A Letter to Borders
Sunny Frazier has been publishing both fiction and nonfiction since 1972. She is a Navy veteran, earned a BA in Journalism, and wrote for a newspaper before joining the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department. During her 17 year career in law enforcement, 11 of them were spent working with an undercover narcotics team.
Frazier is also an amateur astrologer. She has been involved in astrology for 40 years.
Her short mystery fiction has won over 30 awards and trophies, as well as publication in mystery magazines and law enforcement magazines. Her first novel in the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries, Fools Rush In, received the Best Novel Award from Public Safety Writers Association. Where Angels Fear came out in April, 2009.
Frazier is a member of the Central Coast Chapter of Sisters in Crime, as well as the Public Safety Writers Association. She currently resides in Lemoore, CA.
Dear Borders,
I recently heard the bad news of your bankruptcy. My heartfelt sympathies go out to you and yours. In these tough economic times it’s sad to see 20,000 people forced out of work.
At first, I worried that the cause of your demise was the lack of readers in this country. As an author and acquisitions editor for a small press, this would also be dire news for me and my profession as well. But, oddly enough, my growth has not been affected by the economic downturn. In fact, I have to admit that business on my end is expanding.
Not that you would know—you never allowed my books or those of indie presses to be sold in your stores. You threw your lot in with Big Publishing, the ones with money behind their marketing and cardboard display racks filling your aisles. This guaranteed sales, well-known authors, and allowed the publishing industry to dictate what the people want to read. You were probably stunned when Big Publishing rewarded your fidelity by turning their backs when you asked for help on getting out of $500 million debt. Who’s your daddy now?
We in small publishing pressed our noses to your windows, never invited to sell or do signings at your stores. I know, I know, it was a “corporate” thing. But, you also drove out independent bookstores which did offer local authors a venue to display our wares.
It’s hard enough for beginning authors to break into the book business, unless their name happens to be Snookie. Without your support, we had to work harder and invest our own money into promotion. We struggled while you breezed along, assuming buyers would always be driven to your stores, enticed by coffee, music and your choice of reading material. You only made $470.9 million the third quarter of last year. I bleed for you.
I read that you somehow overlooked the coming of the electronic age. Barnes & Noble certainly stayed on top of things, saw the potential of Kindle and came up with the Nook. Now readers can get the books we want instantly and at a cost you can’t match. Plus, we don’t have books overflowing our shelves at home and we can make them big print in case you didn’t stock that option.
I want to miss you, I really do, but the closest Borders for me is 40 miles away and often doesn’t have the titles I seek. With gas prices and all, it’s simply easier to order books on Amazon. Cheaper too. Even better, my local library has bestsellers and, although I might have to wait, I no longer shell out over $25 for a quick read.
On top of that, I often felt alienated by your young, hip sales staff. I’m sure it was a bright idea on corporate’s part to include videos and CD’s to attract younger customers with time to spend listening to music on earphones all day. I was dismissed by one bored salesman until I asked, “Do you have American Idiot?” Yes, even senior citizens sometimes listen to Green Day. And we have credit cards. Don’t judge.
So, Borders, it’s been fun and all, but it’s time to move on.
Sincerely,
Sunny Frazier
February 22, 2011
Posted in: Guest Blogs
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34 Responses
First, Sunny, my oldest daughter will be thrilled with your Green Day reference and you may just well be her new hero. Second, I’m an inch taller, but I would have gladly done my hair in the poof, gotten fake boobs, worn false eyelashes, acted like a ditz, and called myself Snookie if I had thought Borders would have then stocked my books. NOT.
Great letter. I have to agree with all of it, published by (your) indie press myself. I can’t tell you the last time I was at the Borders here in New Orleans, choosing instead to support one of the multitude of our indie bookstores, even if it means they have to order a book for me and I have to wait for it.
Holli Castillo
Gumbo Justice
Jambalaya Justice coming 2011
You little devil! I hope they can recover and rethink their options. Personally, I like our Borders in Des Moines and, apparently, it’ll be one of those not closing. I haven’t heard about any snubbing of author events at ours but I did at the B&N. Also B&N wasn’t too thrilled to host writers’ groups even though coporate would like it. Borders doesn’t seem to mind, although the chairs in the coffee shop are harder than bricks. The staff at ours seems nice, if intrusive at times when I’m trying to discuss writing with a friend. I also find the selections easier to negotiate than B&N.
