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What Are You?, Latino Literature, The Census
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From: Karen Breen <kbreen>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 10:40:45 -0500
I've been following the train of thought regarding the lack of marketing for Latino books with a slightly different point of view and I hope I can express my thoughts without trampling on toes. But, here goes. I was, as some of you know, an independent bookseller for three years. I bought my store just as Barnes and Noble opened its first Long Island superstore. During the time I owned the store, I stocked books that I knew and loved as well as books my customers demanded. I always thought that what made us different was that people could find books in our store that they would not necessarily find in a chain. Furthermore, we would help them find those books. I ran the store like the librarian I would always be. I grew tired of hearing my customers come in to rave about the stock in a superstore when I knew that we carried nearly the same number of titles, if not the same quantity. Well, we all know where this is going. There are no more children's only bookstores on Long Island and as far as I can tell, there is no chain with a dedicated sales staff that will hand sell books from their "vast" stock. When I go to a chain to see what is available, I see that once the initial selling period, say, three months, is over for a book, unless it is an award winner or a classic, it will disappear from the shelves. And, unless the customer knows what he or she is looking for, that customer will not know to ask for a book that is not prominently displayed. So, books for Latino interests suffer right along with any number of general interest titles. To Lulu who was dismayed by how quickly her hardcover book vanished, let me add that it's happening to everyone unless they have name recognition. The chains are controlling how books are published. Librarians can certainly promote and "handsell" books in their own environment, but unless the institutional market becomes important once again to publishers, the chains will have the last word on how well a book does. Too often that word is silent. Karen Breen Children's Book Review Editor Kirkus Reviews
Received on Tue 14 Mar 2000 09:40:45 AM CST
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 10:40:45 -0500
I've been following the train of thought regarding the lack of marketing for Latino books with a slightly different point of view and I hope I can express my thoughts without trampling on toes. But, here goes. I was, as some of you know, an independent bookseller for three years. I bought my store just as Barnes and Noble opened its first Long Island superstore. During the time I owned the store, I stocked books that I knew and loved as well as books my customers demanded. I always thought that what made us different was that people could find books in our store that they would not necessarily find in a chain. Furthermore, we would help them find those books. I ran the store like the librarian I would always be. I grew tired of hearing my customers come in to rave about the stock in a superstore when I knew that we carried nearly the same number of titles, if not the same quantity. Well, we all know where this is going. There are no more children's only bookstores on Long Island and as far as I can tell, there is no chain with a dedicated sales staff that will hand sell books from their "vast" stock. When I go to a chain to see what is available, I see that once the initial selling period, say, three months, is over for a book, unless it is an award winner or a classic, it will disappear from the shelves. And, unless the customer knows what he or she is looking for, that customer will not know to ask for a book that is not prominently displayed. So, books for Latino interests suffer right along with any number of general interest titles. To Lulu who was dismayed by how quickly her hardcover book vanished, let me add that it's happening to everyone unless they have name recognition. The chains are controlling how books are published. Librarians can certainly promote and "handsell" books in their own environment, but unless the institutional market becomes important once again to publishers, the chains will have the last word on how well a book does. Too often that word is silent. Karen Breen Children's Book Review Editor Kirkus Reviews
Received on Tue 14 Mar 2000 09:40:45 AM CST
