘central conversation platform’ and then spread word on others from there. Some other takeaways from Adele’s talk were: • Buy your store’s name from Google AdWords so that Book Depository doesn’t use it in a Google ad that sits above the link to your store on Google. • Try ‘boosting’ the odd post on Facebook to see if it helps, you can just spend $5-10 at first. You can also ‘highlight’ certain posts so they look larger when people click through to the page. • Put a Facebook ‘like’ box on your website which shows the people who have liked the page (not just the ‘like’ button). Google ‘Facebook Like box’ to find out how. • If you started out with a personal page for your business and now have a business page, you can actually merge them. • Make sure you put your events on social media. • Use the ‘offers’ function on Facebook. • Offer live Q&As with authors on your Facebook page. • You can add your email list to Facebook and Facebook will allow you to advertise just to them, you can then also choose to advertise to a ‘lookalike audience’. This could be a powerful function. • ‘Responsive’ websites are great for mobile devices (they change according to the size of the screen).

The Future of Ebooks ‘There’s no point looking at Amazon and thinking we can change their business model,’ he said. But you can win back some of your customer base, said Malcolm Neil (Kobo), by having an ebook option. Digital sales grew in 2013 by approximately 30%, said Neil, and overall about 25% of trade sales are digital. But growth has slowed as base sales have increased, growth is not in all categories, growth patterns are not consistent, and growth is affected by cultural differences. Genre readers are some of the biggest consumers of ebooks, he said. Jon Page from Pages & Pages has Kobo ebooks available through their online store. Kobo has a million more books than Amazon in the Aus market, he said, and offers 24-hour support. Kobo does all the work, he said, the bookstore just has to help customers sign up, and then when they purchase Kobo ebooks through the bookstore’s website, 5% revenue comes back to the bookseller. Page believes it’s best to give your customers an option, or else they’ll just go to Amazon or iBooks. Better to be getting some revenue, rather than none.

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

INDIGENOUS LITERACY FOUNDATION

At the end of June, the Foundation will travel out with children’s book author and illustrator, Ann James, to Tjuntjuntjara, a remote community in the Great Victoria Desert, about 700 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. KAREN WILLIAMS

Left: Children at Wulungurra Right: Jordie Lane reading to the children

The community here speak a variety of the Pitjantjatjara language and were among the first group of people who were removed from their homelands in the 1950s and 60s due to nuclear testing at Woomera. Tjuntjuntjara Remote community school was founded in the late 80s when the community itself was established. Last year, we were proud to publish a book, How Does Your Garden Grow? which was inspired by a young Melbourne school boy and current School Ambassador called Lachie Coman, and which was written by a group of students from the school. The book was launched on Indigenous Literacy Day at the Opera House where Tjuntjuntjara students sang and read their stories. There was not a dry eye in the audience. How Does your Garden Grow? is one of 37 community literacy projects which we have funded and published in partnerships over the past three years and this year’s visit will focus on engaging and talking to the community and supporting the development of early literacy in the community through Buzz and book supply.

At the beginning of June, over 600 books were gifted to Yakanarra Remote Community on our field visit, in a wonderful celebration in the school’s library. Mary Vanbee, one of the community’s elders read the song she composed to the community, Tina read Dwayne Russell’s Jackson’s Footy and students

and adults alike were asked to choose a book to take home. This year’s visit focused around the community’s request for us to bring a musician, Jordie Lane, who could help with songwriting and the songbook which they wish to publish in Walmajarri. Whilst in Yakanarra, we had the opportunity of travelling onto Wulungurra, another small remote school, two hours travel by troupe. This beautiful small community school was stocked with ILF books and Buzz packs.

ARE YOU A REGISTERED SUPPORTER? Since the Australian Bookseller Association Conference mid-May, over 70 booksellers have registered as ILF supporters. As its almost mid-year, its timely to remind you to jump onboard if you haven’t done so already and get a Donation Box on your counter and get your local schools and libraries involved in a Great Book Swap. Indigenous Literacy Day is Wednesday 3 September and all our bookshops are promoted through our website and social media program.

SUPPORT ILF BOOKS: You can support ILF by ordering the following books (all firm sale, plus p&p): • HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? • THE LEGENDS OF MOONIE JARL

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

GUILD INSURANCE

Think about your insurance cover before a brick comes through the window. For additional information visit guildinsurance.com.au or call Guild Insurance on 1800 810 213.

