Christian values - what values?

I see from The Bookseller that troubled Christian book seller SSPK (St Stephen the Great) has closed two of its branches - in Canterbury and Cambridge, albiet temporarily. Chairman Mark Brewer told The Bookseller that the company has had to carry out “cost cutting” in order to safeguard the rest of the chain. “As we move into the second month of 2008, some of the SSG bookshops have experienced the same reduced footfall and sales as most every other bookseller and high street retailer,” he said. “In some of our locations for the good of the overall chain, we have had to take the decision of cost-cutting. We have temporarily closed Canterbury and Cambridge and intend to reopen both after re-fitting and re-stocking these shops. We have other locations slated either for reduced operating hours, temporary closure or permanent closure.” Rumour has it that Worcester and Bradford may be next in line, although Brewer was unable to confirm that.

As previously reported on this blog, and no doubt countless other sites, brothers Phil and Mark Brewer took control of the business in 2006, changing the chain's identify from a more liberal agenda to a decidedly orthordox one, and managing to antagonise most of their staff in the process. Since then they have faced resignations from many of their branches - in some cases with the entire staff walking out, and from what I understand, people are not exactly queuing up to fill these vacancies. I wonder why that could be? Could it be something to do with the fact that these orthordox Christian values have been largely rejected by the general populace as not relevant to every day life, and what I ask myself, can the two brothers learn from this tale of woe - to use the carrot perhaps instead of the stick? Until they learn this, then I fear that nothing will change, and I for one would not be surprised if we are reading about the chain's demise before too long.

A quiet weekend

There does' nt seem to be much happening in the book world at the moment. I guess like other types of retailers, book stores hit a bit of a lull at this time of year as people get their post Christmas credit card statements. Thankfully mine was not too large, although next month I have to pay the balance on my summer trip to Lundy.

The only thing worth mentioning of any note (and even that is doubtful) is the fact that Waterstones are introducing a new uniform policy for all staff (in stores of course and not Head Office) in order to encourage them to 'get selling'. Staff, who it has to be said do not seem enamoured with the proposal, will be offered a choice of black T shirt, button down shirt, fleece or sweatshirt, with the Waterstones branding on the front and back.

Personally I don't see what all the fuss is about - after all, all other retailers make their staff wear a uniform, so why should Waterstones be any different? It makes sense to me as it helps potential buyers know who works there and who does not, so that they know who to approach when and if they need help - that to me is what retail is all about. No one in retail particularly likes having to wear a uniform, not because it is uniform, but nine times out of ten, because it is impractical, uncomfortable and unflattering. My uniform is not too bad, even though a size 10 blouse is more like a size 6, and a size 14 like a 10 .... but thankfully we provide our own trousers and skirts. Otherwise it would be a nightmare for short (or for that matter tall) people like me who just would not be able to get their uniform to look good. Waterstones staff don't realise how lucky they are to be given a choice of four different styles of top that they can wear, most retail staff would love to have this opportunity and this level of choice.

Talking of Waterstones, a conversation with the Manager of Truro on Thursday was interesting, as he explained to me the difference between what they term model and core stock. Model stock (which is what he has placed my book on) is when the book is automatically re-ordered in a a given branch when stock levels become depleted, or fall below a certain number set by that store. Core stock on the other hand is stock which is supplied by Head Office, and has I believe around 7 different tiers ranging from a-g. A level a book would have to be stocked by 100 percent of stores, a level b by 90 percent and so on. Level g whatever that is, would be very nice indeed for my book, and is definately something to aim for. Mind you, my book is already available in at least a third of their stores anyway, the difference being of course tha they have chosen to stock it, and can also reject it if sales do not go well.

As time goes on however - it is almost 6 months now since it was placed on sale or return, and now I know how to find out which stores have stock and which do not, it would be fair to assume that the stores that do continue to hold stock must be the ones that it is selling well in. The numbers in stock continue to fall - they are down again from 121 on Thursday to 117 tonight, so it must be selling somewhere. Two of those copies will have gone to Truro, but the other 2 must be re-orders from stores which have sold copies, so that means at least 2 more through the tills in 3 days, which can't be bad. It is then only a matter of time before this book does become core stock and starts to get noticed.

