News on Bookselling November 2013 by Robyn Huppert

VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 4 • NOVEMBER 2013

The official journal of the australian booksellers association

ISSN 1445-0437

Australian Booksellers Association and Kobo partner on eBooks and eReaders The Australian Booksellers

The ABA is absolutely delighted to reach this agreement with Kobo that presents an opportunity for ABA members to extend the great range of existing services that bookshops offer their customers in communities throughout Australia.

Association and Kobo have entered into a partnership that will allow ABA member bookshops to sell the Kobo range of eBooks and eReaders from Tuesday, 19 November. For the first time, any ABA member shop* will be in a position to provide the It has been a mystery to me why it has high quality Kobo range of eReaders taken this long to find a and Tablets as part of their product straightforward, cost-effective solution range to customers, and for to allow bookshops the opportunity to customers to have access to one of provide eBooks and eReaders in their the world’s largest eReading suite of services. Kobo has provided a catalogues with approximately 3.5 simple, elegant, comprehensive and million eBooks on offer. inexpensive entry point.

Inside this issue 02 CEO’s report

03 President’s report 04 ABA and Kobo 06 Member services 08 Marketing - Christmas tips 11

ILF report

Bookselling tips

Digital report

Bookshop profile

Kobo is one of the world’s leading eReading providers with more than 10 million registered users internationally, and has previously established partnerships with booksellers around the world including the American Booksellers Association and Booksellers New Zealand. It is wonderful to not only partner Kobo, but to work collaboratively with our sister organisations in North America, UK and Ireland and New Zealand to ensure that there is a real choice for bookshop customers, and to empower more booksellers to provide comprehensive service for their customers.

I also think it’s important to acknowledge the elephant in the room. Businesses are rightly concerned about margins, and the potential for cannibalising your own business. In considering whether to go down this path, consider whether you want to lose business by passively sending your existing customers to Harvey Norman or Big W, or more importantly, to have your customers captured by the predatory and category-killing Amazon. In jointly announcing the partnership with the ABA, Kobo Asia-Pacific Managing Director Stephanie Ogden said, “The Kobo team is committed to helping stores of all sizes and specialty to take part in the eReading revolution. The shift from print to digital has only just begun and the markets across Asia Pacific are poised for large digital growth over the coming years.” “We will be working with our ABA members immediately to equip them with the requisite technical support, training and marketing tools in time for them to engage in this new opportunity before Christmas. Kobo has found incredible international success offering localised eReading experiences in New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Portugal, the United States, Italy, and Japan, and now, in Australia.” Continued on page 4

News on Bookselling November 2013

CEO report It has been an exciting couple of months! An eBook partnership with Kobo; the 90th ABA Conference and Trade Exhibition to organise; a new Kids' Reading Guide; new members’ services; some great marketing tools; a change of government. And looking at the overflowing shelves and front tables of bookshops, this should be an exciting Christmas. There has been nary a dull moment for any of us at ABA Central. 90th ABA Conference and Trade

Exhibition: ‘Everything starts with a conversation…’

The ABA is turning 90, and our conference this year is being planned as I write. We have been thinking long and hard about a theme; and in the end, it was easy. ‘Everything starts with a conversation…' can apply to that chat you have over a drink at the conference when someone tells you about an idea they have, to meeting a bank manager at a barbecue, to chatting to a potential customer about a book you recommend for a few minutes, who becomes a weekly customer for life. We are in discussion about special guest speakers, subjects for sessions, and a 90th birthday celebratory dinner. We will be celebrating the past, but looking to the future, and we hope to see you there. Keep track of the details on our website: www.aba.org.au and by reading our weekly enewsonbookselling.

Kids' Reading Guide – Shaun Tanstyle The Kids' Reading Guide is up-andrunning. Every year we say this, but this time it’s for real. This is the best looking guide we’ve had. This year we have used 02

Madman Printing for the print work and Berndatte Fricker who has been doing our graphic design. With Shaun Tan’s illustrations adorning the cover and interior graphics, a clear accessible design, and an exceptionally strong list, backed by equally potent reviews, we expect strong results. Participating bookshops can also upload an electronic (PDF) version of the KRG to their websites. Praise, kudos, congratulations to the team that write the reviews, thanks to the publishers and booksellers who support the KRG. And, oh, by the way, thanks to Robyn for all her efforts, and for pushing a few windmills.

Member Services I don’t want to take up a lot of space on this, as Tamara has a page or two of her own to let you know about a new range of services and discounts we are offering our members. And believe me, we have been flat out with meetings that will roll out an even wider range of services and opportunities for members over the coming months. Tamara and the team are continuing to develop a range of services that are responding to the requests and needs of our membership.

Goodbye Julia and Kev/Hello Tony The longest (and most unimaginative) election campaign in living memory has ended. The ABA has continued having conversations and, where necessary, to push the agenda on our members’ behalf on issues like GST on online overseas purchases, the Australian Postal Union agreement, supporting the outcomes of the Book Industry Collaborative Council (and BISG), and to work with the relevant Ministers, policy makers and

bureaucrats on behalf of our members. About the time you get this, Patricia and I will be meeting with our counterparts at the APA to see where there are areas of common interest we can address. In Patricia’s column, she also talks about a couple of areas of concern we will be addressing.

Christmas coming early There are early indicators that this might be the strong Christmas we have been waiting (and waiting, and wishing, and waiting) for. As a reader and inveterate bookshop visitor, it is extraordinarily exciting to see the array of new fiction, nonfiction and kids books available this year. Might I also add what a great year it has been working with the team at the ABA. They have been working very hard on behalf of you this year, and I hope you’ve seen some of the benefits. Whether it’s rebadged Australian Book Vouchers, other marketing tools, member benefits, new sales opportunities, the Kids' Reading Guide, National Bookshop Day, we aim to serve our membership. Stay tuned in 2014 for even more benefits, opportunities and tools. I hope you are absolutely flat-out right up to Christmas Eve, and have a wonderful, healthy, happy and profitable holiday season, and a Happy New Year. I hope to see many of you at some of the parties later this month.

