Tag Archives: Bookselling

UKCBD News Roundup: The Floods in Drought Edition

Posted on May 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Big UKCBD Spring Clean Continues

SIMPLY A REMINDER that there’s never been a better time to review your shop’s UKCBD entry: it’s raining out there here in drought-stricken Bedfordshire and, having just been signed off work for another four weeks courtesy of my broken ankle, I’ve got plenty of time on my hands to keep on keeping on with those updates. Either give me a shout with any changes needed or wait your turn…

The ten most recent updates are featured on the UKCBD homepage and all the latest updates are catalogued here, oddly enough, under Latest Updates…

The Big UKCBD Spring Clean

Durham Cathedral Shop: New look, new location

Diocese of Durham: Work begins on new Cathedral Shop

Diocese of Durham: Work begins on new Cathedral Shop

LAST WEEKEND saw plans unveiled for the long awaited all-new bright-and-shiny shop at Durham Cathedral. As regular readers will know, the shop has had a turbulent history in recent years: once dubbed the best theological bookshop in Britain, it was abandoned by SPCK to the Brewer brothers, then unceremoniously dropped by them when it became too hot to handle.

The Cathedral authorities now seem set on course to leave that history behind, albeit in favour of something that looks more akin to a museum-style gift shop than a theological resource centre.  Exactly when the current shop in the Great Kitchen will close hasn’t been made clear. As the saying goes, watch that space…

Read all about it…

Goodbye UK Christian Handbook, hello Christian Resources Directory

Bible Society's Christian Resources Directory

Bible Society’s Christian Resources Directory *

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST in the transition from print to e-edition as Bible Society have announced the end of the long-established UK Christian Handbook in favour of an online only service, the Christian Resources Directory*. Given how quickly such publications go out of date, it’s an eminently sensible move, although the concept of an online directory that doesn’t include website links as standard leaves me somewhat baffled: a sort-of retro-Google that delivers dead-end search results (unless, of course, you don’t have a website, in which case you could be onto a winner).

As with its print predecessor, basic “Bronze” entries (single category, company/organisation name, address & phone number only) are free of charge, whilst those who can afford to stump up £50/£95 per year can upgrade to “Silver” or “Gold” respectively (multiple categories, more information and prioritised listings in the search results).

It’s early days yet and the project clearly needs some fine tuning as most categories are not cross-referenced to other related categories. Choose wisely when you register your business: if you opt for a listing under “Christian Bookshop and Resource Centre”, for instance, your shop’s details won’t be shown in a search for “Christian Bookshop”, vice-versa and so forth for other categories. At present, the way to find most Christian bookshops irrespective of category seems to be a search for Christian Books* but even that omits those who have opted for the simpler “Books” category (and vice-versa). The good news is that listings can be edited and recategorised very easily; the bad news is that there appears to be no business verification or vetting process: register, create an entry and bingo, it’s live within seconds.

I’m considering a “Gold” listing for UKCBD, which will effectively put every Christian bookshop onto a level playing field towards the top of every chosen category: if you’d like to contribute towards the cost of that or discuss other possibilities for working together, please either give me a shout or make a donation. Thank you.

* Please note these are one-off courtesy links by way of introducing the new directory: I’ll be happy to consider providing further links when and if Bible Society are willing to reciprocate free of charge…

Lion Hudson authors win Ultimate Christian Library Book Awards

CONGRATULATIONS to Andrea Skevington and Canon Andrew White, winners of this year’s Ultimate Christian Library Book award, as announced at CRE last week; and a well-deserved double win for Lion Hudson publishers:

Ultimate Christian Library Book Awards 2012

Ultimate Christian Library Book Awards 2012

More Christian Bookshops on Facebook

ONE OF THE JOYS of the Big UKCBD Spring Clean has been discovering even more Christian bookshops on facebook. It’s making my old Facebook Roundup for the Christian Book Trade look decidedly out of date: updates there in due course, all being well. These are some that I’ve discovered this month:

Whenever possible I’m adding social media links (facebook, twitter, google+) to UKCBD entries as and when I find out about them: if you’re fussbooking or tweeting and your shop’s entry hasn’t been updated, once again, please give me a shout.

