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The challenge for Scott Coning, the incoming chair of the Academic Professional and Specialist Bookselling Group, is to keep the debate "moving forwards", and to continue the evolution of the annual conference, the former chair has said.
David Prescott, who has been chair of the BA-organised group for the past two years, introduced a different feel to this year’s APSBG, saying at the outset he wanted "tangible" results from the two-and-a-half days of discussions, presentations and networking. There had been two main aims for this year's conference, and as such the days had been split accordingly.
He told The Bookseller: "First, [we wanted] to get a common agreement around the challenges that face the industry, which I think we did, and second, to get a tangible resolution to those issues. Time will tell if there was a tangible output from that, although I think there were some things moving forward.
"Clearly though a lot of the issues will need to be individually addressed by booksellers and publishers," Prescott explained.
Another change to the programme was moving the awards ceremony to an evening slot, and give out two additional awards. Prescott said he was "pleased" with the event, adding there was "probably scope" for further awards to be added.
"I think [Coning] has to keep it moving forwards—I think it was a progressive conference—but it’s one that is in transition,” he added. “The conference had run successfully a certain way for 32 years without much change—we tried to do something different—the feedback will tell us how well we got that right."
Among the challenges discussed was the competition from the cheaper online retailers. Prescott acknowledged the lack of engagement from online retailers, many of which are not members of the BA, prevented any real progress.
He said: "For the conference I would rather they were within the loop, and part of the debate, than outside, because one of the key issues we talked about was online and how that is affecting bricks-and-mortar booksellers. Them not being in the room makes it quite difficult to reach any real conclusions."
However, the presence of online competitors was not the only area of intense discussion within the APSBG. Much interest was paid when Andrew Hutchings, chief executive of Blackwell, gave a presentation on the challenges of custom, or bundle, books.
Prescott said this was one of the major areas of concern among the "wider community" of booksellers. "The stakes are higher with custom, because you could have a custom box worth £200, and if the publisher has distribution failings and the pack is not instore when required, as has been the case on occasion this year, it costs more than say a textbook at £35 being out of stock," he explained.