Joel Becker

News on Bookselling November 2013

President’s report It's seven weeks to Christmas and as

we reach the end of a calendar year I grapple with conflicting thoughts and actions. I am busy making hopeful plans for a profitable selling season through Christmas and into the summer holidays, but I am also afraid that some of the challenging times we have survived through the last 18 months may not be over yet.

Like many business owners, I have made tough decisions in the past year. These are decisions about staff, about investment, about replacing stock and other assets, about digital product and about the future of my industry. Although every day is a challenge, this last month seems to have been particularly filled with delights and disappointment. Let me share some with you... Delights first (I’m an eternal

optimist)

Our new agreement for members with Kobo. Joel and his team at the ABA offices have worked very hard to get this into place against the odds for November. I was lucky enough to catch up with Michael Tamblyn CEO of Kobo at the Frankfurt Book Fair and he particularly wanted to pass on his enthusiasm for having Australian booksellers on board. As a Canadianbased company, Kobo has an affinity for some of the issues we face in Australia - exacerbated a little by having the largest English speaking market in the world just across the border! Suzy Wilson, owner of Riverbend Books in Qld, is nominated on the Honour Roll for Australian of the Year 2013. Well deserved recognition of a hard working and creative bookseller. Boomerang Books and Booktopia as viable Australian online booksellers are

being supported, celebrated and developed within their markets and communities. Disappointments (only two big hairy

ones)

Firstly the easy one: the Supply Chain. This month I have spent more time than usual with my warehouse team. I’ve been unpacking a lot of boxes of books. And I get angry as I write this because frankly, some publishers are directly affecting my profitability with shoddy practices. We live in 2013, not 1993. We supposedly have drones with the capacity to deliver textbooks, apps which send postcards, easy peasy software on your phone for creating videos. So why can’t a publisher or distributor selling thousands of items and millions of dollars per year get these things right- an invoice in the box ( or at least a picking slip referencing the invoice number) , the correct stock, an electronic invoice direct to the booksellers email address, and an automated returns process. And then there’s the big one: Parallel Importation Restrictions. Our current market restrictions on parallel importation are being carefully supported by booksellers around the country and blatantly exploited by some publishers. Consumers have a choice about where they purchase their books, publishers have a choice about to whom and at what price, they sell their books, and yet, under current legislation, booksellers have highly restricted supply options.

already started the process of speaking with major publishers. Tackling the fear At a recent conference I was lucky enough to enjoy an hour listening to Todd Sampson. His presentation was a wonderful mix of joy and frustration – just like my month. He spoke specifically about the strange effective combination of creativity and fear. I am afraid about a lot of things. It doesn’t stop me but it certainly influences my strategy and plans. Todd’s recommendation to cope with fear, is to be brave for just 5 minutes more. Sounds simple and is effective. Try it. Especially if your business is struggling with new digital initiatives, costs and processes. Be brave for just a little longer than your competitor and you immediately have the advantage. If you’ve got a story to illustrate this, I’d love to hear it. So, as we count down the days to summer, my sincere wishes for a truly happy Christmas period , safe and successful trading, driving, resting and bravery. Be brave, be strong, be safe and even the small things that you do for staff and customers will make for a better Australia.

Patricia Genat

0419340056 patricia.genat@alslib.com.au

I believe it’s time we re-opened discussions with our publishers and suppliers about an open, profitable and sustainable future for all parts of our Australian book industry. I am very interested in your opinions and have News on Bookselling November 2013

ABA and Kobo continued from page 1 “While we’ve built our store, devices and applications based on our own love of books and the people who read them, we’ve also built a business that enables others to benefit from our success. We believe that while the written word is changing, that its transformation should help bookstores in a beneficial way – one where they can grow their business, serve more customers, and have a positive influence in their communities. Our integrated approach gives retail partners access to a complete and robust platform that includes content and technology as well as the business services that make Kobo the partner-of-choice for bookshops in the eReading market.” *The current relationship that Kobo has with existing Kobo retailers will remain unchanged. All other ABA members who wish to sell Kobo can either contact the ABA office, 03 9859 7322 or visit the ABA website at www.aba.org.au

Frequently Asked Questions about Kobo

Kobo has been an integral part of our business for the last year. We decided to be part of the New Zealand release and it has provided both strategic, promotional and sales benefits. The stands that Kobo provided allowed us to engage the customer in the e-reading debate and offer them the option of supporting us locally and thus fend off the perception that there is only one player in the digital market. We also promoted the link between purchasing the device and seamlessly purchasing books through the website, again promoting the "buy local" aspect. Whilst the margin is low for the reader, we generally sold at least a sleepcover and/or case which added margin and satisfaction from the customers perspective. To be able to provide a digital solution to our customers enabled Wrights Booksellers to be part of the digital discussion. Hamish Wright Wrights Booksellers, NZ read any book, anytime, anyplace — and on any device. •Kobo is a worldwide retailer of eBooks to consumers; Kobo’s eBooks are being sold in 190 countries, and Kobo eReaders are being sold in more than 15 countries; and it is anticipated that Kobo will become the choice of additional booksellers around the globe in the coming months.

Why has the ABA chosen Kobo as

their eBook partner?

•ABA has had extensive conversations with multiple eReader and eBook vendors and has concluded that Kobo offers the best possible solution and choice for all ABA bookshop members. •Under this arrangement you can sell Kobo devices in your store and/or provide customers a link on your website to sell Kobo eBook titles and share in the revenue of all sales. •Of course, as with any commercial decision, consider all the options, and pick the option that you decide best fits your business. •Kobo espouses a “Read Freely” philosophy, very much in line with our bookshop ethos, and believes that consumers should have the freedom to 04

READ COMFORTABLY, DAY OR NIGHT

•The Kobo experience is turn-key and allows booksellers to focus on bookselling. •Kobo is investing in building an eBook platform for the long term with continuing development of devices and services to compete in the global marketplace.

What Should I Stock?

