The Bookseller’s flagship feature this week focuses on the picture book market, and more to the point, why it’s become much more difficult to sell said books in the market. Both Ottakar’s and Borders report a decline in picture book sales compared to last year. Waterstone’s, which radically cut back its picture book range in 2005, claims to have maintained sales thanks to aggressive promotions and its focused range. Other booksellers have now followed its lead and reduced their range.
Julian Exposito, Borders UK senior children’s buyer, says: “We have become much more restrictive about what we will stock in that category because sales are so tough.” The main issues? Pricing, formats, and adding novelty elements so the books are that much more likely to move. But it may just be a question of changing tastes. Said Professor Aftab Gharda, “Younger readers are much more computer-savvy, and books are such a traditional medium–there needs to be much more interplay between screen-based imagery and books. At the moment they are very divorced.”
Meanwhile, the LA Times profiles Priscilla Maltbie, a paraplegic living at Catered Manor Nursing Center in Long Beach who’s found unexpected fame as a children’s book writer. “I’m pretty much in awe of her,” said associate editor Randi Rivers of Charlesbridge Publishing near Boston, which issues about 40 books a year for children up to middle school age. “She’s had a phenomenal response to her signings… I think about 100 people came out [to the first one]. That’s phenomenal at a bookstore.”