The bubble bursts for celebrity memoirs

After a week in which we have seen Borders collapse, amid reports of staff being assaulted by rude and aggressive customers, demanding ever higher discounts for books whose jackets have small tears in them (no doubt caused by the vulture like horde of which these customers are a part), I didn't think things could get much worse, but no, at last there is some good news from within the publishing world - celebrity memoirs have finally fallen from grace, amid tumbling sales.

Literary agents are reporting a disastrous autumn for the genre, while publisher Hachette UK has announced that it is trimming its celebrity roster (how will they boost their ego's now?). The total value of hardback celebrity titles in the UK top 50 this year has fallen by almost 25 percent from £4.6 million in 2008 to £3.3 million in 2009.

Jonathan Lloyd, Chief Executive of Curtis Brown, one of the larger London agencies, suggested that this season's memoirs, which include books "by" Peter Kay and Katie Price as well as autobiographies by Jo Brand, Chris Evans and Frankie Boyle, lack the sensational factor and (thank the Lord) their comparatively unremarkable sales may impact on the advances that such celebrities receive in the future.

Others have suggested that the genre has reached saturation point, with "bottom-of-the-barrel" celebrities riding the gravy train, while the publishers find that they have not delivered the meat and two veg (my words, not theirs). Publishers are beginning to find that the public are returning to more traditional fiction. It is particularly noticeable this year to find that the best seller lists are dominated by fiction, with the highest memoir at number seven, the opposite of what happened last year.

Echoing the thoughts of many, Liz Thomson, Editor of BookBrunch, said that she hoped this was the end of an era. "What really gets me" she said "with regards to many of these memoirs is that they claim to give the so-called celebrities a voice when they are so often the voice of their ghost-writers. It's the aspect of cynicism in these publications that I hate. People are being paid a huge amount of money to write this nonsense, at the expense of new writers and quality fiction." Here, here.

A spokesman for Waterstones claimed however that these books are still popular, and the public are simply waiting until nearer Christmas to buy them. He said "There will be an awful lot of people who will wake up with Jeremy Clarkson's or Frankie Boyle's autobiography on Christmas morning." I hope I am not one of them, so don't even think of getting me one! If you really want to though, you can buy yourself a copy of my own mastepiece ...

Borders UK enters administration

It was formerly confirmed earlier this afternoon, that Borders UK have entered administration. Reports began to circulate early this morning when Reuters reported that they had seen court documentation to support the claim of administration. The story was later retracted amid accusations that the news agency had jumped the gun - what they had in fact seen were documents asking the court for permission to place the company in the hands of administrators, which was not to say that they actually were in administration. Everyone knew however that this was merely a technicality and it was only a matter of time.

It is believed that the delay occurred when BDO informed the Borders UK management late yesterday that they had discovered "a conflict of interest" which prevented them from being declared administrators. MCR have since been appointed, citing the reasons for the company's failure as competition from the Internet, together with cash flow pressure and pressure from suppliers - at least three of whom cut off supply earlier in the week.

It is unclear as to how long the company will remain in administration, but while the process continues, stores are expected to remain open and trading as normal.

This is indeed a sad day for the publishing world, with the loss of some 1100 jobs. Whatever my personal experiences of the company have been (and they have been mixed), I would not wish this on anyone. I have worked through three store closures during the 27 years since I left school, so my thoughts are with them.

Borders UK on the brink of collapse

There are too many stories about a month's absence from blogging to detail all of them, so I will stick to the most important one for the moment, and that concerns once again, the future of ailing retailer Borders Books.

For the second time this year speculation has reached fever pitch, as the retailer is once again up for sale, a mere months after it was the subject of a management buyout.

It is claimed that publishers who have spoken to The Bookseller have expressed fears over the future of the retailer, after it emerged that one distributor had cut off supply following an unpaid bill. I have never dealt with the chain stores direct, preferring that they order my own book through wholesalers (much easier all round), but I know of at one author who is owed several hundred pounds.

Anyway, rumours have mounted since it was reported on Friday that both WH Smith and HMV had walked away from possible deals, while another deal over the Borders website has also fallen through, following the departure of the web team.

Borders' corporate finance adviser Clearwater placed an advertisement in the Financial Times on last week offering for sale "the assets and trade of a chain of book and entertainment stores", with revenue in the region of £150m. The chain was described as having "prime locations on the High Street and 'out of town' retail parks" (in my opinion it is these out of town locations have been partially responsible for at least some of the problems). No asking price was given.

Borders have so far refused to comment on any of the stories mentioned above, so not surprisingly the industry is awash with rumours and speculation. In an email sent to staff last Friday, Chief Executive Philip Downer said that the chain had received "an unsolicited approach from an interested party", and that it had "retained a corporate finance specialist to investigate future possibilities for the business, in line with best practice". Downer added that a "further announcement will follow once we have confirmed information to share with you".

The fall from grace seems to have happened remarkably quickly and her reasons are unclear. Barely one month ago, Downer outlined a clear and positive vision for the future, full of ideas including a new loyalty scheme and plans for further store openings. At least four national newspapers claim that the chain is on the brink of collapse, and if so, it will be sad day indeed for the book industry. If Borders go, they will take between 7 and 10 percent of the market with them (not to mention several hundred jobs), and that business will have to go elsewhere - leading to even less competition and less choice. The staff will not be the only losers. My thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Getting Published in Children's Books

It has been just over a week since I last wrote on this blog, and I am pleased to see that I have another follower. The book world seems busy at the moment, with the Frankfurt Book Fair in full swing and deals being struck with various different authors (predominantly for a change, non fiction). For my part, I have been busy at work. With various colleagues on holiday, there has been plenty of overtime, which is good for me, as it means I may get that trip to Iceland yet.