•You will be able to stock anything from the range of Kobo eReaders and Tablets. Initially we recommend that you stock the Kobo Glo and Aura HD. Depending on demand and interest, you can then consider stocking other devices, but this is a good – and safe – entry-level. •You can, of course, special order any device from Ingram Micro. You will be able the devices from November 19 2013.

•There is a very high ratio of accessories sold per eReader sold. There is a significantly higher margin (approximately 45% on accessories), so we recommend you always keep a range of accessories in stock.

What content do I have access to? •Kobo offers a comprehensive line of eBooks from all major publishers and currently has more than 3 million available eBooks in its catalogue; new titles are being added continuously. •Kobo offers apps for iOS, Android, Mac/ PC, and Blackberry — and Adobe Digital Editions download — for reading on Nook, Sony Reader, iPad, etc. •Kobo has first-class 6:00 a.m. to midnight (ET) customer support and 24/7 email support. •Kobo owner Rakuten believes strongly in supporting independent retailers, and has proven success with the Rakuten Ichiba, which brings together 40,000 independent retail shops to sell online. News on Bookselling November 2013

Why Ingram Micro for Distribution? •Ingram Micro is the exclusive distributor to ABA members of Kobo eReaders and accessories. Bookshops ordering from Ingram Micro are able to take part in a launch program that creates a very low risk opportunity to feature Kobo devices. •Bookshops will need to set up an account with Ingram Direct. At this stage we are asking all independent bookstores to express interest by registering for the launch. We will then forward all registered stores information outlining the next steps to set up an account with Ingram Direct. •The devices are freight free into store on purchase orders of $300 or more. Small orders will incur a freight charge. How Does it Work? ABA member participating stores will decide whether or not to: •order Kobo eReader devices for sale in the store; and/or •offer Kobo eBooks through a link to the Kobo website. •Your customers will purchase Kobo eContent via a Kobo link from your website, or via a newsletter link. Kobo will track serial numbers of devices sold to stores to ensure proper credit of eBook sales. •You will continue to keep all your customers’ personal and purchase history. Kobo will also keep your customers’ personal contact and purchase information, and will not share it with anyone else. •Kobo will respond to all your customers’ technical/operational questions and issues regarding eReaders and eBooks. •ABA agreement with Kobo is nonexclusive, and stores may discontinue selling eBooks and/or eReader devices at any time, on minimal notice.

revenue share. At the end of three years there are renewal options for both ABA and individual stores. Given the importance of eBooks and online sales, ABA will continue to explore all promising technological options so that member bookstores have the best choices and options available. •This arrangement with Kobo is available to ABA members who don’t currently already have an agreement in place with Kobo. What are the terms and conditions? •Please consult the Members-only page on the ABA website, or contact the ABA office. •All shops are expected to prominently display marketing material for Kobo in their shop(s). •When displaying an eReader, it is essential that you have access to wi-fi and a power point. What happens if a model is

superceded by a new model or discounted by Kobo?

•Shops will receive credit from Kobo for any stock held reflecting the new price. How Do We Get Started? •Participating ABA member stores will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with ABA. Contracts which will be available in November. •ABA will contact stores after they have signed to confirm launch details •Stores may begin to sell eBooks upon completion of the technical integration, anticipated to be mid-November, 2013. •All the relevant material is available in the members only section of the ABA website. Who do I contact at the ABA for more

information?

•For more information, please contact Tamara Seldon Truss, Member Services Officer or Lara Tumak, Admin Officer or on (03) 9859 7322 or email kobo@aba. org.au

“Kobo has made us a real player, with competitive technology,” said Jeff Mayersohn, co-owner of Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass., who reads on an Aura HD. Although the impact of the program’s sales on the store’s bottom line is negligible, he views e-readers as “most important for customer retention. There are loyal customers who have been asking us for e-readers, now we don’t have to send them someplace else.” Pete Mulvihill, co-owner of Green Apple Books in San Francisco, regards the $700 he’s made since Kobo e-readers began shipping late last November as “gravy,” since the Toronto-based company takes care of the back end. “It’s not a profit center, but I’m losing fewer customers,” he said, adding, “We’ve acquired 225 customers for Kobo. They signed up because they love my store. It’s the same as if you can cut your phone bill by $50. Why wouldn’t you?” At Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., co-owner Jessica Stockton Bagnulo credits Kobo with bringing new customers to the store and its Web site. “I’d say anecdotally that the bulk of customers who buy e-readers [through the program] are those who know about it from reviews and have found Greenlight in their research,” she said. Sales on greenlightbookstore.com have gone up 21% for the first eight months of the year, over the same time period in 2012. “This is probably partly due to customers finding us because of Kobo,” said Bagnulo, “and partly due to the growing awareness of our core customers that they can do their shopping with us online.” Her gross Kobo e-book sales for the first nine months of the program were over $6,000, close to double the store’s total for the Google program over a significantly longer period.

•The ABA/Kobo partnership agreement term is three years, during which time participating members experience the News on Bookselling November 2013

Member services 2013 ABA Survey You will by now have received an email from us with a link to a member survey. This has been compiled to help us ascertain how we as an association can better help you to run your business. Please do take some time to complete this survey; this is your chance to provide us with vital feedback to ensure that we are providing you with the most relevant services and benefits, and also to highlight any areas where we can improve our service to you.

New Member Benefits Are you getting the best possible value from your ABA membership? The ABA’s extensive suite of member benefits is designed specifically to save you money and to provide great value products and services. If you are not currently signed up to receive these benefits, check out the website www.aba.org.au or contact us for more information. With savings in mind, we are thrilled to announce some fantastic new offers for ABA members:

Discounted Health Insurance from nib As a member of the Australian Booksellers Association you can now enjoy exclusive benefits on your health insurance with our health insurance partner nib. nib will provide a corporate discount of 8% to ABA members on the full range of nib’s Your Corporate Health Cover options. As a special offer for ABA members joining the health plan, nib will waive the usual two and six month waiting periods to claim on a range of Extras services including general dental, physiotherapy and optical.1 If you are with another health fund and transfer to nib you will be given continuity of cover. This means you can start claiming immediately if your nib health cover includes services that were covered by your current fund, you have 06

served all the required waiting periods and you haven’t used all their annual benefits with your current fund. nib will take care of the entire process of changing funds. Simply complete the Clearance/Cancellation Certificate within the nib application form. This authorises and allows nib to cancel your current policy on your behalf and obtain details of your existing health fund policy for the purpose of confirming continuity of cover.

and you will receive great rates from a range of quality hotels in that area. Members will be asked to show their ABA membership card (attached to this newsletter) upon check-in.