The sad fact is that we live in times of increasing claims, often due to unprecedented events of vandalism or wild weather. Often it’s only after the event that a business owner who chooses an off-the-shelf policy discovers that it is riddled with holes. And that can seriously compromise the goodwill of your business.

A different type of insurer Guild Insurance takes a different tack. They will consider what has happened in the past but will also assesses what could happen in the future. Not only covering businesses for these possibilities but also working with owners to minimise risks and find ways to stop claims happening in the first place. It’s one of the reasons why the Australian Booksellers Association has chosen Guild as the most appropriate partner for its members.

Cover to match each bookseller Guild goes out of their way to treat a client as a business partner instead of a policy number. They know that no two bookshops are the same; one in a shopping centre has very different risks to one in a rural high street. Plus they will work with the bookseller to match the cover to their circumstances.

Guild goes out of their way to treat a client as a business partner instead of a policy number. They know that no two bookshops are the same. Guild will also support booksellers with risk management advice and resources that are freely available at any time (such as the suggestions on preventing glass damage shown here). And there are financial benefits too: no broker fees, no standard excess for liability claims, and no additional charge for pay-by-the-month

Keeping businesses open A ‘closed’ sign on the door means lost business and lost customers. So Guild’s first priority will always be to get you up and running as soon as possible. Through 50 years of caring for small businesses Guild understands that it’s their responsibility to protect livelihoods and reputations. It’s a stance that works: nine out of ten businesses that have made a claim would recommend Guild to others.*

Preventing glass damage Damaged glass windows or shop fronts can cause considerable cost and inconvenience to business owners. While it’s critical to have quality insurance cover, the best outcome

is always to prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place. The review of hundreds of insurance claims from small business owners like you has led Guild Insurance to develop a number of helpful tips. •Don’t underestimate the inconvenience caused by malicious damage to glass or other property. •Reduce the opportunity for glass damage or break-ins by installing: - break-resistant glass - grilles and shutters over windows and shop fronts - video surveillance and monitored alarms ‘glass break sensors’ for early alarm activation - window locks - adequate lighting and perimeter fencing - clear signage alerting people to your security measures •Don’t invite a break-in by leaving valuable items visible through windows or shop fronts. - if you use a cash register, leave the drawer open out-of-hours to show that it’s empty. - where appropriate, display valuable stock on mobile stands that can be easily moved out of view at night. - lock mobile devices, such as laptops, iPads, cameras and phones, away out of hours. •Regularly inspect the area around your premises for any loose or non-secured items that could be used to damage windows or property – e.g. bricks, bottles and other rubbish. •Reduce the risk of a ‘ram raid’ by installing bollards in front of windows and glass doors. •Consider the benefits of planting low shrubs in strategic locations to make it difficult for vandals to access windows or signage. •Think carefully about the signage or advertising you include on your windows or shop front. Certain images, such as a large smiling face, may be appealing to a vandal looking for a window to damage! •Consider the pros and cons of applying protective film to glass surfaces to minimiseacid damage caused by graffiti and the like. •Clean up any graffiti or rubbish immediately. Graffiti can quickly lead to more graffiti and multiple insurance claims. •Work collaboratively with other businesses and police to reduce the risk of vandalism and malicious damage. Finally, while prevention is always better than cure, make sure you have your Guild insurance policy details handy too.

You can judge a bookshop by its cover.

Insurance: for most of us it’s a subject buried in the Business Reading section. But in these times of increasing claims, often due to wild weather or vandalism, making sure we have the right cover is becoming a priority.

They understand that a ‘closed’ sign on the door means lost sales and lost customers. So if a brick comes through the window or a pipe bursts, Guild’s first priority will always be to get you up and running as soon as possible.

The Australian Booksellers Association has recently been through a comprehensive assessment of the insurance options available and has chosen Guild Insurance as the best partner for our members.

There’s also financial benefits: no broker fees, no standard excess for liability claims, and no additional charge to pay-bythe-month.

Protection for your livelihood and reputation.

For more information or to take out a policy simply call 1800 810 213 or visit guildinsurance.com.au

Guild is a refreshingly different insurer. You’ll be treated as a business partner not a policy number, with cover tailored to the specific needs of your bookshop.

