[pt.13] The Bookshop: What James Daunt Knows That I Can't Afford

The heatwave in the UK has finally ended and my brain is slightly less frazzled today. I write this sat in my nearest cafe waiting to meet one of my lovely subscribers who by chance happens to be a neighbour, who is also opening a bookshop. Yup, we met through Substack.

Now I am feeling less hot and bothered I need to focus on getting my grant application in today. Aside from the heat I was waiting on two videographers to get back to me with quotes for my crowdfunding video but neither did. I’ll just have to make an educated guess on how much it will cost for the purpose of the form. Hold me accountable, people! The deadline is the end of August but I need to do it this week and stop dithering over how to explain in 2000 characters what led me to start my social venture.

Last week I didn’t really move forward much with the bookshop, the three posts I put out plus the fact the house was 30ºC was all I could manage. I did however reach out to the creative writing for children charity I mentioned, and sadly they said they don’t have capacity to run another after-school club, but gave me the green light to set up my own. So that’s food for thought; as I wasn’t planning or organising my own I wanted to rent the space out for free to existing charities.

As mentioned last week we are now phase two of my three part plan. Substack granted me access to the creator kit last Thursday – filling that out is on my to-do list this week. I’ve had a few people reach out and say they have yet to know anyone who has been offered a sponsorship; so I shouldn’t pin my hopes on it and as depressing as that is to hear, I still know that I can set up my own media kit and do direct outreach.

What I did do last week was fall down a James Daunt shaped rabbit hole. I watched talks, listened to podcasts and read many many articles. Whilst fanning myself, clutching ice to my chest and moaning about it being too bloody hot.

Now if you’re not familiar with who he is, that’s fair. In brief, James Daunt is the founder of the London based independent ten-shop chain, Daunt Books (you have more than likely seen someone carrying one of their tote bags). In 2011 he was appointed managing director of the near-bankrupt Waterstones, which is the UK’s largest bookshop chain at more than 300 stores, and he is also the CEO of Barnes and Noble in the US (since 2019), overseeing 700+ stores. In 2022 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to publishing.

You can safely say the man knows the business of books.

Be a bookshop, not a gift shop with books in it

Across almost every interview he mentioned this in some version. He says that booksellers pad out their stores with non-book stock such as candles, mugs, bookish stuff and this then shrinks the book range, makes the shop worse and loses the customers who came for books. His fix is to put books back in, curate hard to your own community, and let the business follow. I know exactly what he is referencing and I have visited some bookshops that are stuffed to the gunnels with gifty things – there was one store I visited where every single surface was covered in chocolate, puzzles, fidget spinners, bookmarks, toys. Many of which were gathering dust, and there was no cohesion. It was very much a case of I have a space here and I should fill it with something. The sad thing is, I know why they’re doing it. Profit margins. I’ve said before that books have really crappy margins, it is extremely challenging to turn a profit selling only books. In fact The Booksellers Association even advise that you offer gifts and toys to help boost your bottom line. Now I hear what James is saying, and I don’t disagree per se, but I think he is overlooking the reality of booksellers today and that books alone don’t pay the rent. Plus, I’m sorry but even the smallest Waterstones in the UK have toys, stationery, greeting cards, reading glasses and board games. So if you really believe this, surely you’d have rolled it out across the stores you’re an MD of?!

Will I be taking his advice? Sort of. I know I won’t survive if I don’t offer some non-book products, but I think the curation needs to be thoughtful, relevant and not at the detriment to the books. We’re looking for complementary products that make a complete package either to yourself or to a friend rather than gifts for the sake of it.