So, even though I like our Borders, I’m not defending the actions of corporate as they have some problems I hope they’ll be able to solve. Maybe they can rethink their eBooks and allowing a variety of indie authors in the door and their books on the shelves.
Nicely covered Sunny,
Borders gave up the ghost in the UK a couple of years ago – maybe more, you know how time flies. My co-writer and I did get some author-signings opportunities there: upstairs, a coffee table squashed in a tiny nook, all presupplied POS material lost – that was the biggest store; at the other an arranged date was cancelled when a well-known author happend to be doing his thing in the area.
And payment for books supplied and sold… like wringing blood out of a stone.
So we’re not enthusiastic supporters.
Not supporters of high street shops at all. Unless you’re a celebrity: Jordan/Katy Price (vomit), Russel Brand (ditto), etc. Go and see the appropriate manager, you get looked at between glances at their watch as though you’re something the dog left behind.
…I can be a bit acerbic on the subject but I’m sure it’s not noticeable.
Our novel “1/1:Jihad-Britain” is available on Amazon, our medieval mystery “In the Back of Beyond” is being published at Oak Tree Press, this year.
Well said, Sunny. Count me among those who can’t seem to muster up a tear for Border’s troubles. Too bad I can’t get back the hours I have spent pressing one and another number among their phone options, looking for the one that finally revealed the secret decoder formula for getting one of their unique inventory codes…or a human on the line. Or worse, standing in a store, pitching one of my small press books to the manager who makes it clear she’d rather be anywhere else, even the dentist.
Years ago before I was even in the biz, I loved going to the Earthling in Santa Barbara…a REAL bookstore staffed by people who knew and loved books. But then a BN and a Borders sprang up on the same street. After a struggle, the Earthling closed…apparently starting a sad trend.
Amazon, on the other hand, has always given small press books a level playing field. Even though I do book shop almost anywhere I see books, Amazon gets a big share. Amazon makes no bones about being customer-driven, demand driven, peer review driven…seems like it might pay off, huh?
I will miss Borders. I’ll miss the 25 mile drive to the store, and I’ll miss the occasional 40% off list coupon in my inbox that puts them just a little pricier than Amazon. I’ll miss the bargain shelves where books they couldn’t sell at $25 a pop get one last chance. As David Spade used to say, “What part of buh bye didn’t you understand?”
I will not miss Borders either. Well said, Sunny.
Oh, Sunny, well said. I’m one who won’t miss Boarders, but probably more because where I live, there is no book stre at all. But we have a library. And, within less than an hour’s drive, several very good indies that have managed to hang on. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, more survive. Kathleen Delaney Koppang
Billie Johnson and I invested time and money trying to arrange a signing at the Borders on Montezuma in Santa Fe. The first book in my series had a BINC number, a minor miracle. Not content with the ISBN, Borders requires their own number, obtained by a process known only to members of the Templar Knights. I visited the store and gave them a copy of the second book. They said they needed it in order to get a BINC and host a signing. They did neither. They are one of the stores on the close list, and I say good riddance. The great local bookstore in Santa, Collected Works, sent me an unsolicited email yesterday requesting that I do a signing for them. I hope Borders’ bankruptcy and downsizing fails to save them. Maybe some of the indies they put out of business will return.
We didn’t lose our Borders here in Athens, Georgia, but corporate policy chased me away. Us indies were welcome to sign our books (especially when I brought the band). The local manager was sympathetic and bought books directly from us. But corporate policy changed all that. Too bad. There’s a new indie bookstore in town now. That’s where I’m headed.
E-books are looming on our horizons. As a former Secretary of Agriculture remarked, “Adapt or die.”
Sunny, what a great letter! I couldn’t have said it better myself. Even though I was able to work out a couple of signings at Borders over an hour away, they never even displayed the posters I mailed to them, didn’t have a table or chair ready when I got there, etc. I didn’t sell enough to bother. The staff was cold and distant. I’m with Mike, hoping some new indies will come on the scene.