You’ve made the right choice. Insurance issued by Guild Insurance Ltd, ABN 55 004 538 863, AFSL 233791 and subject to terms, conditions and exclusions. Guild Insurance supports your association through the payment of referral fees. This information is of a general nature only. Please refer to the policy for details. For more information call 1800 810 213. GLD2810

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Insurance issued by Guild Insurance Limited ABN 55 004 538 863, AFS License No. 233791. Guild Insurance supports your Association through the payment of referral fees. This article contains information of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute the provision of legal advice. For more information please contact us on 1800 810 213. * Guild Insurance Customer Claims Survey March 2014. GLD2811 (Australian Booksellers Glass Article) NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

When your inventory is constantly moving in and out of your bookshop at a pace that varies from day to week to month and things can get pretty complicated. The best way to keep track of it all is to use an inventory management system that best suits your business. Here is a round up of some of the systems available to bookshops. e-Bility Software e-Bility™ is a sophisticated and powerful business management system designed specifically for retail and distribution book selling, music and stationery. It has evolved over time to become the premier computerised management system for bookshops throughout Australia and New Zealand. The system has also found great support in Singapore. The purpose behind the development of e-Bility™ was the delivery of considerable productivity savings, efficient and reliable stock control, improved customer relations and services and accurate reporting. All this adds up to a system which gives managers fast and reliable information about every aspect of their business and means that decisions can be made on the basis of commercial facts and not suspicions, hunches or intuitions. The specific features of e-Bility™ are the ones that make it the outstanding software solution for retail bookshop management. Inventory control, point of sale, optional creditors and debtors accounting, special order tracking, enquiry system, layby management, report writing, ordering, receiving and returning stock and customer database management are just some of the key features which are defining characteristics of e-Bility™. 25+ years of growth and development has seen the introduction of a customer support network that we believe is a benchmark for our industry. A team of qualified technical professionals and operational support staff are well equipped to handle and remedy any issues raised by a growing customer base of over 300. We have also introduced an ongoing training regime that sees our customers regularly offered the opportunity to advance their understanding of the software under the experienced tutorship of our training team. Combined with strong management, programming, sales, marketing,

accounts, and Help Desk support services, Barcode Solutions stands as a team dedicated to the best the industry has to offer. Recently, we have implemented a 24 X 7–web based help desk (ticketing) system. http://support.barcode.com.au www.barcode.com.au (POS & Inventory Software for Booksellers)

Bookmine from InfoMining BookMine is the complete, retail, supply chain and customer relationship management software solution for single and multi-store Booksellers and Distributors. It runs on Microsoft Windows as well as Apple Mac, Linux and Android devices. Any device that can run a browser can run Bookmine. BookMine includes: Point of Sale and Mail Order marketing interfaces; fully automated multi-location customer rewards; sophisticated supply chain management, full customer relationship management, full accounts receivable, bridges to external packages for accounts payable, secure multi-user email integrated with your customer and supplier base; document management; open Website integration; Titlepage lookup; EDI via Pacstream; ONIX compliant; one-click search/ import from Nielsen Bookdata and much more. Operates on WinXP, Win7, Vista, Win8, Linux, Apple Mac and Android devices. Whether you have one shop or ten shops, Bookmine is the complete solution for your business, from Point of Sale to e-Commerce. It provides users with a rich integrated interface to all the information they need to provide customers with the best possible service. Bookmine is an end-to-end solution, integrating your web presence and email directly into your everyday operations. The virus proof, multi-user email is tightly integrated with your Customer, Supplier and Inventory record

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bases, enabling you to track and manage large, targeted marketing campaigns to your customers securely. Sending purchase orders and tracking the emails that invariably go back and forth between you and suppliers is done automatically. Empower every member of your staff today by giving them rich and versatile access to the most valuable asset in any modern enterprise: corporate knowledge. Bookmine is the complete enterprise solution for your single or multi-location book business. For more information: Email: admin@Info-Mining.com Ph: (02) 6251 4674 Mobile: 0402 004994 Web: http://www.Info-Mining.com

Circle Software Circle provides booksellers with a cloud based book management system. It is a complete package that includes stock management, point of sale and website that updates itself in realtime as you trade. With Circle, all sales (in-store or online), are managed through a single cloud based system that is accessible from anywhere, like your online email account. It knits with your existing business systems for email, accounting and eftpos and functions on any device. Circle is ideal for bricks and mortar stores that want to be online, but don’t want the hassle or cost of managing a website and a stock system independently.