Sadly though I will not have much time for making calls this week, as on Thursday I am off to my beloved Lundy for another blissful week of long and exhilerating walks in the blustery winter conditions that I love so much. Although it will be cold, I find that this is one of the best times to visit the island, since it is gloriously quiet, the days are just beginning to lengthen and the light is just perfect for trying out my new digital camera.

I am going across on the helicopter then on Friday morning, but driving down as usual the night before. This time I am staying at the Travelodge in Tiverton, which is a 3 1/2 hour drive away form home, and so not too bad. This means that I can afford to leave a little later in the day and so it will hopefully give me the opportunity to make a few calls first thing on Thursday before hitting the gym and then the motorway.

A week of respite coming soon

I find it very difficult not to get despondent when I spend the entire morning on the phone to various book shops, on what is supposed to be my day off, and the result is just one order for two copies. Mind you, it was a particularly lucrative order from Waterstones in Truro, which as it happens, is the only chain book store in the whole of Cornwall. Their manager has proved quite hard to track down, but when I finally did get to talk to him he turned out to be a very nice and amenable man. He has even invited me down to the store for a signing if I am ever down that way - it is not that far from Hartland where I fly to Lundy from a week tomorrow.

Having discovered, thanks to Wakefield last week, that it it possible to check which stores have copies of your book in stock, I ascertained that quite a large chunk of those who told me they would be ordering copies have not in fact done so. These include stores in Birmingham, Norwich and Hatfield to name just a few. I spent the afternoon ringing round a few of these, and with by far the majority of them this seems to be down to a simple oversite on their part, and I am pleased to say that they have now placed orders and the books will very soon be on their way. I will continue to keep an eye on their website to see if this time they have indeed ordered copies.

I realise there is not a lot I can do about it should they decide not to, and it is of course their right to do this, but still it pees me off when one shop at least has fobbed me off and now changed their mind about doing this. It just does not seem fair or ethical to build someone's hopes up before Christmas by promising to order copies of their work and then deny that they ever did and completely change tack when you ring them up a month later to check what is happening. The store in question is in Redditch, Worcestershire - other authors take note - they only stock books from what they term as local authors, which in practise seems to mean those that actually live in that town.

Still, the book does seem to be doing well in other areas even if not in the West Midlands - the orders must be coming from somewhere as the numbers continue to drop, despite the fact that I am doing really very little compared to what I was doing prior to Christmas before I started back at work four days a week. As of tonight the number in stock has dropped to 118 compared to 130 this time last week, and this is bearing in mind that I have secured just the one definate order from Truro during that time. These other 10 copies have not come from Amazon, as my ranking has stayed the same, so I can only conclude that they must be repeat orders from stores.

So, this time next week I shall be tucked up in the Travelodge in Tiverton en route to my beautiful island of Lundy - the most wonderful place in the whole wide world. I then have one whole week of long walks, and evenings of reading, cooking and music before I come back to the real world of work once more. It will be a short and much needed respite, during which I plan to walk, eat and sleep in that order.

Has my work born fruit?

With regard to Gardners though it seems that I may have won a reprieve, following all the hard work that I have put in these past few months to shift more of those books. I sent a copy of the link for that ridiculous article re Cheeta the chimp to Richard with a note, wondering what was going on, as I had heard no more about the books that were supposedly being sent back.

When I got in from work tonight though there was a reply that said the following:

"Have tried to speak to my contact this am - he's on holiday, back Monday!! His deputy looked at the figures, "Oh yes we've sold 39 this month, I think we will probably cancel the returns as it looks like we will shift those pretty quickly, but I'll get your contact to speak to you next week. We certainly won't be send 120 back!"

Panic (at least temporarily) abated - result!! Your hard work paid off!!

Richard"

We can it seems then breath a huge sigh of relief and get back to work! As it stands tonight the number in stock has dropped again to 121 - so at least one more then has gone through the tills this week, as single orders like this are always from a store replenishing the one copy that they have sold! Long may this continue.

