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Sales 'lost' to age-banding

24.11.08 Caroline Horn

Children's authors Philip Pullman and Anne Fine have accused publishers of putting book sales at risk by pressing on with age-banding on books.

Writing on The Bookseller website, Pullman stated: "It’s just as likely that an adult will decide NOT to buy a perfectly suitable book, if they go by the one-size-fits-all nonsense of a single number on the back of a book." Author Anne Fine, who is part of the ‘No to Age Banding’ campaign by authors, said that sales were already being lost because of age guidance. "I have had an email from a secondary school that has seen a 90% drop in its school book fair sales," said Fine. "The librarian said that girls were not buying books with 13+ on them because their mums would think that they were meant for older girls of 15+. So parents have immediately assumed that the age guidance is referring to content, not reading ability."

The writers were responding to an article by Sally Floyer in favour of age guidance on children’s books. Floyer, former md of Penguin’s brands and licensing division, wrote: "There are too many people who don't know what to choose for a child to read, despite all the help the book industry provides for those who know where to look for it. The most obvious place to give basic guidance is on the books themselves because that's where consumers have been trained to look for information whether it be sizing on children's clothing or food sell-by dates."

Publishers hope that age guidance will help to drive up children’s book sales while authors opposed to the initiative believe it will have a negative impact. Fine added: "What the librarian has also noticed is that children have assumed that books with the same age guidance will have similar content. So girls who enjoy Louise Rennison and Karen McCombie have picked up Melvin Burgess’ Sarah’s Face and got a bit of a shock."

Fine said that she believed that "no child will pick up a book that is for less than its age". "So you’ve already cut off your lower age band and now it seems that parents are cutting off the upper age bands," she said. "In other words, you will only be able to sell books that have the child’s exact age on the cover. As an author, if my book covers five to six years, I’ve lost 80% of my sales."

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Caroline Horn Philip Pullman children's Sally Floyer age banding Anne Fine

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By Alan Garner

If Sally Floyer has been quoted correctly, she is, by using such terms as “consumer”, “children’s clothing” and “food sell-by dates”, telling us all we need to know about why she is wrong. Hers is the language of the market, not the book; of the ephemeral, not the timeless.

24 Nov 08 19:18

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By David R N Livesley - Woodstock Vermont

Oh but Alan her language is couched in the terms of the 19/20/21st century....COMMERCE. This and has always been the name of the game unless one had a trust fund/sugar daddy/benefactor to underwrite the indulgence of writing. Business and consumers is how the world has always worked. Anne however mentions a good point. Perhaps the age guide needs to be more targeted so as opposed to having just an age range one should have a clear and easy indicator of style? I feel that the issue has largely gone unnoticed by the 'great unwashed' and an opportunity is waiting to be exploited. Most folks do not read books and the only folks that seem to be critical of this idea are the confirmed reader/author/book addict/child who as we know don't need this guide to their consumption. I respect your knowledge of the publishing industry and also you passion, but I do hope a way can be found to try this project out to see it succeed or fail. Only then can it be deemed positive or negative. I just wish that all parties could find a way to accept that the 21st century is happening and the consumer does have access to more multi media than ever before. To quote you...' telling us all we need to know about why she is wrong. Hers is the language of the market, not the book; of the ephemeral, not the timeless' .....the language of the market could be right as the ephemeral does now make up part of our society.... the BBC runs shows like Strictly Come Dancing.....Lord Reith must be turning in his grave, but the public want to consume them.

25 Nov 08 03:43

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By Alan Garner

I’m afraid I must disagree, David. I’ve been a published writer for almost fifty years, my novels have never been out of print, and I manage to survive without compromise to any commercial pressures, having enjoyed the enduring support of my publishers.

25 Nov 08 09:01

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By CG

Anyone in Publishing who cares to read Sally Floyer’s CV will see why she and Alan Garner are not even on the same planet.

25 Nov 08 11:01

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By Commentator

Alan Garners comment....... "and I managed to survive without compromise to ANY commercial pressures"... is how the booktrade was before we actually wanted to sell books to the broader market of ordinary people , and make a profit from doing so . . Thank God it's over .

25 Nov 08 13:42

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By JonathanM

In reply to Commentator. If, by *ordinary people* you mean those who grew up with very few books in the house, who perhaps went, or go to, state school, then I was one of them long before you were born and yet I and many others like me, somehow, miraculously it would seem, managed without the aid of age banding, ghost writing and faux celebrity authorship to read Mr Garner's wonderful books at the appropriate age. Yours is one of the most patronising - on so many levels, comments I have read in a long time and encapsulates perfectly what is wrong with publishing today.