Quench closure in St Albans jeopardises Music Centre

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: famous words from our glorious Prime Minster David Cameron, and proving painfully true in St Albans as the Music Centre where Quench St Albans (which closed down at the end of last year) was based is feeling the repercussions of the shop’s closure. From a report in the St Albans Review:

St Albans Review: St Albans Music Centre told to pay £100 a month more

St Albans Review: St Albans Music Centre told to pay £100 a month more

Elizabeth Barber, from St Albans Music Centre, has told the Review how she was dealt a devastating blow last week.

The owner of the 53-year-old business in Holywell Hill said on the same day she received a letter to say she has been nominated in the Specialist Shops category in the Retailer of the Year competition, she also received notice of her business rate increase.

Mrs Barber said after the music centre’s tenant, Quench Christian Bookshop, was forced to close, her main source of income was lost.

Read the full story: St Albans Music Centre told to pay £100 a month more

Shoptalk: the CLC Bookshops blog

Shoptalk: the CLC Bookshops BlogCONGRATULATIONS to CLC Bookshops on the launch of their new blog, where you’ll find book reviews, news and commentary from the management and staff of the shops. Early days yet but well worth a look if you’d like to know what’s happening in the world of CLC Bookshops UK.

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With a Mighty Roar: Bath’s microshop receives a name – Aslan Books

Posted on April 19, 2012 by | 2 Comments
Update, 21/4/2012
Aslan Books now has its own social media feeds: blog | facebook | twitter

A MIGHTY ROAR is, perhaps, something of an exaggeration, but nonetheless I was delighted to discover that the new bookselling venture from Richard Greatrex, Windflower Books, and David Wavre, A Great Read — bringing the two worlds of online bookselling and local shopping together by providing bespoke bookstall services to churches — now has a name: Aslan Books.

I asked Richard to provide a brief description to help in compiling a UKCBD entry. Here it is:

Aslan Books at St Michael’s is the beginning of a new chapter for Christian bookselling in the Bath and Bristol region as we seek to find partner churches to host micro-site bookstalls offering a wide-range of Christian material with friendly staff in welcoming and prayerful buildings.

On display is a key selection of books at competitive prices, typically 10% off the retail price, and we are able to order a great variety of Christian books and resources – from prayer cards to church candles.

St Michael’s central position in Bath means that it will be easy to reach for Christians in the city – there is plenty of parking close by – and the shop offers a very pleasant place to for shoppers to peruse at their leisure and, of course, seek advice.

And here’s Aslan Books’ brand new bright-&-shiny UKCBD entry:

Aslan Books, Bath

The latest UKCBD entry: Aslan Books, Bath

Like every UKCBD entry, the standalone page shown above is mirrored in the Shop Name and Town & City listings:

If you’re in the Bath/Bristol area — or have friends who are — please do spread the word, call in, buy something and help cheer Richard on; and if you’ve got time on your hands or simply want to gain some bookselling experience, why not volunteer to give him a hand?

There are several other microshop possibilities in the pipeline: keep an eye on Springboard Bath, the local Christian news network, for details…

News & Notes (most recent first)

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eBooks are not the enemy: CLC USA National Director Dave Almack on why the Kindle might even be a bookshop’s best friend

Posted on March 26, 2012 by | 3 Comments
Why the Kindle Can Be a Brick and Mortar Bookstore’s Best Friend

Why the Kindle Can Be a Brick and Mortar Bookstore’s Best Friend

THANK YOU to Lloyd Hodkinson for sharing this superb post from CLC USA National Director, Dave Almack: Why the Kindle Can Be a Brick and Mortar Bookstore’s Best Friend. Dave rises to the eBooks challenge by outlining six reasons why they are not the enemy, and concludes:

As a bookstore guy, I am now encouraged more than ever that e-readers devices can be our friends and not just the enemy to be ignored, avoided or even castigated.  With every new technology challenge that we face, there will also be opportunities to exploit.  On-line retailers reminded us of our special role are curators of content and helped us to improve our unique in store selections.  Big Box stores reminded us that while a good selection of books is important, the right selection of books is even more important.  Mass Merchandisers like Wal-Mart reinforced the reality that our customers need good prices and helped us to become more price competitive and even innovate with bargain book sections and value priced books everyday.  This new e-book challenge will only do the same as we remind people daily that there is nothing quite like the feeling of holding, smelling, reading and enjoying a physical book and then giving one to a friend.

