The Electronic Competition

"More and more, people like the convenience of the Internet," says Jim Malody, buyer, receiver and Webmaster for The Red Balloon Bookshop (St. Paul, Minn.). "And with energy costs the way they are, it isn't going away." Of course, buying online is not just easier, but cheaper. With deep discounting, free shipping and no state sales tax, Internet booksellers can offer savings independents can't match. The Red Balloon plans to fight back by transforming its Web site (www.theredballoon.com) into one more geared to selling books and aggressively marketing its own Web site so that it will come up near the top in searches at Yahoo and Google. No decision has been reached on changes in pricing to further compete.

Too Much Discounting

Pam Erlandson, owner, A Children's Place (Portland, Ore.) is troubled by deep discounting at chain superstores and mass merchandisers. "There are people who want to support the local bookstore, but it's tough when the big stores discount like Target and Wal-Mart. Costco sells books even cheaper than I can get them sometimes," says Erlandson, who has a tiny (1200 sq. ft.) store. "People come here mostly for the service they get, and we read everything. But it's tough when you're up against discounted books. A good example is Harry Potter. If you can get it down the street at Borders or Barnes & Noble at 40% off, it's hard for people to come to us." Her margins are too narrow for her to be able to discount any books other than sale titles.

All-Powerful Chains

Sally Oddi, co-owner of Cover to Cover Book Store (Columbus, Oh.), says chains are more than just stiff competition. "What troubles me is the power large chains have," Oddi says. "Titles that are appealing to me are canceled prior to their release because the chains didn't buy them, according to the sales rep. Floor and counter displays that appear in the catalogue are canceled, again because the chains didn't express interest. Reprints of strong African-American backlist titles are scheduled to coincide with chain store demand for Black History Month displays. My customers want quality books available regardless of the season."

School Business: Going, Going ...

Alina Gawlik, owner, Aladdin's Lamp Children's Books and Other Treasures (Arlington, Va.) says she's worried that younger teachers and librarians are contributing to the Amazon effect, taking away sales from bricks-and-mortar stores. "My school business suddenly went down 33% last year," says Gawlik, who still gets about a third of her business from schools. "The problem started a few years ago when longtime librarians I developed relationships with retired."

She also lost one of her largest school system clients recently, when it signed an exclusive agreement with Baker & Taylor. "This has really affected my ability to provide a great selection, which I need to maintain any remaining school business," says Gawlik, who feels caught in a Catch-22 situation. The only way she can afford to carry a broad selection of low-margin books, she says, is to stock more toys and gifts, which have much higher margins.

Not Enough Stand-Alone Fiction

Valerie Koehler, owner of Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston, Tex) says that lately trilogies and longer series have begun squeezing out stand-alone fiction. "Series have a place," says Koehler, "but if the reader's not interested in the story, then we have to dig to find a book they'll like. It would be nice to see books for the strong eight- to-11-year-old readers that are like adult novels, with a beginning, middle and end, that aren't sequels upon sequels. There's something nice about not having a novel that ends 'to be continued.' "

Hard to Get Authors

Booking authors on tour has gotten harder, as children's book publishers have begun asking booksellers for detailed proposals, including how many books they expect to sell, says Pete Cowdin, owner of Reading Reptile: Books & Toys for Young Mammals (Kansas City, Mo.), Publishers are cutting out a lot of independents who could help them hit their sales goals, he says. "It's hard enough in the Midwest," he says. "A lot of tours just take place on the coasts. In the past, publishers used to spread out authors and have them make several appearances."

Cowdin resents that tours have become so bottom-line driven. "Publishers make you apply for an author and make you guarantee that you'll sell 500 books and 800 people will attend. It doesn't matter what kind of event you want to do: theater, puppet show, music. We won the Pannell Award in June, but did I get any authors this fall? No. The authors we got I contacted myself. Why not share the love?"

Excessive Repackaging

Josie Leavitt, co-owner of Flying Pig Children's Books (Burlington, Vt.) could do without so much rejacketing, or repackaging. "I would like a catalogue from a publisher to represent what's truly new," Leavitt says. "I don't need to know about the 25th anniversary of a novel. I don't find that a burst on the front cover that says '25th Anniversary' sells a book. And stop changing the covers all the time. Kids don't like it. It doesn't make sense. Leave the book alone."

What really helps Leavitt sell a book is to read the galleys. So, instead of changing covers every five years, she says, publishers should put their energy behind promoting a mid-list novel and getting her to read the galleys.

Co-op Confusion

"I don't know why co-op can't be more straightforward," says Sharon Hearn, owner of Children's Book World (Los Angeles, Calif.), echoing a plaint that's been heard for more than a decade. "I'm actually trying to utilize it more, but it's frustrating. I still don't have co-op that I requested mid-year from some publishers," says Hearn, who only learned that she could use co-op to cover displays a few years ago.

In part, the problem is that reps, whose territories keep increasing, are responsible not just for selling, but for co-op as well. "Way too much gets put on the reps," says Hearn. "It's not a criticism of them, but of those above them. When it comes to co-op, not everybody has the time to follow through. There are several publishers where I can go directly to the co-op person in house, which makes it a million times better. I can ask about procedures, and there's no extra step contacting the rep."

Hardcovers That Shouldn't Be

Jennifer Christensen, co-owner, Imagine That! (Riverside, Calif.) finds that parents and grandparents are willing to buy hardcovers for young children, especially the books that they remember growing up. But once kids get to the "early readers" age, parents prefer paperback. "There's a gap between picture books and fifth grade," says Christensen. "We can sell Junie B. Jones and The Magic Tree House in hardcover, butwe can't sell other new series for second, third or fourth graders in hardcover—even by big-name authors. Parents don't want to buy hardcovers, because kids go through them so quickly. If it's in paper, people will try it."

Damaged Books

Even with shrink-wrapping machines, JoAnn Fruchtman, owner, The Children's Bookstore (Baltimore, Md.) says she receives far too many damaged books. Although it's not a high percentage of books, there shouldn't be any, she says. "It seems to me that everybody, publishers and distributors, could be more careful," says Fruchtman, noting that sometimes the book is not damaged during the shipping process. "It's damaged in the warehouse before it's shrink-wrapped. Somebody special-orders a book and you say, 'I can have it for you in a week,' and then the cover's torn. It makes us look bad. We have to send the book back, and you've disappointed a customer. When do you do damaged book returns? It takes time, and time costs the bookseller money."