25 Nov 08 17:30

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By David R N Livesley - Woodstock Vermont

In reply to Alan, and I don't think that Johnathan M some of your defensive comments actually help the discussion.....and I quote 'Yours is one of the most patronising - on so many levels, comments I have read in a long time and encapsulates perfectly what is wrong with publishing today'... please respect that some folks do feel that this idea could actually expand readership/consumption/passion for the humble book. Johnathan you did find the wonder of the book and the great writing of Alan. How many others do not currently do so? Alan I do think that your statement that you never accepted that commercial pressures could aid your sales is a shame and also a missed opportunity. Many of us who have sold books for a living, spent many hours championing the cause of kids books, and thus your wonderful books did remain in print and demanded. I claim little credit for this but a team of folks worked to make you and others sit on the shelves of shops/libraries etc. As an illustration I was personally involved in Anthony Horowitz's revival after he was given up by publishers. If the wonderful Helen Paiba of the Children''s Bookshop in Muswell Hill had not mentioned this to me, and I passed this fact onto Wendy Bose at Walker, he would have probably given up on kids books. I used to sell his books at William Collins and thought he had a wonderful style. Today he is one of the hot properties......yet without 'commercial focus' he may well have been sunk and not being quoted as the star he is. Yet even he seems to against age banding.....yet he loves the success he currently has and his sales in certain sectors could benefit from more guidance for the consumer. After 50 years of wonderful writing and exposure why are you so fearful of a different approach? I cannot believe you think this is censorship/big brother? Some of the prospective writers of the future could benefit from a new approach and expand readership. After all I think that that is what we all want don't we?

26 Nov 08 02:33

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By Alan Garner

It is not that I have never “accepted” commercial pressures. No publisher has tried to impose them. There is always the editorial process, which is a constructive and stimulating debate, concerned with the text alone. There has been no attempt on the part of a publisher to impose on my intellectual, spiritual and creative freedoms; but if it were to happen, I should not comply. I think we may be at cross-purposes in this discussion and must agree to differ.

27 Nov 08 10:54

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By CG

What Alan Garner is saying, and he's said it before, is that philately has nothing to do with the postman.

27 Nov 08 12:07

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By David Smith

As a literary agent and a father of young children I have to say I'm in complete agreement with Philip Pullman and Anne Fine on the issue of age-banding. The restrictive effect of this measure is potentially disastrous for all the reasons they give. In addition, it will encourage parents to be lazy by grabbing up a book that's in the 'right' age range without properly considering whether a book is actually appropriate for their child. My daughter is seven and we have often read to her above her age. Now that she is reading for herself she is happy to be challenged by books that would be deemed too old for her. Equally, she can enjoy much younger books for the fun of it without feeling she's retreating. A parent should be able to tell by a fairly quick inspection in a bookshop whether a book is too old for an individual child or too young for another, just as we would decide that certain subject matter may be inappropriate because of a particular child's likes, dislikes or fears. We ought know what our children will appreciate and respond to. Sally Floyer's comparison with clothes sizes and sell-by dates is telling in its inaptness. Reading ability, imagination and personal taste can't be measured as if they're too-short trousers or rotten chicken. You only have to go into a primary school class to see the vastly differing levels of reading ability. Age-banding is an unnecessary straitjacket, potentially damaging not just to the income of authors and publishers but also to young developing readers.

28 Nov 08 16:52

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By JULIAN RIVERS

I am sure that all the comments here are made with sincerity . However , many are way off the mark when considering reality in the tough commercial world . David Smith speaks as a Literary Agent, for example . He says that parents SHOULD be able to judge suitability . BUT what if they can not . Or maybe if Granny can not, or a visitor who has never met the child . ? Some of the childrens' authors output does need guidance for content for the uninitiated or frankly if you have not read the book, particularly for the early teens . . I agree that if handled incorrectly reading age /age group suitability could be a turn off . Who would buy the SUN or THE MIRROR if they knew that the Spache reading age was 6 +years [Average is about 6.8 years]. Nevertheless it is true to say that guidance sells books , and that's what everybody wants . .

28 Nov 08 17:58

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By Jo Bertrand

I can understand that some people find it difficult to buy books for children. Instead of slapping an age guide on the cover shouldn't more be done to inform and train bookshop assistants to enable them to better guide their customers?

09 Dec 08 14:37

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By Empty Shelf

This isn't about training for bookshop assistants - most good bookshops, chain or indie, will have plenty of knowledge and expertise in this area. It's about supermarkets, who don't have/want staff with this specialist knowledge and certainly don't want to invest in it. Age banding makes it easier to shelve the books in supermarkets, therefore making it easier to sell them there without offering unprofitable like service.

09 Dec 08 15:51

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By Richard Whittle - http://playpitspark.wordpress.com

Age-banding... now where have I seen that before? A long time ago I had children's tickets at my local library. As I got older I would sneak through from the children's section to the main library, selecting books to read on the basis of being able to understand them and liking their content, having had a quick browse through their pages. The more enlightened of the library assistants let me take the books out. The less enlightened ones took the books away and directed me to the children's section.

25 Oct 09 13:33

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