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Posted in Christian Book Trade

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Bookseller Report: All but one Wesley Owen Bookshop likely to close

Posted on January 31, 2012 by | 12 Comments
Update, 13/3/2012
Wesley Owen Bromley ceased trading on Sat 10/3/2012; official announcement here:
wesleyowen.com/info/pdfs/bromley.pdf

Update, 7/3/2012
Wesley Owen Derby ceased trading on Sat 3/3/2012; official announcement here:
wesleyowen.com/info/pdfs/derby.pdf
The Bookseller, 31/1/2012: Bulk of Wesley Owen bookshops to close

The Bookseller, 31/1/2012: Bulk of Wesley Owen bookshops to close

ACCORDING TO A BOOKSELLER REPORT published this morning, all but one of the Wesley Owen bookshops now look set to close as the company focuses on its online trading rather than the bricks & mortar stores:

Bulk of Wesley Owen bookshops to close
31.01.12 | Lisa Campbell

Wesley Owen has announced it may close all but one of its chain of Christian bookshops, saying the bricks and mortar business has been overtaken by digital and online growth.

The chain closed its Bath and Bristol branches at the weekend, resulting in 18 job losses, and has told staff and suppliers it intends to “significantly reduce its high street presence.”

Currently 15 employees are in consultations about the future of their jobs and the company’s retail director, Steve Mitchell, told The Bookseller: “We think there will be one – but maybe two or three stores left.”

The report goes on to quote Steve as saying,

Making the decision to do this has been as hard as decisions get. It is partly to do with the economic position, but even if we had waited until the economy got better it is a brave man to bet against the online business which is so rapidly growing. We have seen our online business growing significantly – 3-400% in the last two years – and we recently started selling e-books and that has taken off rapidly too.

and concludes with the observation that “it is our view that the charity or independent model is now the best option to maintain physical Christian stores.”

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Reflections from Roger Pearse: Christian bookshops – the key part of the local church?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | 15 Comments

MY THANKS to Roger Pearse for kind permission to reproduce this thought provoking and challenging post from his blog, all the more challenging given the number of bookshop closures we’ve seen over the last year or so. Roger’s observations echo many of the conversations we’ve had here over the years, going right back to my Christian Bookshops — who needs them? (2008) and The Future Shape of Christian Bookselling (2009) amongst others; but it’s a conversation that is far from over and, if we’re to find a way through the present crisis, it needs to continue — with even more urgency than we’ve pursued it before.

All comments and feedback welcome here, as always, but don’t miss the discussion emerging over on Roger’s original post…

Christian bookshops – the key part of the local church?

I did something unusual today. I didn’t buy a book from Amazon.

Not that I buy a book every day from Amazon: I mean that I decided to buy a book, but to order it in from my local Christian bookshop.

Almost certainly it will cost more. But the Christian bookshop is a funny thing. That’s because it isn’t really just a bookshop.

A friend gave me the name of the manager of my local one at Christmas, and I’ve popped in and introduced myself. Suddenly I find myself connected to a network of people who know people, or know of someone. Today I wanted to learn of someone connected to me who was working in the church in a town in the south of England, in order to help someone. The lady knew of someone. For the managers of these places effectively function as an information exchange.

The pastoral role of the Christian bookshop is invisible unless you know that it is there. Yet this too is critical — you can go in, and find people to talk to. The churches themselves — I mean real churches — are lamentably bad at working together in a single small town, and the common need of their members for books means that the bookshop acts as a centre, a place where notices are displayed and people congregate.

Some bookshops take it a step further and add on a coffee shop. St Aldates bookshop in Oxford ca. 1980 did just that. It was very cramped, but then students don’t mind that at all. I often went there as a convenient place to meet.

Christian bookshops came into being in the 60′s and 70′s because bookshops and news agents would not stock popular Christian paperback books or publications. You could order them, but this involved a long wait, no chance of browsing and often was frankly a faff.

Consequently the publishers started to set up retail outlets where their wares could be displayed. Since Christians always wanted the books of Michael Green or David Watson, they naturally became information exchanges.

The convenience of internet shopping means that it will usually be quicker and cheaper to buy a book at Amazon. That was not the case back in the day, since the Net Book Agreement standardised book prices anyway.

So the problem is that the modern Christian bookshop has no real economic basis. The publishers are finding them unviable. They can now sell their books through Amazon.

Yet the bookshop is needed. Indeed if you want some advice on books to buy — as I did today — what use is Amazon?

