Neil Hanson's Blog - Posts Tagged "waterstones"
Back on Top
After not visiting The Inn at the Top for getting on for 28 years, I've now been back there twice in two weeks, this time to drop off some copies of my just-published, eponymous new book. What was most touching about the visit - and I've had similar experiences at every promotional event that I've done for the new book was meeting people who'd made a special journey to meet me, purely because of their own treasured memories about the inn. When I arrived there the other day, an old gentleman was waiting for me. He'd been alerted to my book (The Inn at the Top - did I mention that?!) by an article in the Daily Express and when he contacted the inn, the landlady told him that I'd be there on Friday afternoon. He then drove all the way up there from Preston - a round trip of some 150 miles - just to buy a couple of copies of the book one for himself and one for his best friend - and tell me his tales of the inn.
He'd first gone up there as a boy in 1947, riding his rattletrap bike up the steep, endless-seeming hills to the inn. He'd been back many times since then, but after he got too old to ride his bike there, he stopped going and, like me just recently, it was his first return visit in many years. We chatted for a while - not long enough - but I had to be back in Richmond (the North Yorkshire one) for an event that night, and then, after a last lingering look at the spectacular landscape that surrounds the inn, he set off to drive home before the light began to fade. It was humbling to meet him, as it has been to meet many people as I've travelled around these last few weeks, and it was another reminder that The Inn at the Top isn't just any old pub; to many people it's avery special place and they cherish their memories of it - as I do - for the rest of their lives.
The old gentleman had picked a perfect day to make his pilgrimage up there, for it was one of the handful of days in any year when the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing - not even the slightest breeze - and the views went on for ever, almost to the sea.
If I needed proof that my feelings about the inn are shared by many others, the attendances for the events would provide it. We've had near-capacity audiences for all but one of the events we've done so far (I know, another toot on the world's smallest trumpet...) and two of the ones next week are also sold out, but don't despair! If you're within range of Yorkshire, you can still catch us ("us" because my wife and sometime writing partner, Lynn Russell, is doing them with me) at some of the ones below including a couple that are even in pubs - and if you've got a good story of your own about the Inn at theTop, I might even buy you a drink!
The Inn at the Top Events
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert’s Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, including two course supper and tea or coffee”. (Tickets £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
He'd first gone up there as a boy in 1947, riding his rattletrap bike up the steep, endless-seeming hills to the inn. He'd been back many times since then, but after he got too old to ride his bike there, he stopped going and, like me just recently, it was his first return visit in many years. We chatted for a while - not long enough - but I had to be back in Richmond (the North Yorkshire one) for an event that night, and then, after a last lingering look at the spectacular landscape that surrounds the inn, he set off to drive home before the light began to fade. It was humbling to meet him, as it has been to meet many people as I've travelled around these last few weeks, and it was another reminder that The Inn at the Top isn't just any old pub; to many people it's avery special place and they cherish their memories of it - as I do - for the rest of their lives.
The old gentleman had picked a perfect day to make his pilgrimage up there, for it was one of the handful of days in any year when the sun was shining and the wind wasn't blowing - not even the slightest breeze - and the views went on for ever, almost to the sea.
If I needed proof that my feelings about the inn are shared by many others, the attendances for the events would provide it. We've had near-capacity audiences for all but one of the events we've done so far (I know, another toot on the world's smallest trumpet...) and two of the ones next week are also sold out, but don't despair! If you're within range of Yorkshire, you can still catch us ("us" because my wife and sometime writing partner, Lynn Russell, is doing them with me) at some of the ones below including a couple that are even in pubs - and if you've got a good story of your own about the Inn at theTop, I might even buy you a drink!
The Inn at the Top Events
Thursday 3 October, 7.30pm, Herbert’s Bar, 30 Cross Church Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2PT, (Details: Waterstones 01484 430701 / Herberts 01484 434888)
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, including two course supper and tea or coffee”. (Tickets £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 14 November, 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
Reasons To Be Cheerful (Part 3)
Talking to a couple of Waterstone's shop managers while "on tour" in the last couple of weeks has given me more cause for optimism about the future of that company - and indeed of bookshops in general - than I've felt for some time. Once the spearhead of the bookselling revolution in this country under Tim Waterstone, the chain has been the despair of most authors and publishers in recent years, centralising decision-making, selling the prime spaces on its shelves to the highest bidder and apparently more interested in selling gift-wrap and the latest Jordan bonkbuster than the books you can't buy in supermarkets and WH Smiths.
However - hallelujah! - Waterstone's has U-turned under its new CEO and is back on something like its old track. Managers of local branches now have a great deal of autonomy over what to stock and previously plummeting staff morale is rising again. The company is still losing money, but it has stemmed its catastrophic losses of recent years and is making optimistic noises about returning to profitability next year.