Switching to nib is easy for ABA members If you join or transfer to nib on an eligible cover, you can: •Avoid the usual 2 and 6 month waiting periods2 •Receive an 8% discount on the cost of your cover To find out more, or obtain a health cover quote, call the nib corporate priority line on 1800 13 14 63 - Mon – Fri 8am-8:30pm, Sat 8am – 1pm (AEST) or email grouphealth@nib.com.au 1Offer applies to new nib corporate customers

of any combined hospital and Extras package for Extras services that normally require a 2 or 6 month wait. Excludes hospital services, Overseas Student Health Covers and Overseas Visitors Health Covers. Longer waiting periods apply for some services including oral surgery and major dental

Offer applies to new corporate customers for Extras services normally requiring a 2 or 6 month wait. Excludes hospital services, Overseas Visitors Health Cover and OSHC. Longer waiting periods apply for some services including major dental. 2

Great discounts from Dell Australia Dell Australia has offered ABA members excellent rates for all your IT requirements, from laptops and desktops to servers and software. Follow these simple steps for great discounts: •Visit the Dell website, www.dell.com. au •Select and customise the hardware or software you require and then save it to the shopping cart. •Take a screen shot of the shopping cart, save it as a PDF and email it to Tamara at the ABA (memberservices@ aba.org.au). •This will be forwarded to our account manager at Dell who will provide a highly competitive quote for the best possible price and the best solution for your requirements. For more information about these, or any other of our member benefit schemes, please contact Tamara

Other ABA Member Benefit Schemes Don’t forget, there are exceptional savings to be made from our existing member benefit schemes. Discounted rates for Accor Hotels

Australia Post Parcel Post

ABA members can now access discounted rates from Accor Hotels via the Accor/ABA exclusive web page: http://accorasiapacificpartners.com/ AustralianBooksellersAssociation.

Receive substantial discounts on Australia Post parcel rates.

Simply select your location and dates

As an ABA member, you can take advantage of discounts of up to 40% off the standard (non-contract) Parcel Post rates. News on Bookselling November 2013

Services include: •Discounted Domestic Parcel Post rates (for parcels between 500 gram – 22 kilos) •Discounted International Parcel Post rates (for letters and parcels and Express Courier International) •Discounted Post eParcel rates •Discounted receipted delivery •Free pick-ups from your premises (conditions apply) OAMPS Insurance Business Insurance Special business insurance packages are available at a significant discount to members. Our insurance broker also provides a wide variety of other insurance and can offer competitive quotes on personal and vehicle insurance as well. Lost Parcel Insurance We recommend this scheme to go hand in hand with your Australia Post

contract, if you are considering such. This scheme gives peace of mind with coverage of up to $2000 per individual shipment or post. Book Systems International The ABA offers members a freight consolidation scheme for importing books from the US, UK and Europe via air and sea. The scheme is operated through Book Systems International and ABA members benefit hugely from using consolidated volumes to gain the same freight buying power as larger volume importers. Additionally, Book Systems International have opened their China consolidation depots in Hong Kong and Shanghai to receive supplies of new books for delivery to Australia. This service, which has been used by Australian publishers, is now also offering competitive freight costs to Australian retailers and distributors who source newly issued titles from Chinese printers.

Transit times of 12-16 days are achieved on a weekly sailing schedule to all major Australian ports. For further details, contact Harald or Damian Dittmer at Book Systems International on 03 9330 3341. Commonwealth Bank Take advantage of the fantastic rates available to ABA members from the Commonwealth Bank. Services include: •Significantly reduced merchant service fees •Significantly reduced monthly rental rates for eftpos terminals •No joining fee •No administration fee

Tamara Seldon Truss ABA Member Services memberservices@aba.org.au

Everything Begins with a Conversation

The 90th Annual ABA Conference & Trade Exhibition The Langham Hotel Melbourne, 18th & 19th May 2014

News on Bookselling November 2013

Marketing - a Christmas guide

- and that books are the obvious gift!

a christmas guide .

how to wrap awkwardly shaped presents

dinosaur helicopter hot air balloon

jelly

dolphin rocket

teapot

octopus

Have you considered asking for a gold coin donation on gift-wrapping for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation? Have an ILF donation box near your register.

teepee

or you could just

buy a book? .

Windows SHOP LOCAL

I once heard that Gerry Harvey starts planning for Christmas more than 12 months out. So in theory you should be planning for Christmas 2014. But let’s face it, booksellers don’t often have teams of people working in marketing – and time is limited. In a previous life as a bookseller, each year I would plan further and further back – but the best I ever did was seven months. As you know Christmas is a critical time of year in retail. Booksellers often make 110% of their profit at Christmas time and often, when you get it right, it will support you for the rest of the financial year. ABA Christmas POS Buying a book from a bookshop means your customer has put thought into the gift. Even more – the gift giver has also helped employ people, help a business, paid tax, and been more environmentally responsible - so chant about it. This year the ABA has designed some cheeky and fun POS that includes posters, wrapping paper, gift cards, wrapping seal, and bookmarks. The act of giving a gift has sometimes been forgotten and we want to remind people that their local bookshop can help them select a perfect gift with ease 08

We have a few different poster types to select from or mix ‘n’ match to create a fantastic theme. You can also use these images in your social media campaigns. What’s more we have created wrapping paper that can be printed in sheets or ask for them to be printed in a roll. The whole theme ties together so a book lover will know that if a book is given in that paper that the gift has come from a bookshop, and not an overseas online retailer.