I don’t know what the answer is, I admit. Let us pray that God finds a way around this. Change is inevitable; but not at the price of wiping out the bookshop.

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Post-Digital Armageddon: Jonny Gallant reflects on the future of the book trade

Posted on November 12, 2011 by | 12 Comments

EBOOKS. Or should that be e-books? Or even ibooks if it’s Apple as the vendor. The fact that the book industry can’t even agree on its basic terminology is perhaps telling in and of itself, but however we spell the word, the ebook challenge isn’t going away anytime soon — but physical books, according to some, might be. Whatever your views on the matter, you need to move fast if you’d like to see those views taken into account in Christian Retailing magazine’s latest Vital Signs survey: the deadline for entries is this weekend, no later than November 13th.

And now my thanks once again to Alban Books’ Jonny Gallant as he follows up on his earlier contribution. Are we ready? I think not: welcome to the Post-Digital Armageddon…

Jonny Gallant, MD, Alban Books

Jonny Gallant, MD, Alban Books

AFTER MY LAST UKCBD GUEST POST, I was literally swamped by 2-and-a-half suggestions that I explore the promised Digital Armageddon further. Just for you I have looked into my foggy crystal ball and examined the entrails of 3 chickens (that’s publishing lunches for you) to come up with a few highly speculative visions of the future.I have long had a publishing mantra: “The author is not the enemy; the customer is not the enemy”. It’s something worth remembering every now and then. We’re all in this together, so why does it feel like we have competing interests?

With that in mind, I have had a go at being an author (writing under a pseudonym, I may be on your shelves… though probably not) and, last Christmas, I thought I would have a go at being a bookseller: I spent a fascinating day on the shop floor of Waterstone’s West End, Edinburgh. I hope it was just a seasonal anomaly, but 80% of queries were for the latest Katie Price or the bestseller from that irritating meerkat. I was also the victim of a bookselling cliché: someone came in and said ‘I can’t remember the title or the author, but it had a blue cover’. On reflection, that may have been a set-up. What I spectacularly lacked though, was the ability to recommend suitable titles.

This leads me to my first point: More than anyone else, the Christian Bookseller has a great responsibility to suggest ‘the right book’. No matter how sophisticated the algorithm, Amazon will never be able to offer the depth of knowledge, understanding and empathy that a good bookseller can provide. It’s an oldie, but a goodie.

Those of you who have seen my book, whatever you think of its contents, will probably agree it is a beautiful object. And if the physical book, as we’ve come to call it, is to resist the challenge of the ebook, it has to look like something worth buying, worth keeping.

— Julian Barnes, acceptance speech for the Man-Booker Prize 2011.

Secondly, after years of driving down production costs and creating more and more thin-papered, flimsy paperbacks, trends suggest that e-readers will e-radicate (excuse the pun – I promise it’s the only one) these grotty-glued excuses for books. There will no-longer be the ‘disposable’ printed book. Publishers are now starting to think about making a physical book something special again. The consumer will have no idea quite how special that book is unless they can actually see it and hold it before parting with their cash. Amazon can’t offer that either.

Thirdly: The way I see it, Alban is a sales and marketing operation. Inventory management is a necessary by-product of what we do. Those of you who have ever rung us up in urgent need of 25 copies of Esler’s Conflict and Identity in Romans only to be told you will have to wait 6 weeks will know that inventory management is an imperfect science. Digital or even POD books are able to negate this frustrating problem. Sadly, this is often going to knock the B&M bookseller out of the equation.

How can we persuade people that the 20% VAT we pay on a digital book pretty much negates all the savings on print and freight?

Finally, my greatest fear for the industry is the devaluing of the book. Discounting books to consumers has led, inevitably, to readers believing that £8.99 is an unreasonable price for a paperback. It is even worse with digital product – how can we persuade people that the 20% VAT we pay on a digital book pretty much negates all the savings on print and freight? None of us in this business is working to much (if any) profit margin, but the readers seem to find this hard to believe. The way that Amazon have sold books at a loss and vilified those publishers wishing to sell their digital product at a price they choose makes me furious. Sadly, I can offer no solution to this massive problem. My concern is that it will inevitably lead to an increasingly amateur and hobbyist publishing industry.

To conclude, things have got to change and they may well get worse before they get better. In the long term, I think that there remains a market-viable argument for the high street bookseller – especially the niche and specialist bookseller. I think that the product (and the service) will gradually become more high-end. I don’t know if publishers will still be shipping books over from the US in five years time. I don’t know if, in five years time, we will purchase an unedited, poorly-marketed, terribly-designed, ill-thought out ebook and think “what have we lost?!”

