"Indie bookstores have been absolutely critical to my career--without their support, my life would look very different! There's nobody like an indie bookseller--they have such encyclopedic knowledge of story, and are able to match the right person to the right book like nobody else. I owe them so much, both as a writer and a reader."

On the first day of the CALIBA Fall Fest in Pasadena, Calif., booksellers convened to discuss inventory management tips. Jessica Hahl, children's buyer at Books Inc., which has 11 locations in Northern California; Sean Moor, manager of the Book Jewel in Los Angeles, Calif.; and Seth Marko, co-owner of the Book Catapult in San Diego, Calif., made up the panel.

For frontlist buying, Marko said he relied heavily on the sales data available in Edelweiss. New titles on Edelweiss feature comp titles added by publishers and sales reps, and when buying Marko looks at how a given title's comps fared at his store in hardcover and paperback. When Hahl noted that sometimes publisher comps can feel "very aspirational," Marko answered that comps supplied by sales reps are denoted with a star, and those can be more realistic than the comps included by the publishers themselves.

Marko explained that sales data can be very helpful when deciding whether to create new inventory sections, adding that the Book Catapult recently created a dedicated horror section. Prior to that, horror titles had been mixed in sci-fi and fantasy, and thanks to sales data, Marko and the Book Catapult team could see that horror was selling well enough to warrant its own section. Currently, the team is having a similar conversation about possibly breaking out romance into its own section.

Once Marko brings in a book, he tries to "give everything 90 days," especially fiction. A major new release might start out in a window display before being moved to the hardback fiction table. After a couple months on a display table, a book will be moved into the general fiction, and at that point, Marko starts to think about "culling things a little." He pointed out that he is stricter with fiction than with other categories. Art and photography books, which can be quite heavy, are rarely returned, and cookbooks "will stay forever."

Moor remarked that when he first started his career as a bookseller, he wanted to make the bookstore look "exactly like the one I wanted to walk into." He learned very quickly that to find success, he had to make it look like the bookstore the community wanted. Over the years he has tried to "relinquish control as much as possible" by listening to his store's customers, his sales reps, and his frontline booksellers. He encourages booksellers to make ordering suggestions, which he then reviews, and he said he often relies on the demand function available through Ingram, especially if it's a title with which he's not personally familiar.

The Book Jewel sells new and used titles, and Moor said the store uses Basel because it makes it easier to keep track of both. The store created custom stickers to differentiate between used and new copies of the same title, which can be priced differently, and they include information like cost of goods and when the used book arrived in-store. When it comes to culling a section, the team usually waits until they "can't squeeze any more books in it." For used books, which frequently come to the store as donations or through store credit, there isn't much money invested in each title, and the team doesn't have a problem "donating the rejects." Trade paperbacks are "always the preference" when it comes to used copies, though the store might hold on to a first edition hardcover.

When buying frontlist, Moor said he buys very sparingly, and even for bestsellers rarely buys more than 5-10 at a time. His attitude toward most titles is "prove it to me," and he tries to limit returns as much as possible.

Hahl reported that when buying children's titles, she looks in detail at how an upcoming release's comp titles have performed across Books Inc.'s various locations, and whether sales hit at release or two months after. In general she tries to rely as much as possible on data, because with children's books, "everything is cute." It can be difficult to say no to a title if it has a puppy on the cover, but all the same, children's buyers need to be "cutthroat about it" and make sure titles earn their space on a shelf.

She also keeps track of things like how much she's buying from each publisher and how many titles of a particular category she's buying, such as picture books or graphic novels. It helps with budgeting, and more data means a better ability to predict future trends. She encouraged booksellers to report sales to ABACUS and the New York Times bestseller list; once reported, she explained, booksellers can still access those numbers. She further advised buyers to educate their frontline booksellers about things like turn rates for specific sections and categories. It can help give them specific goals to pursue rather than simply "sell more."

Children's books, Hahl added, can have a slightly longer tail than adult titles, and aside from a few exceptions, most kids' bestsellers will be backlist. Some children's books, especially picture books, can "require a little more square footage," which necessitates being very selective. Buyers should also account for the fact that there are evergreen titles that eventually someone will be looking for. She said: "You have to keep Blueberries for Sal or Where the Wild Things Are around." --Alex Mutter

The Little Book children's bookstore, which opened last February at 520 Euclid Ave., Suite 102, Des Moines, Iowa, is expanding into the space next door, Suite 103, which will be called "The Bank" and feature adult-centered titles. In an Instagram post, co-owners Bethany and David Fast wrote: "If you've been to The Little Book, you may have noticed the gorgeous corner space with the beautiful, historic arched windows right next to us. It's been staring us down for months... and now it's ours."