Make sure all your theming is coherent. If you decide to use the ABA POS don’t mix it with other stories and themes. Go to a cheap Christmas shop to buy some props – or better still only use items you sell. Naturally there will be loads of Christmas books for sale at that time to use. You could also buy a few props and badly wrap them with toilet paper and red bows to place in the front window.

Ask a local Choir to sing Christmas carols, or better still get your staff involved. This could be another way to raise money for the ILF or a charity of your choice. Kids Shopping Day Why not have a special day just for children to shop for their parents? All sorts of fun activities and you can highlight some great books for the parents – and kids. You could limit this to after school hours on a weekday when you may be a little quieter. Fun Days Sometimes Christmas gets a bit much for both customers and staff – why not break things up a little and have a theme day that is completely different from Christmas. Get some upbeat music playing and create your own little party. When your staff tap their toes customers will probably join in too. Plus if you are really busy faster music usually moves the browsers to make a purchase faster than slow classics.

Pre-wrap There are some books that you know are going to sell well for Christmas. Why not pre-wrap them to save both you and the customer time. Make sure there is a label on the outside and the correct book is in the wrapping (essential for obvious reasons)

SHOP LOCAL

Christmas Charity Tree and

Christmas Charity

Contact a charity such as The Smith Family to find out about their Christmas book appeal. Decorate a Christmas tree instore using tags as decorations. These tags can be instructions on the types of books that could be bought and donated to your designated charity. Some charities do not like the books wrapped so make sure you read through all the guidelines.

Add-ons Why not find some really good impulse buys to put near the registers. If people are in the queue they may not be able to resist a good remainder, book light etc. Make sure the item is extremely good value and that customers don’t need to think too hard when deciding whether to make the purchase. News on Bookselling November 2013

Opening on Boxing Day If you haven’t opened on Boxing Day – have you ever thought about it? Bookshops are one of the few shops that can open any day. Just because you have fantastic friends and family doesn’t mean everyone is in the same position. If you have ever been to a mall on a public holiday you will see it is heaving with people trying to find something to do. You could be that thing! There have even been cases of shops opening on Christmas day! Santa sometimes needs a last minute gift. VIP Shopping Night If you have a loyalty scheme invite members to a VIP Shopping Night. Get some cheap sparkling wine, orange juice, and perhaps some little nibbles. Offer something extra like a further discount or extra loyalty points. The goodwill generated could ensure customers come back during the rest of the year. Remember it costs much less to keep a current customer than find new customers. Remember if you offer a 20% discount you should sell double your usual sales – but if these are new and increased sales you can’t double sales of what you didn’t have before. Christmas Market If you are in a community-minded shopping strip why not have a Christmas Market? Approach the shops on the strip to settle on a night – have local children or choirs sing/play Christmas carols; each shop could have a Christmas special. You could even arrange a central wrapping station staffed by a charity. Ensure you have council permission. Christmas Gift Registry Create a form for booklovers to list books they want for Christmas. Keep the form, filed, behind the counter. The customer can then let friends and family know you hold the list. Shopping for the perfect gift for that person

suddenly becomes easier – you could offer complimentary gift-wrapping to add to the service. Very similar to Bridal Registries. Events Naturally in-store events can help with sales – but I recommend not having any in the last few days of the mad rush. You do not want to lose floor space, or tie up staff when you could be selling to customers who are in a hurry. Social Media Make sure your followers know about new releases and what you, and your staff, recommend this Christmas. Map out your social media plan of attack on a calendar so that it is easy to just find an image and then update. Always direct traffic to your website over an external one – but an image is essential.

going to get trashed by customers. Ensure you set aside time at the end of each day to tidy. That means when you arrive in the morning you won’t have to start your day tidying. Finally don’t over-commit yourself. It would be better for your brand/ business to do something well than lots badly.

Steve Jones

ABA Marketing marketing@ aba.org.au

Perhaps ask staff what book they would buy for their own child, mother, father, grandfather etc. to make it a more personalised message. Staffing Some of the big retailers have been cutting back on staff; ensure you have enough, and the right staff, to hand sell and offer personal advice. Big retailers struggle to do this and online retailers have little chance of achieving this. Christmas Trading Hours Make sure your customers know your hours, especially if there are any changes in the lead-up to Christmas. Have this information displayed prominently instore, on your website and ensure your answering machine is up-to-date. This is also a good time to remind customers of cut-off dates for special orders and deliveries if books are required before Christmas. Presentation of the Shop Let’s face it – your shop is hopefully

News on Bookselling November 2013

ILF report Thanks to the hard work and support

of the ABA and our representative Robyn Huppert, together with the participation of over 70 bookshops, Indigenous Literacy Day was a successful event raising profile and important funds. We raised over $100K in donations during September and our newly launched online campaign, Get Caught Reading, caught the imagination of many individuals together with our schools-based Great Book Swap campaign.

It’s that time of year when we’ve got our heads down completing and evaluating the 2013 book supply program. We’re pleased to announce over 20,000 books have been delivered to remote communities across Australia. Consultation and selection is also completed for ten new board books in Book Buzz, supporting early literacy for babies, toddlers and mums in four communities. In addition, a fabulous new resource kit supporting Book Buzz 1 & 2, put together by our Program Manager Tina Raye, is already in communities. Last month copies of Playgroups, an invaluable resource developed and written by Anne Shinkfield and Beryl Jenkins in Warburton, were delivered. This project has been assisted by a grant from Lotterywest.

In the next couple of weeks we are expecting delivery of our final community publishing book for the year, Growing Up in Nyirrpi. Written and inspired by two young girls, it will be launched in Alice Springs midNovember.

We are currently preparing for a visit from a class of senior girls from Tiwi College who will travel to Sydney mid-November. The girls will be introduced to the world of publishing and will workshop and complete the story they wrote with author John Danalis during our annual Ambassador trip in August. We are delighted to have the support of Macquarie Bank and Allen & Unwin to make this possible. On ILD we were very proud to have visitors from the remote WA communities of Tjuntjuntjara and Yakanarra. Travelling vast distances from two of the most isolated communities in Australia, it was fantastic for the students to visit two iconic venues including the Sydney Opera House and the National Library. Other high points were their ‘first’ visit to a bookshop and Pizza Hut.

