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KYRA DAVIS

New York Times bestselling author of Just One Night

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KYRA DAVIS

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What Would A World Without Borders Look Like?

Yes, I'm referring to the bookstore, not a world where sovereign nations are a thing of the past.  And the bookstore looks so pretty in this picture...if only there were customers inside to appreciate it.  If you're not in the industry you might not be aware that Borders is in a major state of crisis.  In the third quarter of 2010 they posted a $74.4 million dollar loss.  They have about $445 million in trade accounts payable and in December they showed up at the door of the major New York publishing houses with their hand out asking if the houses would be cool with waiting three years to be paid what they're owed.  Theoretically if publishing houses agree to hold off on collecting the debt Borders would have time to refinance with the possible help of GE and avoid Chapter 11.  The publishing industry has been less than enthusiastic.  In fact some publishers have stopped shipping to Borders all together.  And don't expect any A-list authors to be doing signings at Borders...particularly since the chain seems to be firing many of their special events coordinators along with a few regional managers and completely closing down a Tennessee distribution center thereby eliminating 310 jobs in that area alone.  

Barnes and Noble and a few other booksellers are balking at Borders request for debt leniency demanding that if publishers are going to cut Borders a break they need to cut all booksellers the exact same break. Publishers can't afford to do that and for this reason among many others they may refuse Borders request which means the company will have to go into Chapter 11.  But that's really the least of Borders concerns.  If more publishers stop shipping to Borders it's difficult to see how the time afforded them by a Chapter 11 filing is going to help them stay alive.

You can read the details of this unfolding story in articles printed in various different periodicals: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times among others.

But not a lot of people are writing about how this will affect the publishing industry as a whole and no one seems to be writing about how or if this will affect authors.  For instance, if Borders does go under who will absorb their sales? Some will inevitably go to Barnes and Noble and independent booksellers but BN is making most of its profits now from their online presence, e-books and e-readers.  I don't know that they are going to sell that many more paperbacks/hardcovers if Borders falls.  If anything my guess is that this will push a lot more readers to turn to e-books.  I could be wrong but the fun of going to a bookstore is being able to walk around and browse and then maybe a novel (hopefully a novel with a bright pink cover) strikes your fancy and you buy that book. But this is dependent on there being a bookstore convenient for you to browse in.  Barnes and Noble has been closing lots of stores over the last year, even in areas where there are no other bookstores.   It's difficult to imagine they're going to open more if Borders disappears.  So if there is not store to browse in and you want a book you're going to have to go online...but browsing online is a little different than browsing in a bookstore.  You will see the books that Amazon and Barnes and Noble are pimping on their home page but you won't see the books that might have been faced out on their designated shelves by an individual employee.  Midlisters will have even less visibility than they have now (and we really don't have a lot of visibility now).  

And what about this debt that the publishing houses aren't going to be able to collect on? How exactly are they going to be making up for that loss? Publishing is not a high-profit game.  My guess is that they're going to have to save by cutting back in areas of acquisitions, marketing and publicity.  The A-listers will still get a decent marketing budget and I don't begrudge them that.  After all, they're the only ones keeping publishing industry afloat.  But I think midlisters and first time novelists are going to have to come to terms with the fact that we are now on the same level as indie rock bands.  We have some followers, some diehard fans, but not enough of either to actually make us a decent living and the only way a "record label" is going to give us more than the time of day is if WE ARE the record label.

Yes, I'm talking about self-publishing again.  For the record, things are looking good for the Sophie series right now but I'm still not 100% convinced that I should put her in the hands of a major publishing house at this point.  Why share the profits with someone who is going to do nothing more than operate as a printing press?  With fewer and fewer stores to distribute to and e-books sales up 165% does it really makes sense to partner with an industry struggling to adjust?  When I asked Facebook followers what form they prefer their books in less than a fourth listed off paperbacks and/or hardcovers as their medium of choice.  Ebooks and audiobooks were clearly a convenience that a lot of people were understandably eager to take advantage of.

I don't have any definitive answers (I really, really wish I did).  But if you're a midlist author with an indie-rock band type following you should at the very least be considering these questions.  Borders closing is a symptom of a much larger issue.  It's an issue that requires the publishers to readjust their thinking.  Authors would be wise to do the same.  