Describing the expansion project as "multi-faceted," the Little Book's owners said that adding books for adults is "bringing to Highland Park what so many of you have asked for.... The Little Book will forever remain kid-centric, but The Bank will open up doors to our customers who have been lovingly (and consistently) asking for a more adult-centered section of the store.

"This beautiful historic space (which was literally the Euclid State Bank when first erected) will also fill a need for both us and our community--a much needed space for small private events like bridal and baby showers, birthdays, family holidays, etc., as well as indoor vendor markets, workshops, author events... the possibilities are endless."

Construction is set to begin in the next few weeks. A door will be added between the two spaces. Expanded adult fiction sections, a complete overhaul and addition of nonfiction subgenres, as well as sections like poetry, classics, and more are in the works. Some rearranging of the current space, including a special section dedicated to graphic novels for children, middle grade, YA, and adult, as well as more manga selections, is planned. The Book Bank's opening date has not been specified yet.

Bromley's Books, a mobile bookstore housed in a converted bus and serving the Marquette, Mich., area, had its soft opening this week and will host a grand opening celebration September 26.

The bookseller posted on Facebook: "What a wonderful way to start this new adventure! A big thank you to everyone who came out, to our wonderful team, and local poet JJ Brinski for setting up with us! We've got lots of fun new books on order for this upcoming weekend, so you can expect to find new treasures and fantastic fall reads.... See you soon, book lovers!"

Owner Chelsea Bromley recently told WZMQ how she came up with the idea for her new business: "I inherited this bus from my dad. He had it as a camper van, and he took it all across the country. It was an off the grid camper. Eventually, I just had the idea of, why not turn it into a mobile bookstore? I was really inspired by the idea of giving it new life and wanting to create community and let other people enjoy it as well."

Bromley has worked in bookstores previously and plans to curate a collection of books that will appeal to everyone. "If someone comes in and they have no idea what they want, I can at least give them a few recommendations, and I'm always happy to do so," she added.

Bromley carries a selection of books that identify with Native American culture. "Our goal is to carry a variety of books," she said. "We want to feature indigenous authors and native authors. I myself am a member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, so it's important to me that we have representation."

Agate Publishing Academy, which was launched last year by Agate Publishing's president and publisher Doug Seibold, has formed an advisory board to guide its future development. The board "is made up of experts from the independent publishing world whose deep professional experience spans virtually every aspect of the publishing ecosystem, including distribution, retailing, and wholesaling, as well as traditional small press, academic, and children's publishing," APA noted. The board members include:

Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association 
Parneshia Jones, director, Northwestern University Press
Patricia Stockland, founder and CEO, Kind World Publishing
Phil Ollila, chief commercial and content officer, Ingram Content Group
Susan Reich, principal, Book Advisors

"I'm very thankful that this remarkable group of longtime publishing professionals has come together in support of our new Agate Publishing Academy," said Seibold. "I've known and admired each of these experts for years, if not decades, and their perspectives on my efforts to build this program have been invaluable along the way. I look forward to benefiting from their points of view as we continue to expand Agate Publishing Academy through the months and years ahead, and also as we update and improve our courses and other offerings."

APA is an online professional development program for individuals seeking to forge successful careers in the publishing industry--from novices to seasoned professionals. Currently, APA offers certifications in Publishing Basics, DEI Basics for Publishing Professionals, Instructional Design Basics, and Freelance Business Basics, with more courses to be added this year and next.

Nelson DeMille

Nelson DeMille, who wrote "stylish suspense thrillers and adventure novels, including books that captivated millions of readers with their tales of terrorist plots, Mafia skullduggery and Long Island killings," died September 17, the Washington Post reported. He was 81. DeMille "had a cheery disposition that could mask his talent at concocting horrifying--and frequently riveting--fictional scenarios. He wrote about airline hijackings, nuclear threats, wartime massacres and psychotic hostage-takers, even as he sought to balance the violence with snappy dialogue and wry quips that helped widen his audience."

"What makes him popular is he does it all," novelist Harlan Coben told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2006. "There's suspense, large themes, humor, and the main character is a guy you want to hang out with--like Nelson himself."

When DeMille signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster in 2014, the publishing house estimated that more than 45 million copies of his novels were in print worldwide. He wrote about two dozen novels, many featuring John Corey, a former homicide detective who first appeared in Plum Island (1997) and last in The Maze (2022). Other books were set in the world of espionage or in the military, and drew on DeMille's combat experience in Vietnam, where he earned the Bronze Star.