This afternoon though, I am taking a trip to Guildford, whose Book Festival opened yesterday. Before you get excited, no I am not doing a talk (I tried last year, but they wouldn't have me), but am attending one - entitled Getting Published in Children's Books, given by Julia Churchill. Julia so the blurb says, is an agent who will offer important tips and advice on getting your book published. It is a little early for me to consider this, with only 1000 words written, but it will be useful nevertheless. I have taken the day off work (I only work for 2 hours in the evening on a Thursday anyway, from 5 to 7pm), so I do hope so. The talk starts at 3pm, so it will be an early lunch to leave at around 1.30pm, just in case I miss the park and ride and have to wait.

Borders anounce plans for expansion

Philip Downer, new CEO of Borders UK confirmed at the company's annual conference on Monday, that the chain is to launch a loyalty card scheme next year. Downer added that following a management buyout last summer, the company aims to expand its number of stores, taking full advantage of the recession, with cheaper rents. This follows the recent announcement that the company is seeking to become a single brand on the High Street through the sale of its Borders Express and Books Etc stores. It also follows a summer of closures and considerable uncertainty for Borders superstores throughout the country.

Non book sales in the form of various novelty items currently account for around a third of the company's business, and Downer hopes in the coming years to increase this to around 50 percent. It is hard to see how this will be achieved without negatively impacting upon the the sale of books. It is however a sad fact of life that since the abolition of the Net Book Price agreement with the resultant erosion in the perceived value of books through ever increasing discounts, novelty items generate considerably more profit while taking up a lot less space. This is particularly important with Christmas approaching, when let's face it, people buy all sorts of junk.

Downer said that a "full space-planning programme" was now under way, backed up by consumer research this autumn, to ascertain whether his plans are what his customers actually want. With no Borders near me, personally I will be sticking to Waterstones.

Words speak for themselves

On the day that Amazon announce the launch of an international version of the Kindle, Richard Curtis has an interesting slant on digitial book technology on his blog E-Reads.

According to Curtis, the day is coming - much sooner than we think - when authors will no longer be able to define themselves as creators of literary works. As electronic technology gets more and more sophisticated (thank goodness I no longer have to sell this stuff and keep up to date with it all), the emerging generation of readers will no longer be content to accept text that is not as Curtis describes it, "interactively married to other media", demanding not just words, but video, music and probably bells and whistles too. The definition of author will be far removed Curtis says, from how we currently define it.

The word that Curtis uses to describe this new form of media is "vook" (video + book = "vook") blending traditional books with audio, video and other digital media as described above. Bear in mind as I write that Simon and Schuster are already working with a multi media partner to release such material that can be read or viewed, online or through electronic devices such as an iPhone or iPod.

Does this though mean the death of the book - of course not. Traditional books will I believe always be around, albeit in more limited form. Will the term author need to be re-defined to make way for the emerging technology? No again. It has always been the case with books that the author writes while others perform the various tasks that are necessary to put the book into paper or electronic form ready for publication - illustrators draw pictures, IT people convert the book to PDF or some other format that can be read via these devices, cover designers well, design the cover. None of this detracts from the fact the author wrote the thing. An author then will always be an author, and nothing can take that away.

E-books may well be here to stay, but whether "vooks" will catch on remains to be seen. Personally I find that when I read I need silence and concentration, and having moving images and music on the screen would distract from the experience. Maybe younger people would like this, I wouldn't know to be honest, as there aren't many young people that I know who read anyway - not unless you count Heat magazine as reading !

Todays young may feel that they need this distraction, as it what they are used to and they feel lost without these so-called "must have" devices, but like everything else, eventually it will swing back the other way. Call me old fashioned if you will, but I just do not see how images and background music will add to the reading experience.

The whole point of reading is after all, to read, to learn and to stretch the mind and the imagination. Viewing a video of a book, or about a book may be entertaining, but it is not reading. The idea of reading is to be immersed in the story and lose yourself almost in another world, video cannot help you do this - the only way to get immersed is quite simply, to read. Vooks may be cool, but they do not communicate ideas and information, they do not capture the imagination in a way that only words can. The words should be allowed to speak for themselves in the way that only words can.

Publishers reluctant to embrace the blogosphere

Blogging continues to be in the news this week, with an article in the Huffington Post claiming that US publishers are reluctant to write blogs for fear of saying the wrong things. The reasons given when pressed range from being overworked, having no talent for blogging, too many other writing projects, and that their bosses had said "no" without giving any specific reason.

The reason is of course fear - and wanting to control, which in a way is understandable. Jason Pinter, a former Random House Editor lost his job in 2007 because of his blog, and I suspect that he is not the only one. Pinter the article claims is now blogging for the Huffington Post and enjoying success as a thriller writer.

Publishers may not have said yes, but authors have - in their droves, as have independent book sellers, publicists and agents. There are one or two Editors who blog, such as Editorial Ass and The Intern, but these are for the most part anonymous. I occasionally read Editorial Ass myself.

These blogs exist for the most part to give advice to aspiring writers and an insight into the world of publishing. When the world wide web was first created all those years ago, no one could have foreseen the way in which it has grown, both in terms of commerce and as a tool for raising awareness of causes and brands. The Internet for authors, especially the self published, remains the best way in which to reach as wide an audience as possible, and also to network with other authors, through blogs, social networking and peer review sites. The publishers do not know what they are missing out on!