Discover more…

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How to Sell a Book: Radical thinking for authors, publishers and readers

Posted on October 24, 2011 by | 4 Comments

THIS POST EMERGES out of a conversation in the Christian Authors, Booksellers and Publishers facebook group, in which we were discussing (amongst other things) the pros and cons of authors self-publishing v/s going with an established publisher. It’s a tough call for authors in the present economic climate, especially if your book doesn’t quite fit into a clearly-defined niche; and it’s a tough call for publishers: faced by the choice of investing in a debut work from an unknown writer or a new title from an established writer with a good track record, what would you do?

And if you’re a bookseller, how do you decide what to stock? Is the extra admin involved in stocking titles from self-published authors or smaller publishing houses really worth it? Is it better to wave them away, to tell them to go strike a deal with a distributor/wholesaler?

When I was running the bookshop at LST (a distant memory now) my approach was simple: if I thought a title from a small publisher / self-published author was likely to be of interest to my customers, then I’d take it, but initial stock had to be either 100% sale or return or 100% see-safe, carriage paid both ways by the supplier. It generally worked well enough — yes, there was some extra admin involved in dealing with small invoices and parceling up returns, but no big deal really, and I’d encourage any retailer to give it a go. Remember this, people: The Shack started off as self-published — by helping out a small publisher / self-published author in this way, you could be giving the next ‘Shack’ a kick-start!!

So far, not so radical; however…

For Authors and Publishers: Here’s a challenge for authors and publishers: do you believe in your book? Do you want to see it on booksellers’ shelves? Then start the ball rolling by sending them a complimentary copy and tell them it’s theirs to sell or give away; but if they opt to sell it, then when — when, not if! — it sells, they have to use the proceeds of the sale to buy another copy (less whatever your trade discount is, of course). Cost to you: one book + p&p; but potential winnings … who can say? And a straight win for them whether they sell it or give it away: either money for nothing or a happy customer gets a freebie and — another win for you — tells their friends about the lovely book…

It’s a risky strategy, of course: I can hear all the objections and questions already after so many publishers and suppliers have had their fingers burnt and worse in the last few years in the SPCK-SSG/STL-Wesley Owen/Living Oasis fiascos; but as someone far wiser than me once observed, faith is spelt r-i-s-k. If we, as Christ’s disciples, aren’t willing to trust one another, aren’t willing to live out our faith by taking such risks, then what hope is there for the rest of society? And what, exactly, is the point of running a Christian business? What message do our business relationships convey to the rest of society?

For Booksellers: Now the challenge for booksellers: would you be willing to take part in such a scheme? Would you be willing to accept complimentary initial stock from authors/publishers on this basis? Not sale or return; not see-safe; but sale and restock when sold or give away — to commit yourself to not simply relegating the book to a back room or obscure shelf somewhere but actively supporting this vision?

For Readers: And last but not least, a challenge for readers, for those like me on the outside looking in, watching the demise of bookshops around the country and wondering what we can do: adopt an author, a bookshop and/or a publisher! If there’s a book you’d like to see on sale in a particular bookshop, go to the author/publisher and pay for them to supply it to your nominated shop with your compliments.

Imagine, if you dare, the difference this could make if enough of us did it: not just me, not just you, but your friends too, the members of your church.

The future of Christian bookselling is in our hands, my friends: let’s seize the day!

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Posted in Book Trade Ramblings, Christian Book Trade, Musings...

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Introducing Fiona Veitch Smith and Crafty Publishing: David and the Hairy Beast claws its way to market

Posted on August 26, 2011 by | 16 Comments
Fiona Veitch Smith

Fiona Veitch Smith

I MET FIONA VEITCH SMITH online via the Association of Christian Writers facebook group, where she was telling us a bit about her experiences of trying to persuade Christian bookshops to stock her new children’s book, David and the Hairy Beast.