After returning home from Vietnam, he hoped to use that experience in crafting "the great American war novel," though his first books "were police procedurals, which he sold to small paperback publishers for $1,500 each--but he earned praise for later military novels including Word of Honor (1985)," the Post wrote. Word of Honor was adapted into a 2003 movie for TNT, starring Don Johnson. A screen adaptation of The General's Daughter (1992), starring John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe, was released in 1999.

After graduating from Hofstra University in 1970, DeMille worked odd jobs for a few years while struggling to launch his career as a writer. The Post noted that at times "he used a pen name, including for The Five-Million-Dollar Woman, a 1976 biography of journalist Barbara Walters--a paycheck job he said he undertook for the $2,000 advance--that he published under the pseudonym Ellen Kay, taken from his then-wife's first two names."

"The book did okay," he later wrote in an essay, "but I was clearly going nowhere as a writer, no matter what name I used on the cover."

He had his first major success with By the Rivers of Babylon (1978) and appeared to find a new niche as a spy novelist with The Charm School (1988). "I said to myself, since the Cold War is going to be around for the next 200 years, you have a career," he told the Times in 1997, adding: "I had about seven or eight great ideas, but the Cold War ended."

In 1990, he published The Gold Coast, which was set on the North Shore of Long Island and was optioned for a movie that was never made. One of his last novels, The Maze (2022), also had a Long Island setting.  

DeMille "wrote his books in longhand, with a No. 1 pencil and stacks of yellow legal pads, and was unabashed about his literary ambitions, even as he knew he had little control over his ultimate legacy," the Post noted. In a 2007 interview, he said, "Charles Dickens was a popular, commercial writer, and now his books are called classics. Maybe a few of mine will be classics, hopefully, but if not, not."

Shelf Awareness for Readers, our weekly consumer-facing publication featuring adult and children's book reviews, author interviews, backlist recommendations, and fun news items, is being published today. Starred review highlights include Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring, "a gorgeous, poignant drive through the sun and shadow of shared grief in small-town Maine"; The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi, "an enchanting novel" that "captures the special quality of a single moment in life with equal parts pathos and joy"; and One Last Chance to Live by Francisco X. Stork, a "nuanced dive into suicidal ideation" after a young writer learns his mentor has died. In The Writer's Life, Oliver Radclyffe discusses his memoir, Frighten the Horses, and the thrill of being published in a time when trans writers and artists are being celebrated. Plus, rediscover late Lebanese author Elias Khoury, "who dedicated much of his writings to the Palestinian cause and taught at universities around the world, making him one of Lebanon's most prominent intellectuals."

Today's issue of Shelf Awareness for Readers is going to 635,000 customers of more than 250 independent bookstores. Stores interested in learning more can contact our partnership program team via e-mail. To see today's issue, click here.

More than 550 people turned out for actress Kelly Bishop (l.), on tour for her memoir, The Third Gilmore Girl (Gallery Books). She was in conversation with North Carolina novelist Kristy Woodson Harvey at Meredith College Jones Auditorium, an event hosted by Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, N.C.

Black Cat Books & Oddities, Medina, Ohio, shared a TikTok demonstrating the art of "holding books like men hold fish."

In the children's digital marketing department at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing:

Nadia Almahdi has been promoted to director, digital marketing, for Simon Kids, from assistant director.

Shannon Pender has joined as assistant director, digital marketing, for Simon Teen. She was most recently a senior marketing manager at Random House Children's Books.

James Akinaka has joined as senior marketing manager, digital marketing, for Simon Kids and Simon Teen. He was most recently a digital marketing manager at Penguin Young Readers.

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John Cassidy is joining the Hachette Book Group online sales team as senior national account manager and will be responsible for selling client publishers to Amazon. He joins Hachette from Penguin Random House, where he has spent the last 20 years working with Amazon as a national account manager.

Giant Rays of Hope: Protecting Manta Rays to Safeguard the Sea by Patricia Newman (Millbrook Press/Lerner).

Today:
Fresh Air: Carl Hiaasen talks about Bad Monkey, his 2013 novel that the new Apple TV+ series of the same name is based on.

Lionsgate has released the official trailer and a new poster for Small Things Like These, based on the bestselling 2021 novel by Claire Keegan, Deadline reported. The film will be released November 1 in the U.K. and Ireland, followed by a November 8 debut in the U.S. 