Up to monkey business ...

I get the distinct impression tonight that the universe is playing one great big cosmic joke on me. Firstly I was 20 minutes late out from work tonight because our new and over enthusiastic salesman would not stop waffling to a customer whom he thought was about to buy - and then didn't. Much as I like this man and admire his attitude to life, namely that there is always something to smile about, it made me really quite angry that both he and the customer seemed to have so little respect for other peoples time and more to the point, any sort of understanding that we are not paid for our time after 5.30pm.

Then when I finally did get home what did I find waiting for me on my keyboard - a letter from the Landmark Trust thanking me for my forthcoming visit to Lundy and inviting me to book a table for Valentines Day at the Montagu Room Restaurant (i.e. the back room) of the islands one and only pub - the Marisco Tavern! I am sure it would be very nice for couples, but it had obviously not occurred to them that there is only one bed in the property I have booked!

This will be the first Valentines Day that Coran and I have spent apart, so it will be somewhat strange in some ways. I have tried to get him to visit Lundy with me on numerous occasions, but he is just not interested. Part of me likes it that way I admit, as I do relish the time alone as does he, but it would also be nice just occasionally to be able to share it with him. I have told him that come what may he will be coming with me for December 2012 - after all, if the world does go tits up, then I can't think of anywhere else I would end it all!

I really thought I had seen and read it all when it comes to the publishing world, but really nothing prepared me for the story I have just read on The Bookseller website. A chimpanzee by the name of Cheeta has been signed up by Fourth Estate to write his memoirs! Yes you did read that right - a chimpanzee has been signed up to write his memoirs!

This is no ordinary chimp, but no less than the world famous Cheeta from the Tarzan films. The article states that Cheeta, a.k.a. Jiggs who celebrated his 75th birthday last April, lives in a Palm Springs retirement home, where he paints and plays the piano.

Fourth Estate publishing director Nicholas Pearson states that "Here we've got the real monkey—­a great actor who is one of the few still alive from what was the golden age of Hollywood. He saw it all. He had to act to save his life, literally. Others who fell by the wayside often ended up in the lab with the dogs, mice and rabbits."

The "funny, moving and searingly honest" book will cover Cheeta's struggle with drink and addiction to cigars, his breakthrough with radical new form of abstract painting "apeism", his relationship with his nightclub-performing grandson Jeeta, and his battle with diabetes.

This would be almost funny were it not so damned serious. I mean what in the hell is the world coming to when a chimp who cannot even speak English let alone write it, is signed up to write his memoirs? How on earth are sensible human beings who do supposed to compete with such hallowed celebrity status and what does it say about the publishing industry and American society in general when a publisher seriously thinks for even one minute that people will buy this sort of stuff. It is totally and utterly beyond me, and for once in my life, I am at a loss for words.

Meanwhile back in the real world, my own book sales continue to go well. There is still no news from Gardners as to when or if those books are being sent back. I continue to check their site on a daily basis, and tonight the number of copies in stock has fallen yet again to 122. I will go to the Waterstones website again then in a minute to see which stores may have been added to that list of stockists and make sure that those who promised me earlier in the week that they would order copies have indeed done so - if not, then they can expect another phone call on Wednesday!

Back to the grindstone

Today being my day off I have been ringing book stores as usual to try and get some more business. One of the ones on my list was Waterstones in Wakefield, Yorkshire. The manager was not available, so I spoke to a bookseller instead who explained to me that you can check to see which stores have stock of your book online. I didn't realise this and wish I had known about it months ago - I am surprised that no one has mentioned this to me before

It seems that all you have to do is go to the Waterstones website at http://www.waterstones.com/ and search for your book(s). When you find them, click on check stock levels and a list of stores that have copies is displayed. Reading down the list then I was pleasantly surprised to see several stores that I did not know had copies - such as Lakeside in Essex and surprisingly also Harrods (don't know how they heard about it!).