Curious to know more, I checked out her website where I found, to my delight, an excerpt — and loved it. Hopefully, you will too — and you might even find your customers like it as well, but there’s only one way to find out about that…

I invited Fiona to tell us all about it. She writes:

David and the Hairy Beast claws its way to market

When we read of bookshop chains shutting down, publishing contracts becoming scarcer than a footballer without a super injunction and the bogey man of the e-book market changing the way we consume books, then you would be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at a new company launching its pilot title – in hard copy. Add to that the fact that the pilot is ‘self-published’ and the more business savvy among you may well be tutting in disdain. And yet, that’s what Crafty Publishing is doing. My husband Rod and I felt called to start Crafty Publishing using some of the redundancy money he received after being ‘released’ from the NHS. Our vision is to test out the market and distribution chains with a series of children’s picture books that I’ve written and then, if all goes well, start taking on other titles.

But we’re not going into this blindly. I am not a wannabe author who is so desperate to see her name in print that I’d sell the family silver to see it happen. I am already published and produced in a variety of genre including theatre, film and books. I’m currently working on a non-fiction book contract with Lion Hudson and a devotional booklet contract with CWR as well as continuing to work on a series of ghost-written children’s books for the secular market. In addition, I have worked as a freelance editor for Tafelberg Publishing in South Africa as well as for a number of magazines (in the UK and SA).

So why am I publishing my own work? I got a taste for the business side of self-publishing about eight years ago. My first book, Donovon’s Rainbow, was published in South Africa by Vineyard International Publishing (who have subsequently discontinued their children’s line). The book was not distributed beyond Vineyard bookshops in the UK, so when I moved back here in 2002 I asked permission from the publisher to distribute it. Effectively then I took on the job of a self-publisher. I entered the book for the Writers’ News best self-published / independently published children’s book of the year award in 2002 and won. The award gave me confidence to tackle the market and I was able to distribute the book to around 20 bookshops in the UK (secular and Christian).

It was a steep curve and I quickly had to learn about things like wholesale discounts the pros and cons of sale or return, the horrors of cold calling and the shaky financial footing of independent booksellers. I also realised that the title I was trying to sell did not fit easily into existing age categories and that the cover made it look as if it was for a younger readership than it actually was. Despite that, the book went into profit, but we would not do it the same way again.

So when my husband and I decided to launch our own title this year, we had some background to draw on. In addition, since 2002, the internet has become a much more effective marketing tool and as he is a professional software developer, he has been able to tackle that side of things.

But it’s still a scary world out there for a new publisher, not least when dealing with some bookshop managers who consider any ‘retelling’ of a bible story with the same abhorrence they normally reserve for Satan (or Rob Bell). However, there are some great folk too and in the month since the title’s been launched, five bookshops have agreed to stock us and our online sales are ticking over very nicely.

David and the Hairy Beast

David and the Hairy Beast

Our pilot title is called David and the Hairy Beast (retailing at £5.99) and is the first in a series of six books about the childhood of King David. The illustrations are by my design partner, Amy Barnes. We’re working on the next book, David and the Kingmaker, now. It will be ready for distribution in October, in time for the Christmas market. We’ll see how sales go in the New Year before launching the third in the series David and the Giant.

To find out more, please visit www.craftypublishing.com

Fiona Veitch Smith
e: Fiona AT thecraftywriter.com
www.thecraftywriter.com
www.craftypublishing.com
facebook.com/pages/Crafty-Publishing/229271997105270

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Posted in Author Profile, Christian Publishers, Guest Posts, People News, Publisher Profiles

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Christian Bookshops Live with Hive!

Posted on August 17, 2011 by | 9 Comments
Welcome to hive

Welcome to hive

MORE THAN TEN CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOPS are now live with Hive, the initiative launched by mainstream wholesaler Gardners (discussed here earlier this year) to help bridge the gap between the online and the bricks & mortar shopping experience:

The Hive Network is a radical new concept bringing the benefits of local high street retailing to the ease and pleasure of buying your books and DVDs on the internet.

Whilst everyone enjoys supporting the local bookshops that enrich our environment and bring variety and personality into our high streets, the convenience, range and 24-hour access of shopping online is an activity that many of us enjoy and take great pleasure in. Yet, having goods delivered when we may not be around to receive them does sometimes have its drawbacks… and let’s face it; the high street wouldn’t be as exciting or as colourful without your local independent bookshops.

That’s where the Hive Network comes to the rescue!

