Festive bookshopping

I've been doing a fair amount of Christmas shopping in bookshops. Books are so easy to wrap and all the lovely signed books come out at this time of the year. I'm fairly omnivorous when it comes to reading material, so browse secondhand, indie and chain bookshops with equal pleasure. Well, mostly. There are, though, some points that make visiting a shop a pleasure or an endurance. Naming no names here...

My feelings are that a bookshop should:

1. Have wide aisles that you can browse in without feeling that you're about to knock a book off the shelf or bump into another customer.

2. Not have signs saying 'no pushchairs in aisles' or 'do not sit in aisles'. Surely, something along the lines of 'be considerate to fellow browsers' would be better?

3. Clear signs and floor-plans. So basic, I know, but keep it fairly constant and don't take the opportunity to re-do your internal layout every three months. Customers won't take the opportunity to look round the shop, they'll get fed up and make a swift move to the exit.

4. Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Someone who can tell me that Paul Torday wrote Salmon Fishing in the Yemen because I could only remember 'T' and they answered without a pause.

5. Remove the damaged stock from the main floor and keep replenishing shelves with new deliveries. The last thing I want is to skirt round your stock that's been so carefully stacked up against the shelves and is on the floor waiting to be damaged or see shelves so stuffed full that removing a book is a struggle.

What about anyone else?

Quick update

It's always a busy couple of weeks when a book comes out and I spend rather too much time in the Post Office queue for my own comfort. My local branch is huge and I'm even being recognised now. Still, the good thing about this is that Candy Nevill's selling terribly well as is Lintie. She's a good cold weather book and you want to settle down with a plate of scones and a mug of tea.

Most recent orders appear to be Christmas presents. Well, most of my customers are women, so when I see a number of men buying my books I suspect they've been given lists or hints. They're also the only ones who ask if I can wrap it before posting. Yes, if I have Christmas paper about. Yes, I charge a bit extra.

The next thing on my list is to investigate the list of 'possibles' that people email me and I'm very pleased to hear from people with suggestions for future titles. It's more common than I ever expected and nice in a friendly sort of way. Sometimes I don't even get an email with a title and author, just a plot summary, so Stump the Bookseller has come in incredibly useful in narrowing down my searches. I'll need to find a copy of Veronica Westlake's The Intruders before I take things further and see what I think of it. I can see that it's a rare pony book, but that may not mean that it's sellable as a reprint. We shall see. I was never really a reader of pony books, so I just don't know. Then again, I understand that there's a country house tale in there too. Comments, as always, welcome.

Title 4 - Candy Nevill

On a weekend that's cold, wet and not exactly cheerful, I'm pleased to say that Candy Nevill has arrived. The novel is a wonderful comfort read and full of recipes, a strawberry farm, friends, family and sheer enjoyment of life. Wonderful graphic designer even managed to fit a single strawberry on the spine to tie in the themes of baking and strawberries. I'm really pleased with this novel - not least because I did want to find an unpublished novel as well as reprinting rare or forgotten books and this novel is now in print for the first time. There's also a preview chapter on the website, so I hope you enjoy it.

Cover image courtesy of Getty Images.

Candy Nevill - end November arrival

I'll begin with some really good news on a cold and damp day. Candy Nevill, my fourth title, is set to arrive at the end of this month (c. 30 November) and I'm really looking forward to posting out the pre-ordered copies. Republishing rare and interesting work keeps me happy and in business, but it's slightly more special to have found an unpublished manuscript and put it together. I feel relieved and grateful and ready to stuff padded envelopes. I've done my last duty and approved the cover proof. I'm really pleased with it - the novel's about cakes, strawberries and other edible delights, so a glossy picture of a triple-layered cake with strawberries sitting proudly on an elegant cake stand has really worked. The wonderful graphic designer's even managed to fit a single strawberry at the bottom of the spine for additional title identity.

One day, I'll frame up my cover proofs rather than leaving them neatly in a folder. I love the A3 prints that I'm sent and am keeping them safely for the time being. I don't have anywhere to hang them just for the moment, though I don't want them to go for recycling. They represent far too much work and decision-making for that!

Future of publishing

Another day, another 'the dire future of publishing' report in the media. I suspect it's connected with the 'buy an e-reader or a tablet' debate that's starting just in time for shopping for Christmas. Well, that and the Penguin/Random House story. The BBCs latest even had 'Once upon a time there were books' as a beginning of a radio report, though I can't find a link to it just at this moment. Bonus points to these if they tell the story about the birth of Penguin paperbacks again or hark back to the days of the net book agreement and this is something I can only vaguely remember.