Great letter, Sunny. The only Borders anywhere near us both is not closing, at least I didn’t see their name on the list. I had a couple of signings there years ago, brought my own books, had to fight to get paid for what did sell. I also did a writing class there for about two years–at their request. At first they always had a nice place set up for us, then as time went on they made us meet in the cafe, not good at all. We moved the class to an independent bookstore. (The class continues on without me–too far to drive at night–now meeting in a school board building.
Well put, Sunny. The nearest Borders to me (60 miles away) closed. Yet they kept open a Waldenbooks (20 miles distant)which stocks even less and always had fewer customers. Both stores always refused signings and were complicit in the closing of the last indy bookstore in my area (also 20 miles distant).
The only place where I might disagree with you (and I’m sure you meant it tongue in cheek) is calling Snookie an author.
Great post, Sunny. Borders is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan which is close to be but funny thing is they have very few stores here. If you can’t be successful in your own back yard, that sends a message too.
Wendy
Several years ago my local Borders (closing) allowed me to sign books after going through their BINC process. Their staff was gracious; they gave me a great location by the front door and were very complementary about my display and sales. Trouble was, I was never paid. Never. I simply ran out of people in the sky with whom to make inquiries and wrote it off as a bad debt. Little me and big them. Those few pennies meant breaking even instead of losing. It wasn’t a great deal to start with but did get excellent exposure. I still find the closing sad, all those people losing their jobs with no outplacement help and few opportunities. I never went back to the store, but I am still in favor of venues where books may be browsed with a cup of coffee. I doubt corporate behavior changes.
Hey Sunny,
I couldn’t agree with you more. The only Borders near me was a small store in the local mall. The manager tried to help me with a signing, but he couldn’t order my book through his distributer and corporate wouldn’t allow him to have me sign with books I brought and consigned with him. I hope he finds a position with a real bookstore.
A Deadly Draught-Mainly Murder Press
Dumpster Dying-Oak Tree Press
I live in a city where most of the residents are over 65. According to AARP they have the most disposable income and the most leisure time to read. Many do not drive, but they do read and they do form book clubs. They took taxis to the Borders a mile away and sat in the cafe drinking coffee, eating pastry, and discussed the books they had purchased. With the closing of this Borders, not only is their book club gone but so is a way of life they looked forward to. It is sad to see them trying to figure out what they are going to do now that they can no longer do an activity they looked forward to.
Sunny, how do you really feel?
I’m a newbie author at Oak Tree Press but have been writing, attending conferences and was on the Yosemite Writers Conference board of directors for 4 years.
About a week ago, I thought about going to the Borders and looking for some real buys. A story about the chain came on the early morning show in Sacramento, so I put down my book and listened. The announcer said Borders hadn’t been paying their landlords and publishers. And he forgot to continue and say, “Therefore, the authors aren’t getting paid.” Don’t get me wrong, I still want to go to Borders, except this time with signs protesting and telling the public what real crooks they really are.
POSSUM BELLY QUEEN
Publishing August 2011
Oak Tree Press
Great letter, Sunny. My Cafe Borders closed years ago because the landlord tripled the rent. Now, the two closest with cafes are closing. They are keeping the tiny Borders Express in the Mall but I am semi-handicapped and it is too difficult to get there. Plus they only stock the bestsellers, so why bother when I can get them cheaper on Amazon with free shipping. Why not order from Borders? Cost is not the only factor, I find their online site very user UNfriendly.
If I go to the only Borders still open with a care, I must drive at least 25 miles to find they only have half of what I’m looking for…again why bother. My sister tells me times are tough and stores can’t afford to stock items. That’s fine but when they tell you they can order it and you can come back in a week to get it…No way will I ride a 50 mile trip for one book.
The indy stores have closed and I’m stick with a B&N about five miles away but its in a Mall next to a Cheesecake factory so unless you get there before they open parking is a nightmare. And again I face the, “Oh, we don’t have that.” and the “Pay for the card to get a discount.” Yeah, I’m gonna pay to shop here. Not.
