Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 6 Issue 2 | Page 26

GOOD NEWS FOR INDIE BOOKSELLERS, AUTHORS
AND PUBLISHERS
Oren Teicher, CEO of the
American Booksellers Association
said although it’s still early in the
year, signs are pointing to a
successful 2016 for independent
bookstores.
During the ABA Spring Forum,
when he asked for a show of hands
from those who had seen an increase
in sales over the past six months,
hands
And hands raised in the room indicated that raised
sales have
beenindicated
up. Whenthat
askedthe
if
majority
of responded but none of
sales remained flat over the past six months, only
a handful
the booksellers indicated that sales were down, and that’s good news—good for
indie booksellers, good for indie publishers and small presses and good for selfpublished authors. Although he is wary of using just two months to predict trends,
Teicher did say, “Numbers continue to be up. There’s always seasonal changes,
there’s geographic changes, but sales for the first two months of 2016 appear to be
tracking the same rate of growth of 2015 over 2014.”
Booksellers said they have an interest in diversifying their inventory by
improving relationships with small and university presses. “I want a more diverse
inventory, to try to reach out to a new segment of the population that we haven’t
really worked with,” said Jill Hendrix, SIBA president and owner of Fiction Addiction
in Greenville, S.C.
With reference to returns to small presses, she added, “They’re less generous
and pickier about returns. But these are the kinds of books I want to support and
have in my store.”
According to Teicher, he anticipates Barnes & Noble will continue to close
stores during 2016. “Fifteen years ago, they were in a race with Borders to open
stores in some of the most expensive real estate in the world,” he said, “even if it
didn’t make economic sense. Borders has since gone out of business.” However he
said he believes Barnes & Noble is “righting the ship and they’re going to survive.
“The chain’s survival is in the best interest of independent bookstores,” he
added. “So much of the infrastructure that has been created to serve the
independent bookstore industry also serves independent booksellers.”

MARCH - APRIL 2016

PAGE 16

WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE