IT is 30 years since the Booksellers Association of Britain and Ireland last held its a.g.m. here, a period in which not just the bookselling trade has changed enormously, but so too Ireland. Meryl Halls, co ordinator of the conference, says it was this change that drew the association to Ireland this time.
"The a.g.m. moves around every year, from Glasgow and Eastbourne to Jersey, and of course we extensively research the locations - up until now we have disregarded Ireland for a number of reasons, mainly because of its expense. But the country has a very particular cachet at the moment, and has developed so much on an international level that we were very eager to bring this year's conference to Ireland, especially after a 30 year gap. The Irish branch has exerted a lot of influence, I wouldn't say pressure, in encouraging us to return. It has paid off handsomely - our attendance confirmation is significantly higher this year. There is a lot of excitement amongst booksellers."
The Booksellers Association of Britain and Ireland has been in existence for over a century, and its raison d'etre according to its President Willie Anderson is to: "look after the common interests and concerns of booksellers, without necessarily developing a common policy for trade". Under its aegis Anderson and his 20 strong paid executive look out for the interests of booksellers across the four countries, from conglomerates such as W. H. Smith to the independent small town bookstores. With such disparity between the sizes and needs of the booksellers it represents the association's ambit must be wide, and at times destructive, given the threat posed to smaller bookshops by the large chains. "There are common interests that affect all booksellers," says Anderson, "such as fighting VAT, but yes, the immense diversity in size of those we represent does mean that it can be difficult at times. Yet we can't protect one member from another. What we can do is secure better banking arrangements for the smaller stores, such as a higher creditcard commission, help with accounting, suggest ideas like customised book tokens ... but we can't negotiate terms from publishers. Only the shops can do that. Before the Net Book Agreement [NBA] collapsed, there were at least unfair trading limitations that could be invoked. Now it is an open market."
The collapse of the NBA in 1994 has changed the face of bookselling immeasurably. With shops now free to ignore a publisher's recommended prices, those stores which can buy wholesale in large quantities can build up extensive sales based on massive price cuts on best sellers. The shops get discounts from the publisher for buying in bulk, sell vast amounts of books at discounted, but nonetheless profitable prices, and draw in repeat custom that will affect all types of sales, not simply those at discounted prices. While this is good for the customer at one level, it has had the knock on effect of raising the average paperback price to £6.99, and the average hardback to £15.99. It also severely affects trade for those stores unable to buy in the kind of bulk that makes the discount business profitable. The role of the Booksellers Association in neutralising this effect is, Anderson says, limited.
"The smaller shops do run the risk of being isolated and we are trying to prevent that. Still, with the bigger chains becoming larger by the minute there is a very distinct danger for the smaller stores. But the collapse of the NBA has had a good effect too - it has made us, the booksellers, go out and get customers into our shops. We aren't sitting on our backsides waiting for trade, we are using prices in a very pro active way that has made it a uniformly more dynamic market. That goes across the whole way, from small shops to massive chains. It is why this conference is very important this year, we have a lot of issues to address and, again, Dublin is exactly the right place to do it. Ireland has such a vibrant and healthy book trade, and such an influential presence in the industry that there will be a lot of important discussions on these issues, both in and out of the conference rooms.
Walter Pohli, manager of Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street regards the Irish booksellers market as extensively untapped, despite the immense growth in the industry in recent years. "Since I began here in 1985, the market has changed a lot. At that point there was only Fred Hanna, and between us and a couple of smaller stores, there was around 10,000 square feet of books on sale in Dublin. Now we have Hughes and Hughes, Waterstones, Books Upstairs, The Dublin Bookshop - over 45,000 square feet of book selling space, and nobody is going bankrupt. There is a large untapped market potential out there, especially on the north side. Dublin is a capital city, a tourist city, a boom city. . . it is a strong time to develop new trade.
"I think therefore it is a very good time for the Booksellers Association conference to come to Ireland. Once in a blue moon they come, but the contacts and trading that happen are very important for the market. Mainly the BA would assist a shop like ours in areas like the ERM, with the value of the punt, in politics. . . these things. But on a day to day level the association would not affect us greatly. It is ideas like our in store coffee shop, our free Irish catalogue, promotions . . . these would have a more direct effect on trade than our involvement with the BA."
Tim Waterstone, one of the speakers at this year's conference, agrees that the Irish market is particularly healthy. Having sold the Waterstones chain to W. H. Smith in 1989, he retains fond memories of the establishment of the chain in Ireland in 1986. "We were very, very short of money in 1986 and opening the Dublin store was a huge commitment for us. It cost so much to fit the shop out the way we wanted it, but our investment in Ireland paid great dividends - There is also the store in Cork. There is such a prodigious book buying public in Ireland, that really the market there is a healthy one for any book retailer introduced a number of things which changed the market, like late night trading, Sunday trading ... I think though that there was a little too much interest paid to the competition between Waterstones and Dillons, and in particular between myself and Terry Marr. I am very pleased to be over speaking at this year's conference. I think it will be a lot of fun."
Dillons is now linked to Hodges Figgis through its parent company, EMI/HMV, which now owns the bookstore.
For one of the country's most prestigious independent booksellers, Kenny's of Galway, however, the Booksellers Association holds little appeal. Des Kenny has never joined the association, and sees no reason to. "I can't see the point really. I think there's a negative attitude at these conferences, everybody goes around moaning and complaining about how bad things are for them. I think we should just get on with it. It's no use going on about why publishers aren't doing this or that, it's far better to go at it positively and work out how to sell more books. We are such a specialist bookshop anyway I don't think the Booksellers Association would be much use. Ninety nine per cent of our books are Irish interest, and we have a mix of old and new, and with the art gallery too, we aren't really the average bookshop. Eighty per cent of our trade is export, we sell to Japan, Argentina, Russia, Ecuador, Italy, every state in the Union in the US. .. we even have custom in Bosnia, all through our book club.
"I think there have been great developments here in the past 20 or 30 years. In 1971, 90 to 95 per cent of books by Irish writers were published in Britain. Now we have Wolfhound, O'Brien, Dedalus, Gallery. .. and there is such a long way still to take it. The reason Irish publishing is doing so well is that it isn't just the quality of the writing that is good, it is also the production of the books. We have a hugely saleable product, and it shows in how the books sell internationally. I think something like the Booksellers Association can do good, but at the end of the day it is the books that do the selling."
Willie Anderson, a Scotsman, admits to being envious of the success of the publishing industry in Ireland. "In Scotland we have a very small indigenous industry, it is far more spread out and it doesn't generate the same enthusiasm as the one in Ireland. It is more difficult to focus it in any clear way. It is still very healthy, but the Irish industry is in a much better state. It is yet another reason why the conference should come to Ireland - one of very many.