For booksellers, the service offers a customisable homepage and a fully functional online shop serviced through their Gardners account, with customer orders and stock orders consolidated into single deliveries, reducing carbon footprint. Customers benefit from the convenience of online shopping with free delivery to the bookshop of their choice for collection at a time that suits them, free home delivery for orders over £15, or 75p for home delivery on smaller orders. The project claims to be “the future of high street shopping on the internet… and internet shopping on your high street!” — the only thing that’s needed to change that from wishful thinking to reality, gentle reader, is you and me; and remember that it’s not just Christian books you can order from your chosen hive-linked bookshop: Gardners’ full range of fiction and non-fiction, including ebooks, is available!

The Christian retailers I’m aware of that have signed up so far are listed below: click through to visit their hive shops. If none of them are in your area, you can use the store locator to find your nearest participating shop; and if your local Christian bookshop isn’t there, why not pop in and encourage them to sign up?

Some have customised their homepages — the best examples I’ve seen so far are GLO and Unicorn Tree Books (UTB) — whilst others have yet to take advantage of this option, which leaves them particularly vulnerable to the potential for embarrassment that fuelled our earlier discussions. If you’re a bookseller reading this who hasn’t customised your home page, I’d encourage you to take a look the GLO and UTB pages to see how it can be done — then go and do likewise!

Customised Hive Home Page for Unicorn Tree Books & Crafts

Customised Hive Home Page for Unicorn Tree Books & Crafts

Discover more:

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Concerns rise as Trade Terms situation crosses denominational boundaries.

Posted on July 14, 2011 by | 9 Comments

In a comment under the post on the low discount to trade from CTS on the new Altar Missals a concerning trend has been found, highlighted and raised – one that crosses denominational boundaries and publishing houses and is perhaps of even more concern than the very low discount being given from CTS.

Andrew Lacey of Glo Bookshop posted:

A further addition to the Church Hymnary pot….

It seems that the new ‘Singing the Faith’ Methodist Hymn book, shortly to be distributed by Hymns Ancient & Modern for the Methodist Publishing House, will also not be available with any trade discount either! Apparently there is an introductory discount of approx 15% being offered direct to churches & online, but there will be no further discount AT ALL provided to Bookshops.

https://secure2.cyberware.co.uk/~cb537/acatalog/Singing_the_Faith.html

(just as an aside, note that customers cards will be charged NOW, rather than when the goods are despatched in SEPTEMBER- anyone tried that with a retail customer recently? What response did you get?!

A very helpful lady at MPH apologetically explained to me that no decision had yet been taken on any trade discount after the introductory offer expired in December 2011. This, of course, follows the pretty meagre discounts that were offered by HA&M on the Church of Scotland Hymnary 4th edition- although, in fairness to HA&M, they did help us once so we could match advertised prices.

It is hugely frustrating that these captive markets are effectively being creamed off by publishers, and bookshops are being very efficiently sidelined. Especially when we are the people who often do the work for the customer in making phone calls and trawling the web- and the only people who will benefit is the publisher.

It will also be interesting to see whether the Methodist Hymn Book turns up on the Book Depository lists at even larger disounts in due course……..

This is, as Andrew has said, deeply concerning as it effectively shows that bookshops are not only being sidelined but actively excluded from being in a position to serve their local communities and supply them – communities that in many cases want to support their local bookshops and that the local bookshops have spent years working alongside them through changes of all types and in every day times as well – to see the publishing houses of these institutions and those chosen to represent them now seemingly actively sidelining these shops is  more than a deeply concerning issue and brings so many questions to bear – not least what has happened to the trade at large and how can we actively and corporately resolve this troubling trend and crisis.

This at a time when US based Christian Retailing Magazine have on their Facebook Page put out a call for Suppliers to sign up to the Supplier Pledge alongside Christian Retailers signing up to the Retailers Pledge posted of earlier.

The pledge reads:

I have been called to be part of extending God’s kingdom through the creation of Christian products that can change lives. While this calling means that I want to see these resources distributed as widely as possible, I believe that I enjoy a unique partnership in this endeavor with Christian retailers. Independent, church and other Christian retail stores are community lighthouses that share my ministry goal. I believe in the ministry of Christian retailers and want to work with and support them as much as possible. I will seek to honor my Lord in my business with the efforts of my hands, my heart, my staff and my commitment to His Word. I love Christian products and I thank God for my calling.

So far Caritas Music Publishing has signed up – maybe it’s time we actively call on all our UK Suppliers and Publishing Houses to also make a public commitment of support for the Christian Retailers trying to so hard to support them and the local Christian communities they actively work alongside of.

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