How to survive as an independent bookshop
They face increasing competition, but as Independent Booksellers Week begins, there is room for optimism, says Alison Flood
 Alison Flood, guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 June 2010


 Left - The Book Nook, Hove
Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy is appearing today in The Steyning Bookshop in West Sussex, queen of romantic fiction Katie Fforde will be at Brendon Books in Taunton tomorrow, and former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo has lined up a visit to Edinburgh's Mainstreet Trading Company later this week. A week-long celebration of independent booksellers kicks off today with hundreds of events planned for the next seven days, as the beleaguered sector looks to raise its profile.

There are currently around 1,200 independent bookshops in the UK, but trading conditions have been difficult as stores struggle with competition from Amazon, supermarkets and an increasingly cut-throat high street: last year 102 shops closed. "This is a tough way to make a living," said the Booksellers Association's head of membership services, Meryl Halls. But she pointed to statistics from Nielsen BookScan, which showed that although last year consumer spending on books fell by 1% in volume overall, the independent sector saw a 1% increase in volume over the same period.

"It's a difficult high street, but the independents that are running their businesses professionally and well are certainly holding their own," said Halls. "The upside of being an independent bookshop is that booksellers can make their own decisions quickly – if something isn't working, they can change it. They can put themselves out there to find new authors, and they no longer think they have to compete on price. Instead, they compete in different ways."

As well as appearances from authors including Lynda La Plante, Patrick Gale and Evie Wyld, this week several independent stores are planning Where's Wally fancy-dress competitions, while there's a guided meditation led by a Buddhist monk at Jaffe & Neale in Chipping Norton and a debate to mark the 25th anniversary of Philip Larkin's death at The Book Hive in Norwich.

The full piece at The Guardian online.