Hundreds of publishers, booksellers and authors issued a joint statement "stressing their concern over the sale of Editis, France's second-largest publishing group, after parent company Vivendi takes over Lagardère, which owns French market leader Hachette Livre," the Bookseller reported.
Although the statement welcomed the decision of multibillionaire Vincent Bolloré, Vivendi's main shareholder, to sell Editis, the opponents remain "mobilized and extremely vigilant" about his planned procedure and the risk that Hachette will strengthen its market position after the merger.
"Fears are that the Editis buyer would seek a short-term return on investment by focusing on bestsellers to the detriment of editorial diversity," the Bookseller noted. "This could lead to aggressive marketing campaigns to booksellers and the transformation of 'our cultural industry into an entertainment industry.' "
The statement was issued on behalf of the organizations and companies that have told the Brussels authorities why they oppose the deal, including an umbrella organization of 16 authors' societies (Conseil Permanent des Ecrivains, CPE), the children's authors society Charte des Auteurs et Illustrateurs Jeunesse, independent French publishers Actes Sud and L'Ecole des Loisirs, the French booksellers association (Syndicat de la Librairie Française, SLF), the French cultural product chain distributors (Syndicat des Distributeurs de Loisirs Culturels, SDLC), the Belgian Francophone booksellers association (Syndicat des Librairies Francophones de Belgique, SLFB), and a group of 15 independent booksellers from across France.
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In Wales, a Waterstones store in Swansea was forced to close temporarily after suffering water damage due to severe rainfall on Tuesday. The Bookseller reported that branch's staff "shared a video of rain pouring through the ceiling, empty shelves and dozens of wet books on the floor."
The store tweeted: "With sincere apologies, we are now closed. For reasons. A lovely moment amongst the carnage--loads of customers rushing over to help us save the books (which we had to refuse for safety reasons, but thank you!) Normal service will (hopefully) be resumed soon."
"The clean-up is underway, and roofers are on site to swiftly repair any damage," a spokesperson for Waterstones said. "We hope to be able to open our doors to customers again very soon."
On Wedneday the shop tweeted an update: "We have good news--we are OPEN! The ground floor and cafe are open as normal, but the books area on the first floor is currently closed to the public. We can still fetch books for you, though.
The Swansea branch "is based in a art nouveau Grade II-listed ex-cinema, and includes a coffee shop. It has been victim to water damage on several occasions," the Bookseller noted. "A burst pipe was reported in the ceiling last September, causing a large leak near the travel section. In 2019 it was hit by heavy rain, ruining a 'significant' amount of books."
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The Australian Booksellers Association trained its spotlight on member store Lulu and Jazz Children's Bookshop, an online bookseller created by twin sisters Nat and Rose. Among the highlights of the q&a:
Tell us about some of your fondest experiences relating to the industry.
For us, it is absolutely not possible to walk in and out of a bookshop without purchasing, usually multiple books, so imagine the joy of selecting our very own stock! We love the passion of booksellers who go that little bit further for their customers to source a book, to share their love and knowledge of particular books, and in providing access to less familiar titles that are every bit wonderful, surprising, stunning and diverse in their perspectives. These are what we hope to emulate. There's nothing more exciting than connecting with readers and encouraging them in their pursuits. We love making connections with authors and never pass up a chance for a book signing event.
What are your goals for the next few years with your business?
We are in awe of some of our absolute favorite children's bookshops and have been wonderfully inspired by their expertise. Our goals are to build our range within our chosen field, to develop connections with our customers, provide reviews for each of our titles as well as other recommendations. Eventually we want to have our own bricks and mortar store which could be a social hub hosting author talks and book clubs among other events. --Robert Gray