June 6, 2004

They stack the books high, then prop a life-size cutout of the author next to the pile. To most customers it is a way of letting readers know a new, must-read novel is in stock. But behind the window-dressing, lavish corporate entertainment and travel is distorting the message the big bookstores send out about their latest titles.

Now, following a year that has seen the richest British publishing houses take retailers on a series of luxurious trips to Madrid, Italy and New York to promote their authors, the smaller, independent publishers are protesting. The round of expensive hospitality junkets, otherwise known as ‘freebies’, has priced them out of the market, they claim.

Major publishers are spending thousands of pounds every month on “sweetener” trips for the retail chains on our high streets, they claim, in a bid to influence retail buying strategy. The entertainment budgets involved, which can be as much as #40,000 per trip are aimed at ensuring increased orders for their books.

“The whole thing is a nice perk, but can be very useful,” said one bookstore buyer, who has travelled to New York twice in the past five months. “It is a chance to meet the publishers as much as the author.”

In the past 12 months alone Hutchinson, part of the giant Random House group, has taken book-buyers on a glamorous visit to Pompeii to mark the publication of Robert Harris’ historical novel set in the shadow of Vesuvius, while Simon and Schuster took a group to New York to meet Hillary Clinton before her memoirs, Living History, came out and CollinsWillow arranged a trip to introduce book retailers to David Beckham in Madrid ahead of the launch of his biography, My Side.

Other publishing houses have organized trips to meet the horror writer Clive Barker in California, before the publication of the second book in his Abarat series, and then to meet the thriller writer Scott Turow in New York, before Ultimate Punishment was launched. The months ahead are expected to see representatives of Britain’s leading book chains flown out to Germany by HarperCollins to meet author Bernard Cornwell, ahead of the publication of his book, The Last Kingdom, in October and just in time for the trade’s annual Frankfurt Book Fair.

Book marketing executives may accept the practice, but it is knocking the industry off balance according to small, independent publishers. Unable to afford to lay on such lavish trips abroad for retailers, they believe their new titles are being pushed off the shelves of stores such as Waterstone’s, Borders, Ottakar’s and WH Smith.

But Scott Pack, in charge of book buying at Waterstone’s, defended the practice. “All the big chains have different policies on this,” he said. “And in my view you can’t really buy your way into a window display. In the last year we have gone on trips like this only twice — and that was with the new Harry Potter and the David Beckham. Clearly, in both cases, there was a huge public interest in the titles.”

When it comes to advising staff on whether to accept invitations abroad from the large publishing houses, Pack favours pragmatism. “Many trips are organized at weekends though, and then I think that if it is in the staff’s own time, it cannot do any harm. We don’t tend to go to very many and anyway, if you do go to these things, the conversation is chiefly about books.”

Others see the practice as more damaging. “Many of these events cost between #30,000 and #40,000,” said one disgruntled publisher. “The book stores are reassured because they believe it proves the publisher is supporting the book to the hilt with publicity and this, in turn, will mean sales for them.”

Eric Lane, the managing director of Dedalus, a publisher based in Cambridgeshire, has watched the impact of these corporate marketing devices on his special interest literary titles. “Our presence in the big stores has shrunk in recent years,” he said.

While HarperCollins is planning to present their best-selling author Dean Koontz, who lives in southern California, to book store buyers in suitable style before the publication of his book The Taking in August, rival publishers Transworld say they do not have a large entertainment budget.

Managing director Larry Finlay, “To be honest it is a hell of an expense and the success of a book comes down more than anything else to the quality of the book itself.”

Finlay is unsure that book buyers for the big high street chains are easily influenced by flashy hospitality, but for those running smaller publishing companies the evidence seems clear. “It is depressing for a small company like ours,” said Rebecca Nicolson of Short Books. “These kind of relationships make it very difficult for the independent publishers.” —Dawn/ Observer News Service

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