Starring and produced by Oscar winner Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Small Things Like These opened the Berlin Film Festival in February, "the first time an Irish movie has had the honor. Emily Watson went on to win the Silver Bear for best supporting performance for her role," Deadline noted. 
 
Directed by Tim Mielants (Peaky Blinders) and adapted by Enda Walsh (Hunger, Disco Pigs), the movie's cast also includes Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, and Zara Devlin. Murphy previously told Deadline he "fell in love with the book" whose story is "very specific," but with "a huge universality to it." 

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Artists Equity financed the film after Murphy met Damon while working on Oppenheimer. Producers are Murphy and Alan Moloney, his longtime collaborator and partner at Big Things Films; along with Artists Equity's Damon and Drew Vinton; and Catherine Magee. Exec producers are Affleck, Michael Joe, Kevin Halloran, and Niamh Fagan.

The winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Fiction is Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Grove Press), and the winner of the 2024 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction is Built from the Fire by Victor Luckerson (Random House). The Postcard by Anne Berest (Europa Editions) has been named runner-up in the fiction category, and Red Memory by Tania Branigan (W.W. Norton) has been named runner-up in the nonfiction category. The winners each receive $10,000, and the runners-up each receive $5,000. They will all be celebrated at an awards ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, the weekend of November 9-10.

In addition, the 2024 Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award is being given to President Jimmy Carter. Nicholas A. Raines, executive director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation, said, "Jimmy Carter has dedicated his life to the pursuit of peace and human rights. As the author of 32 books and the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize--to name just a few of his many, many accomplishments--there is perhaps no other single person in history who better represents 'the power of the written words to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding' than President Carter."

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The shortlist has been selected for the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year. The winner receives £30,000 (about $39,900), and the shortlisted authors receive £10,000 (about $13,300). The winner will be announced on December 9.

The shortlist:
The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century by John Kay
Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together by Michael Morris
Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olson
The Longevity Imperative: Building a Better Society for Healthier, Longer Lives by Andrew Scott
Unit X: How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Transforming the Future of War by Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff
Growth: A Reckoning by Daniel Susskind

photo: Brenda Veldtman

After 15 years of working as a corporate lawyer in New York and London, S.J. Naudé left it all behind and returned to his native South Africa to write fiction. He has two collections of short stories (The Alphabet of Birds and Mad Honey) and two novels--The Third Reel and Fathers and Fugitives (Europa Editions, September 10, 2024), which is a literary page-turner about fatherhood and family, loyalty and betrayal, inheritance and belonging. His work has been translated into several languages and has won the Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award, a South African Literary Award, the University of Johannesburg Prize, and the Hertzog Prize.

Handsell readers your book:

Seeking a cure for a sick boy, a man and his long-lost South African cousin take him on a journey that changes all of their lives forever.

(I would like to think, though, that the contradictory truths of South African stories not only tend to disrupt conventional literary forms, but also resist containment within a short summary.)

On your nightstand now:

Too many books, as always:

Choice, the new novel by Neel Mukherjee. Being attracted to the shorter form, I like the gentle structural experimentation. Having worked as a lawyer in big cities, I'm also struck by the bold engagement with the ethics of urban living in the West at a time when the omnipresence of heartless late capitalism allows no one to step outside of it without self-destructing.

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. Taylor's debut, Real Life, marked him as an original talent. I love how you can never predict where his stories will go. I also look forward to reading The Late Americans.

The Near North by Ivan Vladislavić. A South African author whose work has unfortunately had limited international exposure. This book is an extraordinary exploration of the psychogeography of Vladislavić's unloved and troubled native city of Johannesburg, where I've also lived. Vladislavić is South Africa's flâneur extraordinare, but has written innovative fiction too.

Lower down the stack are: End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck, Raimond Gaita's The Philosopher's Dog, and Everybody: A Book About Freedom by Olivia Laing. (I was moved by Laing's writing about art-making and urban loneliness in The Lonely City.)

Favorite book when you were a child:

My mother tongue is Afrikaans, and Botter-aas (Butter Bait) by Freda Linde would have been my favourite. A slightly convoluted story about a fox persuading a wolf to steal a vat of butter and use his tail as a fishing rod, with butter as bait. He gets stuck in frozen water and the fox eats the vat of butter. As with many Afrikaans tales, the story probably has (Middle-) European roots.

At age eight I started to read Etienne Leroux, an Afrikaans modernist novelist from the 1960s, and never looked back.

