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Tindal Street Press has said it is watching its "promotion costs and print runs with care" after the level of returns from campaigns it participated in over the past year hit its latest financial results.
The Birmingham-based indie celebrates its 10th anniversary in October in "upbeat mood", despite admitting that trading has become harder over the past year. As a small not-for-profit publisher
Tindal does not submit full accounts to Companies House, but its return for the year to end-March suggests that the company had a difficult year, with a decline in its reserves from £118,657 to £80,924.
Alan Mahar, publishing director, told The Bookseller the drop was down to "heavy and sudden de-stocking and serious returns" from chain booksellers, which resulted from taking part in book chain promotions, shortly before the recession began to bite.
He added: "We had a lot of books—for us—in the shops, especially of the old edition of [Catherine O'Flynn's] What Was Lost. Even Girl in a Blue Dress [longlisted for 2008's Booker Prize] was returned in large quantities before interest revived following the Orange Prize longlisting early in 2009."
Mahar said Tindal took part in store promotions because it was the only way "for books to make any impact . . . We have always considered that it's worth going in for the main promotions, but we have observed that it doesn't always have a positive effect." He added: "We are having to watch our promotion costs and print runs with care this year. Trading has certainly become harder."
Mahar's views echo those of Marion Boyars publisher Catheryn Kilgarriff, who attributed excessive consolidation in the retail sector, and the cost of promotions, to her decision to wind down the company.
But Tindal Street is still upbeat, celebrating its 10th birthday this month with two special events. This week it launches Roads Ahead, an anthology of short stories selected and edited by O'Flynn, and next week launches its Booker Box Set, comprising its Booker-nominated trio of Astonishing Splashes of Colour, What Was Lost and Girl in a Blue Dress.
Mahar said he was "enormously proud" of the publisher's achievements, stressing Tindal's "commitment to diversity" and "regional focus".