BookNet UniLink Data Systems is an Australian company that has been delivering quality software solutions for over 25 years. We are proud to continually support book industry initiatives. We understand that today’s constantly evolving market and rapidly changing technologies are compelling Bookshops to do more with less. Driving efficiencies and maximise sales are two important considerations. BookNet® will assist organisations in achieving these goals. The solution is focused on delivering a suite of modules to meet organisational needs in the retail and academic markets. Each module provides a different set of capabilities which are easy to implement, including an online commerce solution with a secure PCI DSS compliant gateway. BookNet also offers the ability to network one or more stores providing a cost effective solution using a single database over the internet. Genuine savings are realised by reducing data entry across all stores, centralising ordering, receipting and financial management. UniLink has an experienced and dedicated support team in place to provide your organisation with a longterm, secure and valuable partnership including a 24/7 emergency ‘sitedown’ option at no additional cost. ‘BookNet will allow you to grow your business without driving up costs!’

For more information see: www.circlesoft.net or email sales@circlesoft.net

For Retail Solution enquiries:

ComputerlinkBOOKS

Or visit our website: unilink.com.au and download the latest brochure

CompterlinkBOOKS is an advanced windowsbased Point of Sale system for booksellers. It incorporates a broad range of functions specifically designed to cater for a bookshop business helping you streamline, control, and report on all areas of your business. ComputerlinkBOOKS caters for all business sizes from the small bookshop to large single stores, as well as multiple site businesses. Made up of a series of fully integrated modules including, but not limited to, Point of Sale, Barcode scanning, Customer loyalty facility, Special orders, Powerful search engines – by author, by title, by word, ISBN, Lay-by module, Gift vouchers, ONIX download, Back to School Module, Packstream integration, Booktrack integration.

Please contact Thorpe-Bowker via email on: sales@thorpe.com.au

For Academic Solution enquiries: Please contact the UniLink Business Development Team: Telephone: +61 3 9212 7500, press 1 Email: booknet.sales@unilink.com.au Or visit our website: unilink.com.au and download the latest brochure

Ph: 07 3211 5662 bobh@computerlink.com.au

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

2014 ABA GUILD INSURANCE ELIZABETH RILEY FELLOWSHIP FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKSELLING

Julie Melville, Assistant Manager of State Library of Queensland’s Library Shop, has been awarded for her outstanding children’s bookselling by the Australian Booksellers Association. SANDRA DUFFIELD Manager of The Library Shop

The Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts Ian Walker has congratulated Julie on winning this prestigious award. “I commend Julie on this great achievement and her obvious commitment to instilling and encouraging a love of reading in our young people,” Mr Walker said. “State Library does a lot of wonderful work in the area of children’s literacy through its programs throughout the state. It is passionate people such as Julie who help make the Library’s goal of touching young lives through reading a reality.” State Librarian Janette Wright said the award was an honour for both Julie and State Library. “We are thrilled to have one of the country’s best children’s booksellers here at SLQ, sharing her love for reading with children every day,”

As the sole children’s book buyer, Julie has transformed the children’s books section from a single shelf to one of the top selling categories that attracts both regular customers and visitors to State Library’s The Corner family space and school holiday programming, such as the Top Secret Storytellers Clubhouse. State Library of Queensland also runs numerous children’s literacy programs, including the national Summer Reading Club, and the family literacy programs Dads Read and Read4Life. In the next 12 -18 months a Project to remodel the Library Shop will commence as part of a wider refurbishment Project at the State Library of Queensland. This will involve either changes to the existing floor space or a move to a different location. Either option will present a major opportunity to make changes in key areas of the Shop, particularly in that devoted to children’s inventory. This is an opportunity to positively align the children’s inventory bought with great care and experience by Julie with appropriate spaces, shelving, and displays. items for children (eg museums and galleries) as well as specialist award winning bookshops for children and bookshops that have a good reputation for children’s ranges. She will focus on examples of how the display of children’s ranges appeals to key customer groups– children, parents and grandparents and how merchandising supports this.

Julie Melville

Julie is extremely dedicated to her work in the Library Shop, and believes that instilling a passion for reading at a young age is imperative. “Once a child learns to love books, this becomes a lifelong affair that will carry them through anything life throws at them — the world of the book becomes a place you can always escape to,” she said. Julie began her first job in bookselling in 1973, working part-time at The Book Nook, her mother’s Brisbane bookstore specialising in children’s literature.

In the 40 years since, Julie has worked at bookshops across the city, starting her current job at the Library Shop in November 2006 when State Library of Queensland reopened after a building redevelopment.

Julie’s report on her visits will address the following: - Detailed proposal for fittings, furniture and space requirements for new children’s area in the Library Shop to support the refurbishment Project - Detailed recommendations for merchandising to support the sale of children’s books to children, parents and grandparents.