At the Opera House, How Does Your Garden Grow? was read and two songs sung by Tjuntjuntjara students. 13-year-old Melbourne schoolboy Lachie Coman, who inspired the entire project, gave a very moving address. And it was a glorious day, in every sense of the word, when 35 members of Yakanarrra Remote Community rocked up at the National Library for the launch of two books that had been translated into Walmajarri.

(The Yakanarra Dogs). These two stunningly illustrated books introduce us to everyday life in the remote community in central Kimberley, Western Australia. These books were assisted by a grant from the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund and were originally developed in workshops with Alison Lester and Jane Godwin, sponsored by the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia.

In her welcoming address, DirectorGeneral Anne-Marie Schwirtlich said the National Library was proud to support the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s work and to officially include the books in the library’s collection of 10 million books. The whole occasion took on greater significance and poignancy when elders, Mary Vanbee and Jessie Moora, took to the stage to read in Walmajarri.

Community publishing, ambassador visits, book supply: none of this could have been possible without your continuous support on ILD and throughout the year. We value and thank you for your generosity and commitment.

Karen Williams

Executive Director, ILF

Wangki Yakanarrajangka (A Yakanarra Day) & Yakanarrajangka Kunyarrwarnti

News on Bookselling November 2013

Bookselling ideas Notes from the dark side Can silly suggestions and humbug from general retailing help save the world (of bookselling). Forgive me, I am a consultant I never meant to be a consultant so please forgive me. I specialise in the cultural sector, museums, galleries, performing arts companies. But my work history has been grounded by bookstores. Since I became a consultant I have discovered that my blend of skills; traditional bookselling, general retail and consultancy is quite rare. In a way I am a translator - I can take the best of general retail strategies and adapt and implement them appropriately into a bookselling environment. Get out of my store Booksellers and retail consultants and general retailers, do not, for the most part, get on. General retailers struggle to understand bookselling. While booksellers find much of the advice given by retail consultants simply nonsensical. “You want me to organise my books by colour? You want my staff to jump all over my customers within thirty seconds of them entering the store? Are you crazy? Get out of my store.” Choose your battleground Goliath like online threats, discounting and other problems are in many ways battlegrounds that booksellers as a group have had thrust upon them. But if you are going to take on a Goliath it’s perhaps a good idea to fight on a battleground of your choosing. I would suggest that this is best done in a space that you control. Your store. Or in retail speak, “the in-store experience.” The in-store experience includes everything from simple housekeeping to the appeal of the space, use of space, the fit out, lighting, perceived value, a compelling offer, visual merchandising, modes of staff/customer interaction, signage and more. 12

There is a saying, that as a retailer you don’t sell product you sell the experience. A good in-store experience helps to get our customer to buy right there right then. It’s the reason why Westfield, Apple and even Bunnnings invest so carefully in making sure their shopping centre and store models are right for their customer and product. But to begin with let’s start, as is usually best in retail, with the customer. Fear of Buying Years ago I came across some research, I think done in Scandinavia, on book buyers. It revealed that the overwhelming emotion people felt when purchasing a book was anxiety. The research seems odd to begin with but when you think about it, it starts to make sense. The researchers pointed out that the old saying “you can’t judge a book by its cover” holds very true. The cover image, the blurb or even a recommendation on the cover from an author you like does not give a sense of certainty that you will actually like the book. Certainly not the same level as, trying on a pair of jeans, taking a car for a test drive or checking the specs on an electrical good. There is every chance that a couple of chapters into the book you will realise it simply isn’t for you and you have done your dough. Of course in this age of smart phones where information (good, bad and indifferent) is just a tap away the in-store customer can now simply move into the digital world. On this battleground the online Goliaths are the favourites to capture that sale. Thus, in essence, by not providing sales orientated in-store guidance bookstores are driving its flesh and blood customers into the arms of the digital giants. So is it time to organise your books by colour, “incentivate your sales staff” and call in the retail consultants? I think the answer is closer to hand and

less likely to set off a culture war in your store. Let’s start with what visual merchandising can achieve. Visual Merchandising: what is it

good for?

Booksellers pride themselves on their individuality but visually most bookstores, from a customer’s perspective stick to a very familiar model. Shelves (usually wood or wood veneer) with lots of spine outs, some face outs, tables with face up piles of books, a new releases section, the occasional review pinned up and some staff recommendations. It’s a model that has worked and worked well for decades. But adding good visual merchandising to it will not just be making things pretty. It removes barriers to buying and gives reasons to buy. It is also a way to make sure your store’s identity and personality is consistently apparent throughout the store. It’s just a sticker Literary prize winners like the Booker or Miles Franklin sell well and provide a good example of some general retail strategies, including visual merchandising, translated into a bookstore environment. Firstly, publishers like to give you stickers for the stock. Even though they are just little stickers they are signs and signs, retail research tells us, increase sales between 50% and 200% depending on the quality of the sign. The sticker is easily augmented by the store’s own signage and displays. The combination provides a “focal point” in the store and is used to “stop and engage” which is a really hard thing to do in stores with large number or titles or “skus” (stock keeping units). But signs on their own are not great as stop and engage measures. Signs work better to convert engagement into a sale. Other measures, including News on Bookselling November 2013

managing the colour palette and creating a “retail story” of the display, are great stop and engagement tools. They are widely used in displays from supermarkets to high end fashion. Hence the odd advice I once heard to organise a crime fiction section by colour. The reason for the advice was good but the implementation suggestion poor. Choice fatigue Literary prizes also work to counter “choice fatigue” as they limit choice and provide the customer with clear buying direction. There is plenty of research on how the larger the range on offer in a store in a particular product category, for example, jam, wallets, luggage, whatever - the less items people buy and the less likely they are to buy at all - often walking away in frustration. This is important research for bookstores where there are literally tens of thousands of choices of the one product “books.”. Focal points are problematic in bookstores because of the need to have lots of shelving to provide range. The obvious advice is reduce range (skus). Again it’s a strategy that has worked well in other retail categories. But for booksellers without range in its core strengths a store can lack credibility in its offer. The good news is that the visual texture of spines on shelves creates an excellent visual contrast to a focal point (there are ways to introduce focal points in-shelf, or in other spaces). Thus its effect is disproportionate to its size in terms of stop, engage, sell. Hard sell, soft sell. Literary prizes also mobilise two sales techniques most often used in retail in staff/customer interaction, of “authority” and “social proof.” That is, good judges of literature loved it and everyone’s reading it.

