What to do about the boy wizard.

[thedarkages]

As a former long-time bookstore employee, the Harry Potter mania fills me with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the event will have generated a lot of foot traffic. On the other hand, that traffic will find its way mostly to the Barnes & Nobles and Costcos of the world. Margins on Potter are so thin that many booksellers, if they are not flush, may lose money from the event. Potter is no friend of independent bookstores.

So, I've taken matters into my own hands. I've taken the money that I would have spent on Potter and sent it to Small Press Distribution. SPD is one of the last independent distributors left in a landscape pocked by business failures. They sell books that no chain bookstore would accept in a million years, books of which independents might only be able to risk stocking a couple of copies.

Their "membership levels" are a little steep, but you can still send money to:

Small Press Distribution
1341 7th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710

You can buy books there, too -- take a chance.

Comments

[willendorf5761.livejournal.com]

We were out at a Potter event sponsored by BB's library on Friday night, and as we were leaving at around 11:30 p.m. we saw that the local independent bookstore was packed -- I assume with Potter buyers. The only other bookstore in the town is a Borders Express at the mall. The independent bookstore had called the library and told the staff not to send any Potter buyers over -- it sounded like all their copies were already committed. So I guess they decided it was worthwhile to participate.

[thedarkages]

Well, I can't blame the indy store. They got foot traffic, and now people know that books can be bought there. People even know that fun can be had there. The question is whether the same people will buy books that aren't at such a radical discount, or if they'll look at the selection and buy the actual books on Amazon; this happens at far too many indys.

[willendorf5761.livejournal.com]

I feel somewhat hopeful because people actually pre-ordered the book from the independent store, which suggests to me that they were already familiar with it. I hope so, anyway. I've only been in the store once, but I did buy a hardcover book while I was there.