• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

NYT On the Struggles of Indie Booksellers

October 15, 2020
By Michael Cader

The NYT explains to general readers the challenging situation for many independent booksellers as they balance hopes for the critical holiday season against the challenges of shopping in a pandemic — exacerbated by limits on printing and reprints, and slower and more expensive shipping, and higher expenses regardless.

The ABA surveyed members in July and among the approximately 400 respondents, a third said their sales were down 40 percent or more for the year. That 40 percent is in line with what Vroman’s in Los Angeles told customers when appealing for help to survive.

Twenty-six percent indicated sales were flat, or even up. But ABA ceo Allison Hill “said she expects that positive number to have eroded” when they repeat the survey in January. And “even at stores where sales have held on, profits are often down, Ms. Hill said.”

McNally Jackson Books owner Sarah McNally calls her sales “unimaginably bad.” The paper notes, “All six shops combined are now bringing in less than its SoHo location would in a typical month.” Owner of Third Place Books in the Seattle area Robert Sindelar says he is happy with sales that are down about 20 percent for the year.

While some booksellers are hoping that big sales for former president Barack Obama’s A PROMISED LAND will help boost their year-end, even that comes with risk and adjustments: “At 768 pages, it will weigh 2.5 pounds, said Matt Keliher at Subtext Books in St. Paul, Minn., so the store had to raise shipping fees or else it would lose money on every sale.

Filed Under: Bookstores, Free

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • So Far, Books by Trump Aides Are Mostly...Losers June 23, 2022 Politico
  • Macmillan Nigeria Publisher Charged With Book Fraud June 21, 2022 The Herald
  • All The Exiting Agents Seem to Think ICM's Sale to CAA Will Get Approved Shortly by DOJ June 17, 2022 Deadline
  • Spotify Closes Findaway Acquisition: "Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry" June 17, 2022 Press Release
  • Australian Author John Hughes "Unintentionally" Plagiarized The Great Gatsby And Other Famous Works In His New Novel June 15, 2022 The Guardian
  • Hatewatch Reveals Identities of Anonymous White Nationalist Book Publishers June 14, 2022 Southern Poverty Law Center
  • UK's Emerald Group Sold to Cambridge Information Group June 10, 2022 Press Release
  • Neil Gorsuch Is Writing A Book for HarperCollins, Declares First Advance of $250,000; Coney Barrett Got $425,000 First Advance After Commission June 9, 2022 Disclosure Form
  • New York State Passes Freelance Isn't Free Act June 3, 2022 Authors Guild
  • Michael Avenatti Sentenced to 4 Years for Stealing Book Proceeds from Stormy Daniels June 2, 2022 AP
© 2022 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.