One of the great advantages bookstores have over other retail categories is how genuinely passionate and knowledgeable the staff are about books. The great disadvantage is that bookshop staff will argue, in many ways quite rightly I think, that their job is not to do the hard sell and approach customers as would happen in an electrical goods or fashion store. The upshot of this is that all that passion and knowledge is locked away and only unlocked if a customer approaches the staff member. Which is a problem because overwhelmingly research shows customers do not like approaching staff.

Space

Retail consultants will tell you, correctly, that proper sales training backed up by mystery shopping, line management and incentives will increase sales typically by 20-30%. But can you imagine the war you would have to fight to implement this in your store? Not to mention how it would change the feel and culture of your store? Also there is the very real problem that customers are essentially schizophrenic and want shop staff to be mind-readers. That is, they will complain “there was no-one to help me” but also hate to be approached “cold” when they enter the store. They simply expect staff to know when they need help.

Finally a question and an observation to get you thinking about customers and space in your store. Do you know which space in your store makes customers comfortable crossing your threshold? Customers in bookstores who sit and browse rarely buy.

Customers need it, love it, and use it in very specific ways and understanding how customers act in space is a key sales driver. Department stores in the USA increased their sales dramatically when it was pointed out to them that the place customers make their buying decision is in the change rooms not out at the clothing racks. Less space for stock and more comfortable space for trying on items and interacting with friends and sales staff drove up sales. There is a reason why there are toilets and coffee making facilities in the change rooms at GAP.

Richard Harling

The Cultural Commerce Consultant E: richardharling!iinet.net.au M: 0427 276 962

There are three ways to approach this problem. The classic, “get over it, your job is to sell so get out on the floor and sell.” The second is to teach staff how to be aware when customers give off signals that they want to be approached and give them an understanding of selling. The third is to help unlock all that knowledge and passion and translate it into visual merchandising and proper sales effective signage that “sells silently” or will even prompt the customer to start the conversation.

News on Bookselling November 2013

Digital report How book marketing changes when it’s digital When books go online almost everything about their marketing changes. We’re all familiar with traditional book marketing. It starts several months out with the sell-in to bookstores, merchandising and catalogue commitments. For big books, there might be an advertising plan. Meanwhile, the publicist secures media interviews for TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, pitches to key newspaper and magazine reviewers, and arranges an author tour and book signings. Fingers and toes are crossed that everything to hit when the book arrives in stores. There’s a frenzy of activity during this post-launch period, before another month rolls around and the cycle repeats with a fresh batch of books.

The challenge when there’s no physical book But when there is no physical book present – either because an ebook is the only format offered, or online sales are used to open markets where there is no bookstore distribution – almost none of these staples of book marketing works. There’s no sell-in, merchandising, retail catalogues, or book signings because bookshops aren’t involved. And traditional reviewers and media are out because they seldom cover books which are not physically available in their markets. With so little left, how do you promote a book? This is the challenge that faces every self-published author. But it also faces traditionally-published authors who want to keep their books alive well after the few weeks that publishers and booksellers give them. And increasingly it faces publishers as more of their income shifts to sales outside of the bookstore network – including ebooks and overseas sales that might once have been done through rights deals.

What changes when it’s digital? There are two big differences when things go digital. The first is that getting found and bought online is heavily influenced by automated systems (“algorithms”) rather than human gatekeepers like booksellers, journalists or reviewers. The most prominent example, of course, is Google. This means search engine optimisation is becoming a core publishing skill and book metadata is moving from an administrative after-thought to a central marketing function. There are other key places where algorithms affect ‘discoverability’, including Facebook and online bookstores, especially Amazon. What happens on Amazon is more likely to be driven by sophisticated algorithms than by human decisions, and it’s well ahead of its competitors in this important regard. Bestseller lists change hourly and feed into all sorts of recommendations, search and browsing. And user reviews and ratings, buyer behaviour and category choices, external promotions, as well as sales affect its rankings and recommendations. These are all fertile targets for smart marketers to influence. Amateur time. The second big difference from traditional book marketing is that professionals like booksellers, journalists and book reviewers are no longer the key people influencing what’s bought. Instead, it’s increasingly unpaid enthusiasts with day jobs – bloggers, social networkers, and reader reviewers. Part of the reason is that professionals seldom review or write about books with no physical presence in their markets. But a bigger issue is that, even when they do, they’re often not found in the places that book buyers go online. The best example of this is what has hap-

pened with the rise of reader reviews. For most books sold online, reader reviews and ratings are likely to be more important than press reviews because they’re easy to find when you need them. This is definitely true with Amazon which prominently displays user ratings and reviews, a key area in which it dominates while its competitors have failed to get much traction. But reader reviews are also prominent in social media, community sites and niche sites like those covering fan fiction or romance genres. Top online reviewers make sure their reviews are seen and shared widely. Some of them have thousands of followers. They are active on many platforms and have excellent connections among other bloggers and reviewers. A book review might start as a blog post, or an Amazon review, but will then be distributed to a much larger audience through social media and reading community sites like Goodreads which now has more than 20 million members. Reader review sites like Goodreads and Shelfari get further coverage by distributing these reader reviews through other channels. Kobo’s reviews, for instance, mostly come from Goodreads (for now) and Shelfari supplies its user data to Amazon. Both of these sites are now owned by Amazon. User reviews are open to manipulation, a criticism that’s often made. But the problems might be overstated. On the whole, readers like and trust them, and companies like Amazon and Goodreads are constantly improving their systems to weed out phoney reviews.

