Barbary Coast

Cheaper Books Come at a High Cost to Worthy Literature

Kathleen Caldwell is ready for the day after Thanksgiving. At her charming shop in Oakland’s Montclair Village, A Great Good Place for Books, a large table is laden with a smorgasbord of hardbound tomes she thinks will be hits this season.

“Over a third of my sales are hardcovers, especially this time of year,” Ms. Caldwell said from a cramped back office filled with stock.

But holiday sales of hardcovers are suddenly more than just thoughtful gifts; they are now the latest chapter in the nation’s culture wars, with corporate giants accused of trying to seize control of an influential medium and push political agendas. Some fear beloved Bay Area independent booksellers like Ms. Caldwell will be casualties.

Amazon.com, Target.com and Walmart.com are in a book battle royale, selling popular hardcovers for as little as $8.98, compared with retail prices of up to $35. Companies take a loss with each sale, but the tactic has lured shoppers.

Even though these deals can be found only on the companies’ Web sites, the American Booksellers Association called the practice “predatory pricing” intended to control the market for hardcover bestsellers everywhere, including bookstores. The group wants the Justice Department to investigate.

In the digital age, hardcover books may seem like quaint anachronisms. They are heavy, expensive and do not run the latest apps or send text messages. If someone controls the market for them, does it really matter?

“When a book is released in hardcover, it signals its importance,” said Bridget Kinsella of Oakland, a bestselling author and veteran reporter for Publishers Weekly. Hardcovers affect the national conversation, dominating news coverage of books. The New York Times Book Review, Ms. Kinsella notes, rarely features paperbacks on its cover.

So if this is all a scheme to control those influential bestsellers, just what would a future look like if, say, Wal-Mart became the last bookstore standing?

A visit to Wal-Mart stores in Oakland and Mountain View revealed a remarkably limited selection, a narrow worldview and a political bent that can be summed up best with two words: Glenn Beck. The Oakland Wal-Mart carried only 21 hardcover titles: Mr. Beck’s “Arguing With Idiots” (plus the audio book) and his holiday offering, “The Christmas Sweater”; “Going Rogue” by Sarah Palin; the book of Carrie Prejean, the dethroned Miss California, “Still Standing”; and titles from the Rev. Rick Warren and the television minister Joel Osteen.

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Credit...Monica Almeida/The New York Times

The Mountain View store in the heart of Silicon Valley had 36 hardcover titles, but they were dominated by the same conservative writers. Both stores also had shelves devoted to “inspirational” titles, almost entirely Christian, and the complete works of Stephanie Meyer, the “Twilight” author.

Wal-Mart would not release sales figures but said the company did not stock books simply on popularity. A survey of bestsellers lists from this same time period shows Americans reading a variety of books, not just voices from the political right.

“The Wal-Mart customer is a mom,” said a company spokeswoman, Linda Blakely. Books selected cater to that customer, she said, adding, “You’re trying to pick the ones that will be her bestsellers.”

That is what worries critics: If Wal-Mart becomes the nation’s dominant bookstore, only books that pass this “mom” litmus test will be printed. “Other books won’t get published,” said Bill Petrocelli, co-owner of Book Passage in Corte Madera.

Praveen Madan, co-owner of The Booksmith in San Francisco, disagrees with this fear. He said people would not start “reading this rightist propaganda literature instead of reading more worthy things” simply because the books cost less.

Mr. Madan said bookstores were more threatened by the recession and e-books than the current price war. Censorship? Not with the Internet selling virtually every book. He, Ms. Caldwell and Mr. Petrocelli  all independent bookstore owners  sell online, and even Wal-Mart’s Web site has a larger, more diverse inventory.

Independent booksellers say their survival depends on building relationships with customers to determine their tastes, not relying solely on the latest bestsellers. There is not a single copy of Mr. Beck’s book in Montclair. “No one would buy it,” said Ms. Caldwell, though she will order it upon request.

Mr. Madan said of his sales philosophy: “It’s the business of recommending and selling books based on books we love. It’s the love business.”

Love can be fickle, though. Mr. Madan bought a few copies of Ms. Palin’s memoir at the online low price of $9, figuring someone might be a little curious. The books remain unsold.

“It’s like buying porn,” he said. “People might want to buy it, but they don’t want to be seen buying it in the Bay Area.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/27/us/27sfmetro.html?_r=1
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