tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post3260903298931444477..comments2024-03-07T17:13:54.927-05:00Comments on A Fuse #8 Production: Podcast Edition: Chain Stores Crucial? Pah.fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-17348554593112899372007-01-17T19:11:00.000-05:002007-01-17T19:11:00.000-05:00At our independant book store (Shaman Drum Booksho...At our independant book store (Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, MI) we did very well with the last Harry Potter book. We did the Midnight sale event, with Borders competing only a block and a half away. <br /><br />We actually had lots of people come to us instead for a number of reasons, one of which was to avoid having to wait in the much longer line at Borders. <br /><br />The paperback version of the same book, however, moved at an incredibly slow rate. We still have plenty of our original stock of this book.<br /><br />There are many big name authors whose new hardcover books we only bother to stock a couple of copies of--for regulars, because we know that people are going to walk around the corner to pick it up for the 40% off we simply can't offer. <br /><br />As for authors, we've had them, both big name, and unknown, doing well for us to varying degrees. The only time we felt burned by an author spurning us for Borders, was Salman Rushdie, who had slammed the chain stores for their handling of "Satanic Verses" while singing the praises of the support the independants gave him.John Rozumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03626209473214085436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-7952390496696480962007-01-17T16:23:00.000-05:002007-01-17T16:23:00.000-05:00In my experience this is very true. However, as a...In my experience this is very true. However, as an author gains in stature, they have more of a say as to where they go. And if an author has faithfully attended an independent and then switches to a chain (which happened to my mother's store a fair amount of times, "You've Got Mail", notwithstanding) then I find that less than stellar behavior. My beef is not with the up-and-coming authors but those with some sway under their belts.fusenumber8https://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-13985077290977127702007-01-17T15:47:00.000-05:002007-01-17T15:47:00.000-05:00Love the blog, which I've only recently discovered...Love the blog, which I've only recently discovered, but your comments about authors signing at chain stores hit a little bit of a nerve... Please remember that authors don't set up tours, publishers do. Any author who doesn't have a fresh Caldecott or Newbery on the wall at home is not really in a position to diva it up about schedule. Also, for those of us buried in the backs of catalogues, who aren't being sent to ALA and whose numbers are on no-one's speed dial up in marketing, every sale counts. It's not a choice between 'lots of money" and integrity... Those chain store sales can mean the difference between receiving royalties or not. Between making enough to scratch out a living and not. I literally can't afford to miss an opportunity to sell books, however much that author betrayal scene in "You've Got Mail" makes me squirm.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-60178550474962096192007-01-17T10:26:00.000-05:002007-01-17T10:26:00.000-05:00When the last one came out, I remember reading tha...When the last one came out, I remember reading that it wasn't profitable for independents to stock them. The parties, staying open late, etc weren't profitable either-I remember it ending up costing some more than they expected (or they didn't sell that much more after people bought them at their release date party). People were buying them from Amazon, Sam's/Costco, B&N/Borders/etc at deep discounts. You could even get it at drugstores like Walgreens or Rite Aid (and some had it out before the release date, and people knew where to get them).Jennifer Schultzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04612115213309097823noreply@blogger.com