Kyra Davis

Bestselling Author of:

The Sophie Katz Mystery Series
and
So Much For My Happy Ending
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Labels: Barnes and Noble, Borders, ebooks, midlist authors, Publishing, self-publishing, Sophie Katz

8 comments :

  1. Dani GFriday, January 14, 2011 at 1:57:00 PM PST

    I took my daughter to the bookstore this afternoon. Her favorite place on earth. We pulled up and Borders was gone. Gone. We headed over to Barnes and Noble. So sad.

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  2. AnonymousFriday, January 14, 2011 at 2:10:00 PM PST

    I am more of a library reader since I go through books so fast (some of my annual donations do go to libraries so they have budget to keep up with my book consumption though) but I do go to Borders and B&N when needing gifts. I also really enjoy browsing the stacks to see if any titles or bright covers catch my eye for a spontaneous purchase or to add to my bday/christmas list.

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  3. kyradavisFriday, January 14, 2011 at 3:11:00 PM PST

    My son and I used to spend HOURS at Borders, just sitting on the floor of the kid's section reading fifty or so books before choosing the 3-5 we were going to buy. He knew what Borders was before he knew what Toys r Us was and to date he still seems to prefer the former to the latter. I can't imagine those early years of his life without Borders.

    For the record, I don't think bookstores are going to completely disappear but there will be a lot less of them. The idea that there is going to be a bookstore in every town with a population over 100,000 is a thing of the past : (

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  4. azusmomFriday, January 14, 2011 at 3:36:00 PM PST

    Wow, this is really scary! Bookstores are some of my favorite places to go. I, too, take my kids there, a lot.
    But some small, tiny part of me wonders; will we circle back around again? It may take a long time, but I can't help but think that at some point, some enterprising young soul will decide to take his/her collection of these old-fashioned things called "books" and sell them. And maybe people will read them, enjoying the feel of them in their hands, and the smell, etc.
    In the meantime, though, it's still pretty scary. Especially for the writers (and the fans who love them).

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  5. UnknownFriday, January 21, 2011 at 7:01:00 PM PST

    I completely am shocked! Borders is MY FAVORITE bookstore. I guess I just love the smell of NEW books. I LOVE browsing as you have described it. It is a shame that people don't get the same excitement as I do when I enter a bookstore...SO much possibility within each cover. I tried an e-reader, and I just couldn't focus that long on it. It reminded me too much of a computer....I need the feel of a book in my hand, but my husband is the opposite. I'm afraid that someday, my favorite authors won't even be publishing in a "book" format. Sad to think about.

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  6. Natalie LambertSaturday, February 12, 2011 at 5:04:00 AM PST

    Your comments are so dead on. I shop for books when I know the author - I come in looking for my Nora and several chick lit authors and I go right there, but then another smaller and lesser known {to me} author catches my eye.

    This is not the case with online websites where as you mentioned, I am only pushed into the front page of their suggestions. However, that same thing is how I found out about you, lol, so at the end of the day - people searching for ebooks and audio in my mind are driven by 1) category, 2) user reviews (I take big stock in reviews, so I always rate what I read) and 3) price.

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  7. AnonymousSaturday, February 19, 2011 at 11:19:00 PM PST

    And so it begins...

    Got an email the other day from the CEO of Borders (I am on the Borders Rewards list) saying they are going into Chapter 11 on Feb 16th and will begin to close down underperforming stores. Today received an email that one of the five Borders store in our area is closing soon. The Borders store closest to me is safe...for now.

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  8. AnonymousWednesday, April 27, 2011 at 5:35:00 PM PDT

    "...And what about this debt that the publishing houses aren't going to be able to collect on? How exactly are they going to be making up for that loss? Publishing is not a high-profit game. My guess is that they're going to have to save by cutting back in areas of acquisitions, marketing and publicity..."

    And then there's Tokyopop. Japanese-comic-books-in-translation Tokyopop kept the marketing and publicity for it's CEO's pet film projects, kept its Hamburg office, and cut *all book releases in North America*: http://www.google.com/search?hl=tokyopop+borders o_O

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ALSO BY KYRA DAVIS

Just One Night Trilogy

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Seven Swans A'Shooting

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So Much for My Happy Ending

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Lust, Loathing
and a Little Lip Gloss

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ABOUT KYRA DAVIS

I'm the internationally published author of the Sophie Katz mystery series, and So Much For My Happy Ending. My first Erotic Fiction Trilogy will be released in January 2013.

Aside from that, I'm a single mom; I'm addicted to coffee and True Blood (the show, not the drink). I'm happy with who I am yet I’m always striving to be better; I have more bad hair days than good ones, I love a challenge but I am not fearless, I’m….well…just me.

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