Big seller Harry Potter, loser with bookstores!
On July 21, a little over a month away, the new and final Harry Potter book will make it’s debut on bookshelves everywhere. For Harry Potter fans, the day cannot come soon enough. But not everyone is looking forward to July 21. No, I’m not talking about the anti-Harry Potter crowd (yes, they’re out there). Surprisingly, I’m talking about the bookstores that will be stocking the new book on their shelves.
That’s right. Given that the new/final book in the series will surely be a best-seller, bookstores probably won’t make very much money off of it, if any. An article from Yahoo! explains the problem:
"Everywhere you go there is huge, ridiculous discounting by the chains," said Graham Marks, children’s editor at the British-based trade magazine Publishing News.
The article goes on to report that Wal-Mart and Amazon.com will be cutting prices in half and Borders and Barnes & Noble will be discounting the book by 40%. Huge discounts such as these drive sales, but they put a huge dent in the store’s profit. And to stay competitive, independent booksellers must follow the big-box corporations, placing an even bigger strain on the independent bookselling industry which is already crippled. It appears that everyone will feel the effects:
But with widespread discounting biting a gigantic chunk out of any potential profits, many booksellers are not enthused about its release.
In fact, a lot of the independents won’t even be selling the new Harry Potter book. For them, it’s simply not worth it. Even the large chain stores that do plan on carrying the book will be heavily marketing other items along with it, ones that are more profitable, like the rewards card.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but you know there’s a problem in an industry when the biggest product to hit the market in years, if not ever, will not make those who sell it any money. This goes to show that the publishing world, and even bookstores, need to find a different business model. One that not only gives the readers what they want, but can still turn a profit for those who make it available for public consumption.
If I were the head of Borders or Barnes & Noble, I’d be considering not even carrying the book. I know that sounds crazy but if I’m not going to make a profit off of it, then why bother? That sounds very capitalistic, exactly what literature is supposed to be above (and even against), but the logic of the publishing industry, including bookstores, that makes bookstores buy books at a higher price, and then discount them, just doesn’t make any sense. The idea goes against simple reason. You don’t have to be a Harvard MBA to realize that something is very wrong with this picture.
I think the best hope lies in technology. There are companies out there being very innovative in how they get books into the hands of the public. One of the most innovative I have heard about is a book "vending machine". You select the book you want, pay for it, and it prints the entire thing right there for you (which only takes a matter of minutes). No expensive stock. No expensive inventory. And just about all the money the customer pays is for the book is pure profit (much of which, I might add, should be given to the author).
This Print-On-Demand, with a twist, just might be the future of bookselling and publishing. Yes, it might put Borders out of business, but then again, if they can’t even turn a profit on something as big as Harry Potter, then we have to ask: what’s the point?
Read the entire Yahoo! article here:
Harry Potter magic spells losses for booksellers
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