At the European and International Booksellers Federation conference at the Frankfurt Book Fair last Thursday, three Bookselling Without Borders scholarship winners, along with American Booksellers Association president Jamie Fiocco, appeared on a panel to discuss bookselling in the U.S. ABA CEO Oren Teicher moderated the discussion.
Chris McDonald, manager of Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vt., reported that his store--which he said is located in a very loyal, progressive area with a strong buy local movement--used to be very seasonal, with most of the year outside of Christmas and summer being "quite lean." But over the past 10 years, since co-owners Claire Benedict and Rob Kasow took over the store, there has been much greater outreach to local nonprofits, schools and libraries, resulting in a stronger year-round business. McDonald also noted that while Bear Pond Books isn't opposed to any technology, it is very much concentrated on the "bricks and mortar" aspect of the business, and offer a 10% discount for people who buy books online but pick up in store.
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| Oren Teicher, Chris McDonald, Jonathan Woollen, Lesley Rains and Jamie Fiocco | |
Jonathan Woollen, events coordinator at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., said P&P hosts at least one event each day Monday through Friday and three events each day on Saturdays and Sundays at its flagship location, plus plenty at its other stores. In addition to author events, P&P hosts continuing-education classes, literary walking tours of D.C. and even long trips abroad. He noted that P&P has opened two new stores in the last two years and D.C. is in the midst of an indie bookstore boom, with five or six new stores opening since Woollen joined P&P.
City of Asylum Bookstore opened in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 2017 as the project of a long-established nonprofit that provides sanctuary to exiled writers from around the world. Manager Lesley Rains explained that the store was opened in theory to be a revenue generator for the nonprofit, and in terms of its inventory and events, the bookstore has embraced the nonprofit's ethos. The store focuses on international literature, literature in translation and work by marginalized voices from around the world. She said that connecting with and learning from established indie booksellers has been a huge help, and in that regard Twitter and social media have been great ways to reach out to other booksellers.
Fiocco reported that her 6,000-sq.-ft. store sells around 70% used books, 25% children's books, and "more and more nonbook." Although Flyleaf Books is located in a university town, she said, the store doesn't cater to students. Instead, lots of professors and university faculty shop at the store, and many of Fiocco's customers like to buy books to continue their learning. She added that she considers events as a type of marketing and tries to keep them "as free as possible," and many of the events feature lectures from university professors on topics like movies or economics. On the subject of trying to keep up with rapidly changing technology, Fiocco said she never turns anything away because it's electronic, digital or technology-based: "Our mission is to help customers find what they're looking for."
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At a Bookselling Without Borders meeting on Friday morning, Europa Editions editor-in-chief Michael Reynolds shared some thoughts on the future of the program. He said the long-term goal is to make the program truly international, and hopes eventually to have a group of 10 booksellers from all over the world at each fair, rather than only three or four Americans. Over the past year, Reynolds said, he's made inroads with German publishers to help support the program, and he hopes to do the same with publishers from Italy, France and elsewhere in Europe. He also explained that the idea for the program came from international editors' trips, which he always felt should have included booksellers. --Alex Mutter