2014 PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE YOUNG BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR

Receiving the 2014 Penguin Random House Young Bookseller of the Year award was fantastic. And somewhat surprising (as anyone who witnessed my speech at the ABA Gala dinner would be aware–I had thought that the winners would be notified before the fact and, rather stupidly, was not at all prepared to give a speech...). I have worked at Kinokuniya in Sydney for the entirety of my bookselling career, starting as a part time Customer Service Representative at the store’s opening almost 12 years ago. I stayed on after I finished University and was promoted to Team Leader and then Department Manager.

HELENE BYFIELD

My role as Department Manager involves front list buying for roughly one third of the store, replenishment and reordering, planning marketing strategies for my categories as well as managing my team of people on the floor. I help put together our Christmas catalogue and am co-judge of the Kinokuniya Cookbook of the Year Award. I thoroughly enjoy my job. I love the people I get to work with–the enthusiasm and passion of our staff who read everything from Hardboiled Crime to Weird Fiction to Feminist Theory means that our daily conversations are

never dull. I also love meeting authors of books I have loved (though at times I find it difficult keeping my inner fan girl in check). Events with authors including Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Bret Easton Ellis, as well as meeting Ferran Adria have been highlights. People are often surprised when they learn that I have been with the same company in a similar role for so long. Generally, my response is that I find my job challenging and interesting, and that I come across something new each day, so things are never boring. I did in fact take on an office job for a friend who needed help for a fortnight and found it completely unsuitable and uninspiring. I had also completed the 2 weeks of allocated work in 4 days... Ultimately, the book world is the only place I want to be.

ABA NEWS & KEY DATES NEW ABA MEMBERS

KEY DATES FOR 2014

We welcome the following new members:

9 August National Bookshop Day

BOOKSELLERS Matilda Bookshops, Stirling SA Mr Pickwicks Fine Old Bookshop, Katoomba NSW The Bright Bookshop Variety Bookshop, Moe VIC

16–22 August Children’s Book Week

SUPPLIER MEMBERS Books At Manic, Brunswick East VIC

19 August National Reading Hour 6–7pm 3 September Indigenous Literacy Day

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING

2014 ABA TEXT PUBLISHING BOOKSELLER OF THE YEAR

Jenny Barry, Books Plus, Bathurst NSW Thank you so, so much! I am absolutely stunned and delighted and I would like to acknowledge the other nominees who have been shortlisted with me who are also doing amazing work and who share in this award with me. Well, you can tell by my grey hair that I easily qualify for the award and that I am now, sadly, too old to win the young bookseller of the year award!

JENNY BARRY

What an amazing industry the book industry is and how very lucky I am to be a part of it. There is no other industry like it. It is full of people– publishers, booksellers and authors alike–who have an enormous commitment to social justice and humanity, who are passionate about ideas, enormously interesting and fun as well as being great party people, always the last to hold the bar up at the end of the evening! Thank you to all those publishers and booksellers who have made me so welcome since coming into the industry 12 years ago. I particularly want to acknowledge ABA members like Fiona Stager who welcomed

me and gave me great support from day one, and my many other wonderful bookselling friends who I have met along the way and who have guided and mentored me. I feel so very fortunate to be amongst some of the loveliest people I know in being a bookseller, including the many wonderful customers I deal with every day. I would very much like to thank the ABA for this award and for all their support and dedication to booksellers and the industry in general. Thank you also to Text Publishing and Michael Heywood, who are doing extraordinary things in Australian publishing, for their generous support of the award. My biggest thanks also to Kirsty at Text for keeping my bedside table full of reading material, especially some great Young Adult titles as well as Text’s fantastic fiction list. I would also like to send my biggest thanks to my partner, Cath, who provides me with unfailing support and copes with my long working hours. And lastly I would like to thank my wonderful boss, the owner of BooksPlus, Kathryn. I had no idea she had nominated me for this award and only found out when other booksellers and rep’s began phoning to congratulate me! She has given me such an incredible opportunity to work alongside her in her wonderful business and in allowing me to spend her hard-earned dollars! I owe her so much and have learnt from the absolute best and had the greatest teacher in her. Thank you so much Kathryn. And again, my heartfelt thanks for this marvellous acknowledgement.

Books Plus, Bathhurst

NEWS ON BOOKSELLING EDITOR Robyn Huppert ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Robyn Huppert EMAIL mail@aba.org.au

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

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