For those of you who don't know all about what I do--and those who don't want to should skip the next paragraph--I work for an association of Canadian independent booksellers. Among the many things we do, we produce and sell bags and gift certificates and things useful to our member stores at low cost; we have agreements with courier companies who can give the best rates on returns to publishers; we publish a trade magazine for booksellers; we do professional development for people wanting to start up a bookstore; and we advocate for booksellers when changes to the industry threaten their livelihoods as independents. We don't just operate in reaction to Chapters-Indigo, but with the state of bookselling as it is, it's like sleeping with an elephant: we have to shift to every move they make.

All this being said, we had a lot of calls this week because of Harry Potter.

The first such controversy was the Real Canadian Superstore in B.C. that sold the new Harry Potter days before the book's release date. Our members and our Board of Directors didn't lose it here; mostly they called to chortle because to a big box store like a Wal-Mart or a Costco or a Real Canadian Superstore, books are just more product, more stock, more stuff to put on shelves*. The booksellers who had been sitting on their shipments and waited for 12:01 a.m. on Saturday the 16th understand books inherently, and that even if it was some lame seller you sell it on its release date and no sooner.

Raincoast is the distributor who years ago took a chance on a little book called Harry Potter and beat out Scholastic for it. It was interesting to read the public notices and announcements that followed the early-Potter crisis this week. They very quickly got a court injuction to prevent anyone who had their hands on one of these precious Potters from publishing or voicing--in any medium--the characters, plot, setting, or anything else to do with the insides of the book. In the meantime, they wanted these books back and they appealed to the lucky customers to please return the books for "safekeeping" until 12:01 a.m. on July 16. These appeals were directed both at adults and at children. I never saw legal jargon so cute.

Meanwhile two more stores--a gas station and another grocery store--did the same thing again. Do you know what happens to stores who make this mistake with Harry Potter? They never see a Harry Potter again. (I don't think it'd be the whole chain to suffer though, seeing as it'd be a loss for Raincoast.) It happened when a bookstore in Toronto once sold Potters too early and the owner hasn't seen a Harry Potter since. She had to close a location recently.

Later in the week we had members calling us, furious that they still, twelve hours before release, had not received their shipments. Oops! Looks like Raincoast sold out to the big boxes. They'll ensure all the Chapters and Sam's Clubs alike have 10,000 copies (est.) of a book at the expense of independents who can't get the numbers they want--even though it's the independents who handsell books, and who have had the Harry Potter parties, and who have the author events and who match the right book to the right customer if you just ask nicely.

Oh and even when it's Harry, approximately 60% of all books published and sent out are returned to the publishers because they can't be sold. Next time you look into a Chapters and see an elaborate display or "staircase" of books, remember the following:

1. Months ago, the store ordered an extra 200 copies from the publisher.
2. The publisher spent the money to make them, plus every other store's orders.
3. Then the publisher had to deny a number of books to independents. Costs and all that.
4. The huge store who didn't bother to really sell the books paid to send them back to the publisher.
5. Publisher tries to sell the now stale books at discount (remainder).
6. No remainder sale? Warehouse.
7. Don't want to pay to keep them in the warehouse? Shredder.
8. Recycling.
9. Toilet paper.

And that's a slice of the life cycle of a book.
If there is any point to this what-I-did-at-work-this-week, it's this: Buy smart. Buy independent.

Notes:
*a big box store: I should point out that not all big box stores are suffocating the book industry in Canada. I learned that McNally Robinson Booksellers Inc. are technically a bix-box chain, with two locations in Winnipeg, one in Calgary, and the newest one in Manhattan. Note that you can buy online from McNally Robinson. I encourage you to do this next time you go to chapters.indigo.ca or amazon.ca. McNally Robinson are righteous booksellers.