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Comment from the book world in March 2006

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March 2006

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'Something to which you have a deep connection'

27 March 2006

'To get people to buy them, books need to have physical properties that make them compelling as furniture. Aside from that, it's about enthusing emotion. Some people really build a bond with a book and they can't let it go, and one of the things we're really working on is trying to connect with people and to say that books are an emotional product - not only do they have an ability to educate and entertain, to enlighten and enrich a life. For me, Fermat's Enigma is a book that really means something to me and I can only imagine lending it to someone if I could be sure they'd return it, because I keep going back to it. That's the key, in a nutshell - books have to be a product infused with permanency. We've got to get back to the experiential side, where it's not the throwaway supermarket item you don't really care about but something you have a deep connection to.'

Rick Vanzura, President of Borders Group International, talking to Liz Thomson in Publishing News

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'Tell a story'

20 March 2006

'Any writer has to draw on his or her own experiences and knowledge of life, but as soon as you create a character, that character becomes a real person in your head and changes things you have planned. That is where imagination takes over from experience.'

His advice to aspiring writers: ' Read, read, read. Then find a story that moves you and write it from the heart, for yourself - not for some imaginary reader. Never think there is a formula - there isn't. Don't get obsessed with crafting the perfect paragraph, think more about the What than the How. Tell a story.'

Nicholas Evans, bestselling author of The Horse Whisperer and The Divide, in Writers' ForumBritish writers' magazine which is highly recommended for all writers. It features wide range of news and articles which help writers to improve their work and get published: www.writers-forum.com

'We know your local market better than you do'

13 March 2006

'Central buying sends out several messages, some of them may even be unintentional. Here's a selection: One: this is what you are going to sell whether you like it or not. Two: we don't trust you in your shop to know what you should be selling. Three: we know your local market better than you do. Four: we know your local solicitor better than you do. Five: we can manage your stock better from the centre. Six: we can organise the promotions better than you can from the centre. Seven: you're a manager, yes, but you are really only there to switch the lights on and off and to relay the team messages to your team. Eight: if the books don't sell, it is your fault, because you weren't committed to them. Nine: it's all done in the name of economics, market share and economies of scale.'

Willie Anderson of the bookseller John Smith in a debate about central buying at the Society of Bookmen, reprinted in Publishing News.

Why publishers launch new imprints

6 March 2006

'The most important quality now in books is distinctiveness. That's why publishers are capitalising on their different imprints, and why I am setting up Fig Tree later this month, Penguin's first new hardback imprint for 20 years. I am not kidding myself that any book buyer will ever recognise the name: when Penguin - owner of such venerable imprints as Hamish Hamilton, Michael Joseph, Allen Lane, Viking - did some research a few years ago, we found that none of our hardcover imprints were recognised by bookbuyers, even though everyone knew and loved the paperback imprint Penguin. No, the hardcover imprints work as signposts for people within the world of publishing - they direct authors and agents as to who is buying what and where a book will fit, they point literary editors as to which books to review; and occasionally they help booksellers. And it helps that in a world dominated by prizes with strict submission rules, more imprints means you can submit more books.'

Juliet Annan of Penguin explaining the strategy behind her start-up imprint Fig Tree in the Daily Telegraph