Although Waterstone's shocked some of its most loyal supporters when it got into bed with Amazon and began stocking the Kindle reader, its revival has coincided with a slowing of the meteoric rise of e-books, suggesting that there may after all still be a place for print on paper in the brave new world of publishing. And there will certainly always be a place for booksellers, whether a chain like Waterstone's or local independents, who stock a thoughtful, carefully-selected range of books and can speak knowledgeably and enthusiastically about then, and make recommendations to readers. After all, a passion for books is what should unite readers, authors and booksellers, but for many years Waterstone's seemed to have lost that passion. Let's hope it's back for good.
If you’re in range of Yorkshire, catch us at one of The Inn at the Top events this autumn:
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. (Tickets, including two course supper and tea or coffee, £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 28 November, (NOTE NEW DATE) 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
However - hallelujah! - Waterstone's has U-turned under its new CEO and is back on something like its old track. Managers of local branches now have a great deal of autonomy over what to stock and previously plummeting staff morale is rising again. The company is still losing money, but it has stemmed its catastrophic losses of recent years and is making optimistic noises about returning to profitability next year.
Although Waterstone's shocked some of its most loyal supporters when it got into bed with Amazon and began stocking the Kindle reader, its revival has coincided with a slowing of the meteoric rise of e-books, suggesting that there may after all still be a place for print on paper in the brave new world of publishing. And there will certainly always be a place for booksellers, whether a chain like Waterstone's or local independents, who stock a thoughtful, carefully-selected range of books and can speak knowledgeably and enthusiastically about then, and make recommendations to readers. After all, a passion for books is what should unite readers, authors and booksellers, but for many years Waterstone's seemed to have lost that passion. Let's hope it's back for good.
If you’re in range of Yorkshire, catch us at one of The Inn at the Top events this autumn:
Tuesday 8 October, 7.30pm, Morley Literature Festival, Gildersome Conservative Club, Street Lane, Gildersome, Morley, Leeds, LS27 7HX, SOLD OUT
Wednesday 9 October, 12 noon-2pm, Waterstone’s, 102 High Street, Northallerton, DL7 8PP (Details: 0843 2908515)
Wednesday 9 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. SOLD OUT
Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley. (Tickets, including two course supper and tea or coffee, £29.95 from Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Ilkley, 01943 608029)
Saturday 12 October, 11am-2pm, Waterstones, 98 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1UQ, (Details: 01723 500414)
Saturday 19 October, 10.30am, Ryedale Book Festival, The Milton Rooms Studio, Market Square, Malton, YO17 7LX (Tickets/details: www.ryedalebookfestival.com)
Thursday 28 November, (NOTE NEW DATE) 7pm, The Flying Duck, 16 Church Street, Ilkley LS29 9DS, (Tickets/details: 01943 609335)
Pigs Might Fly
Gearing up for the launch of my new book Pigs Might Fly on Monday, the first self-published one I've been involved in, after more than fifty titles put out by the big trade publishers. It's been a steepish learning curve and has involved a lot of man-hours that may or may not pay off - only time and what's left of the book trade will tell... As any small- or self-publisher will tell you, distribution is always a major issue. Some feel they can distribute their books themselves and that does work if you don't mind doing some serious legwork and your book is specific to a particular region - "Inns of the Yorkshire Dales" or whatever. But if you're hoping for a national sale, you really do need a national distributor and you'll have to give up 60% or more of your cover price plus another 3% or so for wastage - lost or damaged copies in their warehouse. You'll also have to pay to deliver the books to that warehouse and pay for collection or destruction of any returns or overstocks, and they'll only pay you at least 30 days after they actually ship and invoice the books to retailers, so you might be waiting two or three months - or more - before you see any cold hard cash. However if you're a tiny publisher and you want to sell to Waterstones https://www.waterstones.com/, say, you'll have to do it through a distributor because, though shop managers have some discretion to buy local books, Waterstones nationally will only deal with major publishers and distributors and if you're tiny, that aint you. The choice is yours: there's Gardners www.gardners.com/, Bertrams https://www.bertrams.com/, and a score of others who will handle anything from straight distribution, through to sale and fulfilment including invoicing... but all of it comes at a price. Which you choose and how much of your potential workload you want to hive off to them is up to you, but - obviously - the more they do for you, the less of each book's sale price will find its way to your pocket. I've given my book to Gardners to distribute through the book trade, with a separate wholesaler supplying the gift trade, other than the network of small, non-book trade outlets around the Dales that I've built up myself over the past two years since The Inn at the Top was published. These tourist attractions, gift shops, Post Offices, cafes, pubs, B&Bs, camp-sites, etc, etc, stock signed copies of The Inn at the Top and Now Pigs Might Fly and sell pleasingly large numbers of them... only commercial confidentiality prevents me from telling you how many! Best of all, I get to spend a couple of days every month wandering round the Dales doing my delivery runs, and catching up with old friends from the days when I was running the famous (or should that be infamous?) inn there - what's not to like?
