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| Mark Medley | |
"Can there be a healthy publishing industry without independent bookstores, or does the shift from print to digital books negate their importance?" This question was posed by the National Post's books editor Mark Medley in an interview with three representatives of the Canadian book community: Mark Leslie Lefebvre, president of Canadian Booksellers Association and a manager at McMaster University's Titles Bookstore; Alana Wilcox, editorial director of Coach House Books; and Becky Toyne, who works at Type Books in Toronto and is a regular contributor to Open Book Toronto and CBC Radio One. Highlights from their responses:
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| Mark Leslie Lefebre | |
Lefebvre: I think that the shift and trend towards digital positions independent booksellers as more important than ever. After all, it's one thing to find something to read, it's quite another to find something good to read. More is not necessarily better. You can get to the world's largest buffet, but you might need help determining which of the dishes to sample, otherwise you fill your plate with a lot but enjoy little of it. What becomes important for booksellers is determining how they'll be in that game (and for some, if they even want to be in that game).... Bricks and mortar bookstores, while they can and will be part of making digital books available to their customers, are likely going to continue to see a good portion of their successes and a good portion of their business within the realm where they are already firmly established. The physical, the concrete, and in the solid ties they have to a particular neighborhood."
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| Alana Wilcox | |
Wilcox: "Not only do independent booksellers help you find something good to read from among their carefully curated collection, they help you find something you'll like--they're all about community, and if you're a regular, the staff will know you and your tastes. They host events and plenty of social opportunities--I can't walk into my local indie without running into at least three people I know. I've yet to find an e-tailer that offers such an opportunity!... As a publisher, I love the indies for giving us indirect access to our readers. We send books out to stores and never know whose bookshelves they end up on. But regular chats with our indie bookselling friends let us know who's buying our books and why."
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| Becky Toyne | |
Toyne: "I think we're seeing a movement towards opposite ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, digital technology (the whole caboodle, not just-book publishing) expands opportunities for promoting, sharing and talking about books beyond geographical boundaries. On the other hand, there's a growing interest in the local, an area in which indies with strong community ties are uniquely placed to drive sales: local authors writing about local issues being sold by local booksellers."