I was also though disappointed to see a large number that had told me they had ordered were not on the list! It is true that some who ordered early on may have returned their copies - I know of at least one shop that has done this, but it shouldn't be this many, as most only ordered in November or December. I rang a couple of the local ones anyway and explained what had happened and they all said that despite my being told they would order copies, they had not done so. Well now they have ...

Why do they do this though - I mean, I understand that they are busy and get distracted and sometimes might forget, but that's the reason that I send emails out thanking them for their custom, as these also serve as a reminder .... It just annoys me that now I am going to have to email them all again trying to find out what has happened, and then ring them all up. I don't have the time to do this when I work four days a week. Why don't people do things when they say they are going to!

The good news though is that Waterstones as a company have now sold 72 copies through their tills - this is 6 more than when I last asked 10 days ago. If I can keep this up for another 3 months or so, I stand a good chance of the book being taken as core stock. Must ring Staines at some point then and follow up that email I sent to them, and get back in touch with Simon and Tim from the Big Green Bookshop to thank them for explaining how core stock works . There is nothing about this at all on Waterstones website, but then I wouldn't expect to find it there anyway, since the site is aimed more at book buyers than book writers. That may be changing soon though if my previous post is anything to go by.

It seems ironic though, at a time that Waterstones as a company seem to be doing so well (must be all those copies of Genesis of Man they are selling), that they are closing more stores. The latest casualty is the High Street branch in Inverness. Thankfully this is not the one that I am stocked in in that fair city. They hope to redeploy the 10 staff elsewhere in the company, although given its highland location and the lack of neighbouring stores, unless the entire staff of Eastgate Inverness walk out, this may be difficult.

It sounds like the new Borders website will be one to look at also, as the company has some impressive things lined up. These include over 100 author interviews which the public will be able to access when they click on the relevant links to the author in questions work. The site, which goes live this spring, will also enable readers to upload videos of themselves reviewing books (I wonder if authors will be able to do this and talk about their own work).

The website content will also appear in a daily programme broadcast on the Simply TV satellite channel, hosted by Nina Sebastiane, a former host of Loose Women, one of my favourite lunch time shows, and and ex-VH1 presenter Samantha Norman.

This will definitely be one to watch and will certainly give both Waterstones and WH Smiths a run for their money. Waterstones I suspect though will still reign supreme, since most of their outlets are on the High Street whereas the majority of Borders are located in retail parks on out of town sites, which you would expect to be favoured by an American owned company. I am yet to try that many of their branches, but have made inroads in a few of them.

Oh well, off the gym and to give blood and then back to work again tomorrow. Two weeks tomorrow until I go back to Lundy as well - my little island refuge. It can't come soon enough.

Three cheers for Waterstones!

At last a book retailer has come out and publicly acknowledged the role that writers play in the running of their business - namely that without us they would not have one. The retailer in question is of course Waterstones - the largest book chain in the UK with some 220 odd branches - almost half of which I am proud to say, my own book can be found in.

The retailer has taken the bold step of running a year long campaign celebrating writers in the form of what they call 'Writers Year'. This will feature amongst other things, a promotional campaign selected by an author (yes you did read that right), a bursary for a budding writer (let's hope this is not confined as usual to novelists) and a celebration of local titles. These will I assume vary then from branch to branch - I wonder if my local branch will be interested in mine now I have introduced myself to the manager and sold at least two copies through their store - possibly in fact more?

The campaign was unveiled at the chain's supplier conference at Bafta in London on Friday 18th January. Waterstones plan to run a different event each month throughout the year celebrating the art of writing. This kicks off in January - this month in fact, with the Waterstone's Guide to Getting Published which is to be launched on their website. This will be launched later this week, so I must remember to have a look and see if I can some comments.

In May an author (who remains to be seen) will select 40 titles for the Writer's Table promotion. Waterstone's said the campaign would be "the perfect opportunity for a writer to go public about the books and authors that shaped their writing and share these titles with their readers". In April Waterstone's staff will have the chance to win a week at a writing course run by writing foundation Arvon. The two winners will be selected by a panel of Waterstone's staff and industry experts. Maybe I will apply for that full time job I saw advertised in my local branch after all ...