Time to boycott WH Smith over travel books?

KonkyWonky

Perhaps the reason they are doing it is because they struck a good deal there and other publishers are not prepared to drop there margins by that figure???

I still don't see the problem here other than WHS have decided not to stock your product which they have every right to do. And as far as putting some authors/publishers out of business, if there product is good enough and they are competitive it is unlikely to happen.

bagand96

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Is this actually true, or a very clever way of drumming up business?

It is indeed true but I think I see your point. This thread has definately mentioned a certain Orlando book and publisher a few times to raise awareness!

As the good old BBC would say "other Orlando travel guides are available".

Or not if you are in WH Smith in an airport

Tojo_Ralph

SimonVeness wrote: »

Also a few other sources that have picked up the story, the Mail online (travelmail.co.uk), the Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) and Melville House Publishing (mhpbooks.com)

A publishing house, the author of Frommers day by day guide to Seville and a contributing editor of ultratravel magazine...... At least they can't be accused of picking up on the story out of self interest.

PolishBigSpender

KonkyWonky wrote: »

Perhaps the reason they are doing it is because they struck a good deal there and other publishers are not prepared to drop there margins by that figure???

I still don't see the problem here other than WHS have decided not to stock your product which they have every right to do. And as far as putting some authors/publishers out of business, if there product is good enough and they are competitive it is unlikely to happen.

I don't understand either, to be honest. Looking at the link in The Times that was kindly provided, WH Smith appear to have done an absolutely wonderful deal at a time when book sales are dropping - you cannot argue with 72% discount on cover price combined with hard cash up front. In a difficult economic climate, this would seem to be an excellent piece of business.

I'm sorry, but this whole thing screams of sour grapes.

vikingaero

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

I don't understand either, to be honest. Looking at the link in The Times that was kindly provided, WH Smith appear to have done an absolutely wonderful deal at a time when book sales are dropping - you cannot argue with 72% discount on cover price combined with hard cash up front. In a difficult economic climate, this would seem to be an excellent piece of business.

I'm sorry, but this whole thing screams of sour grapes.

Not really. If I want advice on a mobile phone I won't ask at the Vodafone shop, O2 shop, T-Mobile shop, 3 Store or the Orange shop. Sure I'll go into them to have a play and pick up a brochure, but I'll end up at CPW for advice. Same scenario with WHS, if they want to stock one brand of junk then I'll look elsewhere.

Tojo_Ralph

vikingaero wrote: »

Same scenario with WHS, if they want to stock one brand of junk then I'll look elsewhere.

Lest we forget that the Penguin book issue and the reduced choice applies only to WHS travel shops...... But lets face it, one hardly expects to be faced with a plethora of choice when making any kind of purchase at an airport or train station.:)
.....

PolishBigSpender

vikingaero wrote: »

Not really. If I want advice on a mobile phone I won't ask at the Vodafone shop, O2 shop, T-Mobile shop, 3 Store or the Orange shop. Sure I'll go into them to have a play and pick up a brochure, but I'll end up at CPW for advice. Same scenario with WHS, if they want to stock one brand of junk then I'll look elsewhere.

Which is the most sensible advice - if you don't like it, shop elsewhere.

SimonVeness

I would have thought that in an era of rampant corporate greed the issues at stake would be pretty clear:

Bookstore and publisher come up with exclusive deal that shuts out 78% of the market in a key book-sale area; big publisher wins by obtaining monopoly against any of its competition; bookstore wins IF public are not aware enough to realise they have been deprived of choice; small, specialist publishers (including some recognised as the best in the business) are forced out by losing key market share; corporate publishing giant wins.

I think I have been pretty clear in declaring my interest in this (unlike some MPs I could think of!), but also in stating that the bulk of our sales do NOT come from WH Smith Travel outlets (we sold roughly 100 copies through WHST in 2008, as against almost 20,000 in other outlets). Therefore we don't have a lot to gain by making a fuss over this. But there are a lot of other very worthy publishers and hard-working people who stand to be the victims of this monopoly (which is what it is), including Lonely Planet and the award-winning Bradt series, and some great travel writers, many of whom I know well.

The Times can see it; the Telegraph can see it; The Mail can see it; the British Guild of Travel Writers (who represent the broad cross-section of the travel-writing industry in this country) can see it. It's a shame a few people here choose not to see it.

But then it's entirely up to you what you choose to believe when given the facts

PolishBigSpender

SimonVeness wrote: »

I would have thought that in an era of rampant corporate greed the issues at stake would be pretty clear:

Bookstore and publisher come up with exclusive deal that shuts out 78% of the market in a key book-sale area; big publisher wins by obtaining monopoly against any of its competition; bookstore wins IF public are not aware enough to realise they have been deprived of choice; small, specialist publishers (including some recognised as the best in the business) are forced out by losing key market share; corporate publishing giant wins.

Yes, and corporate publishing giant, like all companies, is seeking to win. Spare me the bleeding heart story - every single business, even down to the small independent publisher is seeking to dominate their market. If they aren't, then they're doing something very very wrong - the nature of business is to make money!

The Times can see it; the Telegraph can see it; The Mail can see it; the British Guild of Travel Writers (who represent the broad cross-section of the travel-writing industry in this country) can see it. It's a shame a few people here choose not to see it.

I can see it too - the fact that a struggling publishing company has done a fantastic deal with a struggling book shop chain, so that both parties benefit. Perhaps you might have missed this, but every penny counts at the minute - and the consequences of a publisher like Penguin going into administration are far more significant than a small independent publisher.

Sure, it's not so great for the consumer. But it's a free market - if they don't like it, then they can buy other books elsewhere. No-one is making them purchase Penguin books at WH Smith outlets, after all.

McAzrael

SimonVeness wrote: »

Ultimately, our concern is really only to make people aware of this and make their book-buying choice accordingly.

Are you absolutley sure you're not concerned about your royalty cheque? Not even a little bit?