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Bloomsbury defends Potter strategy

12.07.07 Joel Rickett

Bloomsbury has hit back at critics of its Harry Potter publishing strategy, as the UK and international book industry prepares for the record-shattering release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in a week's time.

Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury chief executive and chairman, said it was impossible to prevent supermarkets and online retailers using Harry Potter as a loss leader. He told critics arguing that Bloomsbury should have used the Potter phenomenon to change the publishing industry's basic terms structure to "get real".

"Anyone who feels that should move to America where they have the Robinson-Patman Act [which regulates trading terms]," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't have that in the UK." He re­iterated Bloomsbury's refusal to grant any retailers extra discounts above standard rates, and pointed out that many supermarkets would be buying from wholesalers on similar terms to independent booksellers. "It's what they do with the price that we can't control."

The comments came as Willie Anderson, deputy chairman of bookseller John Smith & Son and a former co-chair of the BA-PA Liaison Group, argued that Bloomsbury should have abandoned a printed r.r.p. on the new Harry Potter, and sold the book to all retailers at a uniform rate of £7.99 per copy. "Everyone would [have been] treated fairly," he writes. "The lost sales of Harry Potter through the ‘traditional' market encapsulate most of what is wrong with the relationship between the publisher and its most loyal and eager retail customer base."

But Newton responded: "It's characterist­ically generous of Willie to have invited us to participate in an experiment that would have put our gross margin into freefall."

Bloomsbury marketing director Minna Fry said flat trade pricing and removal of the printed r.r.p. were both options considered by the publisher, but were rejected in the face of logistical challenges and likely opposition from some powerful retailers. "Just to have the [new] 10% returns cap and to give no extra discount is incredibly difficult. To do that and unprice the book would have led to uproar—it would take away from the business of publishing the book and become the story. We're damned if we do, damned if we don't."

She reiterated her disdain for severe retail discounting of the book: "Nobody could have imagined people will be competing on price to such an extent. But I still think service is more important than price for Harry." She also rejected the idea of exclusive editions for independents, in the mould of Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Spendid Suns. "Harry Potter belongs to everybody. We try to make it fair."

Bloomsbury has taken a "back to basics" approach to the final book, not running any advertising, and focusing on Rowling's marathon signing session at the Natural History Museum. Newton said: "The book itself is the main marketing tool. Let's not lose sight of the fact that the whole reason this is such a phenomenon is that it is a fine piece of writing. When people read it, they'll conclude that it isn't just the seventh book, but part of a single connected story. It's the most remarkable tour de force."

Joel Rickett harry potter Bloomsbury children's Nigel Newton

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