Your top five authors:

This keeps changing. For now: J.M. Coetzee, Damon Galgut, Colm Tóibín, Thomas Bernhard, W.G. Sebald.

Book you've faked reading:

The Bible (in Sunday school).

Book you're an evangelist for:

In British author Jon Ransom's debut novel, The Whale Tattoo, raw and fractured prose animates the inner life of a queer working-class boy from a Norfolk fishing village. In this searing account of a youth filled with loss and trauma, the fumes of beer, semen, and sweat mingle with salty sea air and the smell of a dead whale. It's violent, sensual, fresh, and moving.

Book you've bought for the cover:

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes, a novel about Soviet-era composer Dmitri Shostakovich (the British cover). The simplicity, the sense of paranoia, and the subtle evocation of Russian Constructivist design make for a perfect cover.

Book you hid from your parents:

Edmund White's A Boy's Own Story. I encountered this book around 1982 (when it was first published and I was 12) in a bookshop in Pretoria, the then-administrative capital of the Apartheid-era government, where I grew up. I opened the book on a random page and, as a queer boy growing up in that oppressive world, was astonished by what I read. I hadn't realised it was possible to put such things down on paper. How the book escaped the efficient machinery of the censorship system back then, I have no idea.

Book that changed your life:

J.M. Coetzee's In the Heart of the Country. I first read this novel 20 years after its publication, when I was a depressed young lawyer in New York. It reminded me that writing was what I really wanted to do, and that it's possible to write pioneering and experimental work that's connected to South Africa and also compelling, startling, and world-class. (It nevertheless took me many more years to leave law behind.)

Favorite line from a book:

I was shaken when I first read Coetzee's Age of Iron, which ends with these words: "He took me in his arms and held me with mighty force, so that the breath went out of me in a rush. From that embrace there was no warmth to be had." 

Five books you'll never part with:

Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room reminds you that, however far you may travel, you can never leave yourself behind. The tenderness of Marilynne Robinson's Lila softens the reader forever. And then, books from three South African novelists: Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk, The Book of Happenstance by Ingrid Winterbach, and The Children's Day by Michiel Heyns.

Book you want to read again for the first time:

Patrick White's Voss. Few novels have had such a bodily effect on me, have given me such a sense of physically dissolving in a landscape, indeed of merging with it.

In her wickedly entertaining first short story collection, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Naomi Wood explores motherhood from multiple intriguing, often dark angles and revels in the sardonic humor of women who, having conformed for long enough, are resolute in their rebellion. With a few exceptions, Wood sets her scenes in London, and brings a thrilling focus to mothers rekindling sex lives, punishing former lovers, and navigating corporate dynamics while rejecting the confines of the society-sanctioned roles they are expected to play.

Wood's characters adore their children but crave sensual nourishment. The narrator of "Comorbidities," winner of the 2023 BBC National Short Story Award, is an anxious parent. After a glorious weekend during which her in-laws care for the children, she is blissfully zoned out on great sex and so relaxed she gorges on chicken feet at a dim sum restaurant, temporarily disregarding the fact that she is a pescatarian. In "Flatten the Curve," set during the Covid-19 lockdown, Deborah seeks distraction from the chaos of homeschooling by fantasizing about Andrei, her handsome shirtless neighbor who is "more straightforwardly masculine" than her husband.

In these nine penetrating stories, women confront the physical and emotional fallout of childbirth. Battling postnatal depression and judged by coworkers for returning to work earlier than expected, the protagonist in "Lesley, in Therapy" has "learnt her truth: work saves." With her high-risk pregnancy, Claudia in "Hurt Feelings" reluctantly prepares for "the dark hinterland of maternity leave." Undermined by coworkers, she longingly wonders "what Jacinda Ardern would do."

Dark thoughts beckon when mothers are unceremoniously abandoned. The French father of two in "A/A/A/A" escapes to Paris to "check out of family life," leaving his resentful wife juggling work and children. "Wedding Day" takes the resentment up a notch. The narrator's ex ended their relationship after their daughter was born. Now that the ex is getting married, she isn't going to make it easy for the new couple.

Yet, as with expectant mom Ani in "Peek-a-Boo," single motherhood has its allure. Ani doesn't want the baby's father, Lucca, in her life. While managing her own father, her man-child boss, and the new baby, Lucca will simply be one more person for her to look after.

In skillful prose with a delightful comedic edge, Wood (Mrs. Hemingway) introduces readers to a memorable sisterhood of women boldly assessing and recalibrating their identities as mothers in the age of modern parenting. --Shahina Piyarali

Shelf Talker: An acclaimed British author's first collection of nine short stories introduces readers to a memorable sisterhood of women and explores motherhood from multiple intriguing, often dark angles.

