Next Saturday, September 14th, independent bookshops across the country will be celebrating “real books” (as opposed to downloads) with events, parties and visitations as part of a new scheme called “Books are my bag”. It means a busy day for me, beginning in Crouch End at Pickled Pepper Books where I’ll be telling stories, painting pictures and awarding prizes to the *best costume* – the children are all coming dressed as characters from famous paintings! I can’t wait to see them! The fun starts at 11am, and store details (location etc) can be found on their website:
http://www.pickledpepperbooks.co.uk/
Afterwards, I’ll be dashing back to Letchworth Garden City, for a 3pm event at my local bookshop, David’s. Come along and chat and get books signed. I might be persuaded to tell stories and paint there as well.
As bookshops fight to survive in this digital world (both books and bookselling have changed beyond all recognition), I feel passionately about supporting independent booksellers and REAL books. I have nothing against digital books per se; indeed I’m quite interested in creating good quality e-books (which are far and few between in the picture book world). Although I personally do not have a Kindle or anything along those lines, I recognise they “work” for a lot of people and have many practical uses. I still listen to 78s and collect antique gramophones, so realise I’m not the typical man on the street!
But for me books are… well, they’re special. Ideally they need be real. They need to be held. They need covers with pictures (and pictures inside are good too!). They should be able to hold momentos and memories; inscriptions; pressed flowers; your child’s drawings. In a changing world, I need something to hold onto. And so alongside digital books, there will always be a place for real books.
I feel the same about bookselling. I need to browse. In a real bookshop. They are the stores who, unlike chains, have stocked and sold my books over the years. I like to support them back.
The chains and online mega-sites and catalogues in the post offer tempting discounts… yet authors will also lose out if books are discounted more and more. We all love, I’m sure, a bargain. But at what cost? Stop and think: if we always expect a product to be this cheap, how much time, thought, and care can we expect to go into it? If we want well written books, shouldn’t the auther be paid for his time? If an illustrator spends 3-6 months illustrating a book, is it right that the tiny royalty gets even smaller when a book is sold at half price (as so many are now), squeezing income to the point they can no longer afford to do what he or she does best? Here’s a fact: An illustrator gets just a few pence from the sale of a book. Literally 20 or 30p on a paperback. Is our work really worth so little?
People pay more for magazines than they do for books. I does almost break my heart.
If we want the future of literature and illustration (noble professions, and culturally, historically important) to be secure, then these practitioners, and those who support them (booksellers), need to be respected. You wouldn’t expect teachers or any other professional to have their pay reduced to be more competitive with others. What we need is a return of the Net Book Agreement, which maintained a pricing structure that worked well for decades.
And imagine a landscape of towns with no bookshops. Towns with no beating heart. Personally, I couldn’t live in a town without a bookshop.
So I urge you to find out about local events and support bookshops, and authors and illustrators. Here’s the “Books are my Bag” website.
Rant over. Wherever you are… have a great Books are my Bag day on September 14th!
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