Thanks for letting me event. And I didn’t even get to the write snub stuff, I only covered being a shopper.
Wow! Seems I hit the collective nerve on this one.
Always gratifying to get a response to a blog, I’m sure Lelia gets a kick out of it too. Seems most of you mirror my experience with Borders. I think I let them off easy. I’d heard about payment problems to authors, but since I was never invited to the party, I couldn’t effectively comment. You all did that for me.
Oh man that is so funny! Yeah: “Snookie,” now there’s somebody with something to say. I vow to spend more time and money in indie bookstores in my town, Tucson, AZ.
Sunny, excellent words and I hope someone calls them to Borders’ attention.
A number of years ago I tried to set up a signing at Borders in No. Nevada. They were rude and obnoxious, and not only didn’t I do a signing there, but I never bought books from them again. You get back what you give out.
However, now I live in a small town where we only have one bookstore, Hastings. The book dept. manager there is very author friendly, and I’ve enjoyed my relationship with them. They even pay me, unlike what some of you have been through.
Frankly, I prefer to buy through Hastings, Amazon or an indie store. The big box bookstores just don’t care about the little guy, including customers.
By the way, I tried to order books through Borders, and if they didn’t meet the criteria, they wouldn’t even order them. tsk tsk
Sunny, you’re right on the nail. The two Borders stores near me (one is already closed) only stocked “the big boys,” never lesser known books. At one store, the clerk never heard of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. At another store, the clerks constantly pestered me every five minutes while I wanted to leisurely browse. The CD selection was pitiful–only the latest hip-hop, no “oldies.” “Big” is on the way out–big stores closing for indies, big publishers loosing out to small presses.
They pester you so you won’t steal books. The idea is to let the customer know you’re watching him. It’s one of the things you’re taught when you work retail. Just why Border’s is so convinced that their customers are going to steal from them (and steal books, not anything more valuable) is another question, and the answer to that might reveal quite a lot about their corporate mindset.
If the fall of Goliath gives way to the rise of many independent Davids, color me happy. The indie bookstore where I co-host Writing Matters welcomes writers who publish with SMP, a micro press, or independently alike. And–they sell their books. Nice letter, Sunny. I understand your take right down to my toes.
Brava! What a great send off to one of those old school giants with feet of clay and apparently, heads of fluff. Well, in the end, those who embrace the future while incorporating the past will win out. In the meantime, I have a Kindle and far more options to choose from.
Anonymous Coward, I have to disagree with you in part. It’s corporate retail that has the mindset that customers are going to steal. Most local independents choose NOT to think that all customers are thieves.
Sunny, thank you so much for putting into words what so many are thinking. I happen to agree with you but, as an independent bookseller who had to close, I do have a slightly different take on this. I’ll be posting about it in a few days.
I’m sad when any bookstore closes. And my local Borders had a number of well educated, well read booklovers who were great community resources. It’s been painful to watch their corporate bigwigs strangle their own employees.
Good for you, Sunny. I also bear a grudge (which extends to B&N). I’ve been published by two big houses. It meant nothing to Borders or Barnes & Noble. My local B&N refused me a signing when my first books came out from St. Martin’s Press. Whether or not they carry my books depends on their customers asking for them. And mostly that means not. They do offer to order.
As you say, part of the problem has to do with whether or not the publishers pay them to carry and display their books. Few authors get that kind of promotion.
Ditto the well said kudos! I would like to add, how do you fail to make money on a product that you can SEND BACK? No other business gets to stock inventory, then send it back when they fail to sell it. How bad at business do you have to be to fail at that? I know they keep some of their inventory, but seriously, they get to return most of the books they stock AND they require books to be returnable from small indies before they’ll even look at them. No crying here either.
Since I haven’t achieved published novelist status yet, I’d like to comment on Borders as a reader. I was thrilled when a Borders opened only 3 blocks from my house. (My husband quaked, then started building more shelves.)
At first the store was a great experience, lots of shelf room for intriguing nonfiction titles in addition to a pretty good fiction selection. There was even a mystery book club. This was great, because the woman who ran the mystery book club at the BN on the other side of town had been promoted and moved out of the area, and no one else had taken her place. As it happened, this allowed me one more basis on which to compare the two giants. Their attitudes toward customers and book lovers were so different it was hard to believe they were in the same business.