Business models in publishing are changing, but it's harder to tell exactly how this affects authors, readers, publishers and the number of titles offered. It's not as though any high street bookshop has empty space on the shelves. I'd need to be able to read contracts with authors (new and established) to see exactly how the print and digital book are visualised in the next few years in terms of developing lists. Will a publisher want to develop a print list in parallel with a digital list or concentrate on one form over another? More significantly, how are publishers and imprints to develop? Yes, Penguin and Random House are discussing a merger, but when hasn't a UK-based publisher (or should that be 'publisher with a UK presence'?) been the subject of takeover rumours, if not formal negotiations. At the other end of the scale, it's never been easier to put a book together and tiny, niche market publishers, like me, are able to thrive.

Online shopping is now so normal that it's surprising if a company doesn't offer it. Foyles and Waterstone's also offer websites that are a pleasure to use. It's certainly true that Amazon flourishes while many other bookshops have failed, but secondhand bookshops (online or not) do have some success. Others will say that Oxfam have taken over the sector and forced many dealers out, though I see a few towns with secondhand bookshops and Oxfam secondhand bookshops. The dealers I've spoken to say that Oxfam's arrival has forced them to specialise and ended some of their lower price sales, but are pleased that customers tend to browse and buy in both locations.

I suppose I'm most concerned about the future of the printed book. Some genres (romance is doing particularly well) lend themselves to e-readers. Plenty of friends swear by their magazine subscriptions and virtual bookshelves read on their tablets. I prefer to be able to turn the pages myself, though Project Gutenberg is a fantastic tool for trying out books you may go on and buy. If a distinction between e-book and print books continues in terms of price and format, it may also mean that the print book is seen as more of a work of art than a more simple story or that means that book design and quality will improve, then I can only support it. There's only so many times that I'm willing to buy a paperback that looks as if it's been thrown together. You all know the type - spelling mistakes because they've relied on OCR capture, tiny margins, soft paper and a less-than-attractive cover.

For the future, mergers between publishers seem likely. Will lists contract? Possibly. I'd need to do some more research across the genres as much of the debate seems applicable to fiction, though educational publishing and larger-sized books seem to have a secure future as 'presents' and 'reference'.

Title 4: Candy Nevill

I've reached Title 4. I have to say that I never quite expected to reach this point - this is realism, not modesty. In order for a business to continue, you have to make a profit on each title, so to be able to reach four titles since 2010 is a dream come true for me.

In addition to her school and family stories, Clare Mallory also wrote Candy Nevill, though this was unpublished in her lifetime. I'm able to publish it now thanks to the help and support of Clare Mallory's family and the Alexander Turnbull Library. There are twelve generous chapters stuffed with the pleasures of being with friends, reading, baking cakes and cooking sweets. 

Some people have a gift for cooking and Candy Nevill is lucky enough to be one of those people. Unfortunately, she’s also the slowest and youngest member of a family of academic high-flyers who don’t always value light scones or delicious suppers when compared to captaining sports teams or achieving the highest marks.

Candida Nevill, known to the family as Candy, is an ordinary schoolgirl with a habit of daydreaming and coming a very distant fourth to her three successful and confident elder siblings. Candy is content to drift through her schooldays, not even playing team games, and it’s only the start of cooking lessons that show that she can be successful too.

Candy Nevill is due for publication in late November, early December. Advance orders are very welcome via the website.

Books

Books furnish a room, are something to put on the shelf (spines in rainbow order or not, as you choose), or are stacked neatly in alphabetical order or by Dewey Decimal system. Or, like mine, shelved reasonably neatly wherever I have space with what I want to read regularly close at hand. 

My work involves short-run print publishing in an increasingly digital age. People think I'm doing the equivalent of running a vinyl record press. That may well be true - the only certainty is the number of works on 'digitisation' and 'the death of print medium' will rise. Are paper books to become (again) the preserve of the rich? Or will the rise in e-books persuade print publishers to adapt? Turning the physical pages may yet become obsolete, but a drag of a finger, the idea of turning pages is retained on the even-more expensive ipad? The trade seems a mass of contradictions at present. The one constant is that readers continue to read in a variety of formats.

It's almost a contradiction in itself, but the advances in short-run printing are what allow tiny presses like mine to operate. To stand out from the paperback market, I use a slightly heavier weight of paper - it isn't as soft as that used in many paperbacks, so my books are more durable. The margins are wide so that it's possible to open the book to read without breaking the spine in three places and risking pages becoming unglued from the spine. I'm generous with spacing between the lines too which allows you to read and not see lines of print blur.

My books are, in fact, designed to be read more than once because I think that re-reading is one of life's pleasures. Most of us know some books so well that we almost don't need the texts, but remembering and seeing new tiny details is part of the pleasure. Then again, there's also the pleasure of opening a new book and finding a new favourite.