The Cultural Role and Value of England's Independent Bookshops, a new report by the Booksellers Association of the U.K. & Ireland, commissioned by Arts Council England, has revealed that England's indies are "a cultural powerhouse, with a deep and meaningful reach into numerous communities across the length and breadth of the country." 

The study surveyed 163 bookshops to better understand the role they play in enriching the cultural lives of their communities and the extent to which their work helps with the delivery of ACE's Let's Create strategy. The findings will be used by the BA, ACE, and indies to identify opportunities for working more closely together in future, to the benefit of booksellers.

Among its wide-ranging results, the survey found that 92% of indies run activities and events for their local communities; 60% offer book/reading clubs; 48% organize book fairs at schools; 45% arrange for authors to visit local schools; 27% organize local literary festivals; and 56% feature events in partnership with local arts and community organizations.

In addition to the online survey, a series of in-depth interviews ("deep dives") were conducted with 26 bookshops to explore themes from the survey, looking at their role in the cultural life of their communities, as well as related enablers and barriers. Book club members were also interviewed, and a small number of discussions were conducted with library officials to gain closer insight into particular cultural and community collaboration with local bookshops.

One of the booksellers highlighted in the report's deep dives was the Heath Bookshop in Birmingham, which launched a literature and music festival last April in partnership with the Hare and Hounds pub. Co-owner Claire Dawes said: "We've been so well supported here at The Heath Bookshop from the day we opened, and this festival is part of us giving something to the King's Heath community." Co-owner Catherine Gales added: "So many of the events will be something people haven't seen before, and I hope people will be inspired by them... there is something special about having that close contact with musicians and authors... You feel inspired by them."

Several interviewees, including Yellow-Lighted Bookshop in Gloucestershire and DRAKE The Bookshop in Stockton-on-Tees, mentioned helping local schools. "From the Deep dive interviews as well as the survey it was strongly evident how many Indies are ardent about the power of school-bookshop collaborations to help improve the literacy skills and cultural lives of children," the report noted.

"We have been delighted to work on this major research piece commissioned by Arts Council England," BA managing director Meryl Halls said. "What the research--based on an impressive +20% response rate from indie booksellers in England--showed was much that we already knew, but did not have evidenced data to illustrate. Building on the work we did in 2021 with Manchester Met University, this research puts some significant meat on the bones."

James Urquhart, ACE interim director, literature, commented: "I greatly welcome the report and the picture it paints of the broad range of events and opportunities for participation that booksellers across England are providing to local and diverse communities. The findings in this report present clear evidence of the many ways in which the Indie Bookshop sector actively supports communities, culture and creativity in ways that strongly align to our strategy; and its conclusion suggests ways in which the Arts Council may work with the BA and indies to enhance this offer further."

The survey's data is examined under two main sections. Part 1 explores the extent and ways indies contribute to the cultural and social life of their communities. Part 2 looks at the enablers and barriers to this contribution. A range of social contributions by indies are highlighted by the data, including:

• Indies are skilled in audience creation, enriching the cultural lives of varied communities
• Indies offer creativity and innovations in combating social isolation and loneliness
• Indies provide vital support for authors and illustrators
• Indies support the needs of diverse and sometimes historically marginalized groups
• Indies play a pivotal role in combating high street and town center decline.

"The picture which emerges from this research gives powerful evidence of the scale, and popularity of cultural activities delivered by England's independent bookshops," the survey noted in its conclusion. "It is not an overstatement to say that the sector is a cultural powerhouse, with a deep and meaningful reach into numerous communities across the length and breadth of the country. This role is often echoed by the wider contribution of high street bookshops in general, including Waterstones, Foyles, and Blackwell's, who play an important role in the cultural enrichment of the communities they operate in. This means in practice that accessibility to culture is greatly enhanced and strengthened through the commitment, dedication, and expertise of England's high street bookshops in general.... 

"A sincere hope is that this report and in particular the range of best practices identified will contribute to strengthening the approaches of a wider cohort of indies in England and also across the BA's wider membership in Scotland, Wales and across the island of Ireland."

The BA's Halls commented: "I'd like to congratulate our bookseller members for the passion and dedication they bring to their jobs and their shops, and their high streets. They are the hard-working engine of the book industry, and we are glad to be able to shine a light on all their achievements--knowing that the indie contribution is echoed across the sector, and amplified by the same work across the specialist bookselling chains."