The new booksellers? In many ways, these online communities are doing a lot of the work that booksell-

News on Bookselling November 2013

ABA news ers have traditionally done – curating, recommending, spreading the word among their communities. So a challenge facing booksellers is that bonds with their own customers can weaken as more discovery and recommendation happens online. One way to community, and to build bridges between online and offline. This doesn’t mean you have to turn into an uber-blogger or Tweeter yourself (although it’s great if you can). One alternative is to start building relationships with active online book reviewers and social networkers near you. Done well, these online opinion-makers can be just as helpful to promoting bookstores as they are to promoting books and authors. (And don’t be put off by their Amazon affiliate links and the like.) To find bloggers and reviewers near you, you can simply Google them. There are specialist tools, too. For instance, use a blog search engine like Technorati or Google Blog search, or a social search tool like Topsy. Ask your customers who they follow online, or use Goodreads’ top reviewer lists to locate their most active online reviewers and social sharers in your town. To help these connections, booksellers have some real assets that top bloggers and social networkers will prize, like early access to new releases and authors. Bloggers and social networkers are great at acknowledging sources which promotes you to your audience and in turn helps to expand your own online reach when you need it. Other ideas to try might include VIP invitations to your events, help to distribute their reviews by linking to them on your site, or offers of guest posts on their blogs when you do reviews. This will also give you much wider distribution for your reviews and will win points with bloggers who will appreciate some good quality reviews.

New ABA members

We welcome the following new members: Corporate Bookshop Members A&R Online, online Bent Books, Westend QLD Bookworld, online Dymocks Bendigo, Bendigo VIC Jean-Louis Boglio Maritime Books, Currumbin QLD Last Books, Newtown NSW Miss Ruby's Bookshop, Braidwood NSW Roger Page Cricket Books, Yallambie NSW T's Book Cafe, Alexandria NSW The Book Nook, Toowoomba QLD The Little Bookroom CBD, Melbourne VIC XYZ Books Pty Ltd, Kenmore NSW

ABA Christmas and New Year office hours The ABA office will be closed from Tuesday 24 December and will reopen on Thursday 2 January. Book Voucher orders must be placed before Thursday 19 December for delivery prior to Christmas.

Before you jump in too deep, spend a little time getting know how things work online and, especially, the online culture. The point of it all is to use them (in a nice way) to make sure you’re a key player in the online conversation as well as offline – the perfect bridge between the real world and the virtual.

Martin Taylor

blog: activitypress.com/report twitter: @nztaylor

News on Bookselling November 2013

Bookshop profile boobook on owen

boobook on owen, my small indie

bookshop, is situated in Huskisson, Jervis Bay’s shopping precinct. Jervis Bay, 2 hours south of Sydney and three hours from Canberra, is renowned for its pristine waters and beaches and is a popular tourist destination for Aussies and overseas tourists. I also stock jewellery from artists all over the country but try to have as much local content as possible.

Although only four years old (and still on trainer wheels), boobook has become an integral part of the local community. As well as the day to day ordering, pricing, sorting and displaying jobs I’m kept very busy with three book clubs, a weekly storytime for pre-schoolers, special ordering for loyal locals and am experimenting with monthly twilight events.

So how did this all come about? In 2009 I finished my 40-year teaching career and naively decided that I would open a bookshop. I loved reading… this would be the perfect retirement! HA! I was advised to go to an ABA Conference that was coming up in Sydney by a very experienced bookseller. I went. It was overwhelming. I was starting to wonder why I’d decided to go down this path! At a session for new booksellers I met Jan Bull from Fosters Little Bookshop in Victoria. Jan very kindly offered to share her expertise so I flew to Melbourne and spent a couple of days in her shop frantically scribbling notes which didn’t make much sense at the time. I set off for home totally confused but still keen to set up shop.

Not long after my brother saw a SHOP TO RENT sign in a space upstairs in the main drag of Huskisson. The view over Jervis Bay was perfection and the landlord was more than happy to rent it to me with no lease so I began to ply my trade without too much interruption - and not many customers!

“You know it’s a proper town when it has a bookshop.”

I had acquired a room full of very eclectic second hand books from a deceased estate so these constituted my “recycled” section. With my newly acquired Melbourne knowledge I started phoning publishing houses and soon had accounts with all of the big guys! Next step was to IKEA for book shelves and with help from my husband, brother, son and friends, set about constructing my bookshop.

“So do you sell many books?”

One auspicious afternoon in 2011 I popped downstairs for a coffee and discovered that the best shop in town was available! I grabbed it and, once again, with family and friends made an entry into the REAL main street. Now customers with prams, wheelchairs and dogs (on leads) can easily access my shop, I have two front windows and still a view of the paddle boarders, dolphin cruise boats and yachts.

Others I hear quite often:

“We always come to your shop when we come here for our holidays”. “You have such an interesting selection of books- not like those big retail shops”.

This one ALWAYS receives a very terse

response and a lecture about the potential demise of bookshops. One customer said she hadn’t really thought about it and is now a loyal customer, a member of one of the book clubs and one of my best promoters!

Visit my website www.boobookonowen. com.au or go to www.jervisbaytourism, the Jervis Bay Tourism website to see the shop and more of this beautiful part of the world.

Jill Wheedon

boobook on owen 1/68 Owen Street, Huskisson NSW 2540

I am phasing out my recycled non-fiction section, increasing my children’s section and adding more non-book products I have taken up the Copia white label offer from the last ABA Conference and am hoping this will build my business even more.

My favourite quote by a customer just after my relocation was

Australian Booksellers Association Incorporated in Victoria, ABN 56 365 379 358, Unit 9, 828 High Street Kew East Victoria 3102 Telephone 03 9859 7322 Facsimile 03 9859 7344 Email mail@aba.org.au www.aba.org.au

News on Bookselling Editor Robyn Huppert Advertising enquiries Robyn Huppert Email mail@aba.org.au Entire content copyright © Australian Booksellers Association Disclaimer Advertising and inserts in News on Bookselling are paid for by the advertisers. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement of these products or services by the Australian Booksellers Association