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Booksellers "crucial" to media promotion - BIC

16.05.11 | Lisa Campbell

Booksellers need to be treated as a crucial partner in the process of promoting books through the media or risk looking "irrelevant", the Book Industry Conference (BIC) has been told.

Waterstone's bookseller Cathy Rentzenbrink told delegates at the BIC today (16th May) it was vital retailers are informed when books will be featured in newspapers and on television programmes because customers will expect them to have the information and the title in stock.

She said: "At the very least customers expect us to know and if you don't you look irrelevant. In this industry you cannot miss a trick and we must give customers what they want when they want it. We need to lobby broadcasters and newspapers to let us know what they are featuring because we need to reach customers."

Dotti Irving from Colman Getty PR called for the BBC to renew a weekly bulletin the corporation used to send out detailing which books it would feature in the next seven days to help keep booksellers and the rest of the industry informed.

Publishers and booksellers should also work more closely together to "take risks" on promoting certain books "because together we can make things massive," Rentzenbrink said.

She also called on booksellers to have more conversations with customers, warning retailers should not underestimate the value of the bookshop experience and the consumer need for personal recommendations.

BBC Arts commissioning editor Mark Bell revealed more details about BBC2's "The Review Show"'s monthly book programme, as announced in January. The live programmes, broadcast on Friday nights, will feature artists discussing the books that have inspired them, as well interviews with leading authors and a panel of experts and book-lovers will cast their critical eye over recent releases.

Germaine Greer, Denise Mina and John Mullan will feature in the first show on 27th May to discuss the state of women's literature and topics such as the Orange Prize and posthumous publications from Daphne Du Maurier and Beryl Bainbridge.
     

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By delta

"We need to lobby broadcasters and newspapers to let us know what they are featuring because we need to reach customers."

That's a slightly odd idea - I think newspapers have better things to be doing than contacting a huge mailing list of booksellers whenever they mention a book. I'd always presumed that keeping an eye on relevant press reviews was part of what I got paid for...an iGoogle page with RSS feeds from the major sites for my subjects mean it's all sat right in front of me whenever I log on.

Mon, 16/05/2011 - 16:23
By Hairy Mamut

http://www.booksandmedia.co.uk/index.asp

Books & Media does this pretty well already...

Mon, 16/05/2011 - 19:44
By babe

Books and the Media does it well, yes, but not far enough in advance (when you have a strangely new-yet-antiquated stock system like Le Hub).

I would have thought that the responsibility lies with the publisher's marketing department rather than the media outlet. They are the ones with the need and really should be more proactive. Some already are and where there is a good residual, experienced rep force, this is already being done. Unfortunately, knowing you should have it doesn't always make it so (I refer to my earlier parenthises).

Mon, 16/05/2011 - 20:19

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