First, after being opened only a few months, Borders shrank their history, astronomy, and mythology sections (my main nonfiction interests) to a small corner in the back and installed huge racks of computer and business books. Well, not really my interest, but I thought it might reflect the needs of other in the community. Merchants who want to stay in business have to cater to customers’ desires, after all.
But the treatment in the mystery book club was so different from the BN. We started with about 20 enthusiastic readers. But at BN, when a book was chosen for the club, they put it into a special display as a recommended book. Anyone who wanted could buy it all month at a discount, and was invited to attend the discussion. At Borders, the book for the next meeting could be bought at discount by club members only on a meeting night. If you missed the meeting and came in a day or two later, you didn’t get the discount on the book for the next meeting. And there was no publcity about the club, no discount for non-members.
Then there was the book selection itself. At BN we got a different type of mystery every month: historical, noir, cozy, amateur detective, police procedural, and on and on. This introduced us to many new writers and many I still follow now, years later. At Borders we got one best-seller after another, and most of the writers were already familiar to the members. We complained about this and put in requests for different types of books, different authors, even specific titles. The group’s leader kept promising to “look into these” but never produced results. There were other problems too, but I think these were the main factors that kept the Borders club from thriving.
Then, they kept eliminating book sections and adding other things. Non-book sections grew, books shrank. Finally, they took out that huge computer and business section. Evidently they didn’t answer a customer need after all. I didn’t mind losing those particular books, but why not replace them with some other books? Instead, we got a huge seletion of greeting cards and gift wrap. This, a block from a big Hallmark store.
That was the point when I decided since Borders had so little regard for readers, and so little insight into what they needed or wanted, there was no reason for me to support them. I can sit home at my computer and order anything I want, usually at a discount, from anywhere in the world, and have it delivered to my door in a few days. Since I really do love to browse shelves, I’d rather drive a few miles across town to the friendly BN. Or to the next town for a friendly indie store. Or even over an hour to Santa Cruz, where they have a terrific indie store.
I haven’t set foot in my nearby Borders for over 5 years now. Sometimes coupons arrive in my e-mail, but I delete them without opening. They had no interest in me as a customer, so why should I care about them. I don’t even know if they’re on the closing list. And if they are? Ho-hum.
Pauline, I have to clarify something here. Yes, it’s true a bookseller can return product but there is a cost involved in that we have to pay the shipping costs back to the source. Also, if the product came from a wholesaler, we pay a penalty and, in many cases, we also paid nonrefundable shipping to get the product in the first place, say $0.50 per book. If I return it, it will cost at least $1 for shipping, most likely more because I don’t have the economy of scale I had on the original order. So, I almost certainly have spent at least $2 for the privilege of having the book sit on the shelf. I have lost money. It would be nice to think that we make so much profit off the books that we do sell that this loss doesn’t matter but it just isn’t so. That $2 matters a lot.
And, no, I am not in favor of the return system but better minds than mine will have to figure out how to get us out of the morass
But the smell, god that new book smell. . .it can never be replaced. Except with gasoline. . .and unsmoked tobacco. Oh well, to Nobles & Barnes for my fix I must go.
Unfortunately, the “not getting paid” when doing a bookstore signing isn’t unique to Borders. I had the same problem when I was actively doing book signings in Barnes and Noble. Two stores never paid me. I gave up even trying to get some response. These were Barnes and Noble stores.
I will miss my local Borders. All the Borders in my Tampa, Florida are closing. Sure, they never saw fit to offer a book signing, but then again, neither has the local indie store (see below). It was my place to go to write. I didn’t need them to do a book signing. I never did well at any bookstore, including Barnes and Noble and that’s why I don’t do bookstore signings anymore.
The Barnes and Noble stores have bad lighting and bad fung shui all around…..and no comfy chairs to sit and talk to your Muse. I won’t be visiting Barnes and Noble that often. And so many authors speak of indie bookstores. We only really have one here in Tampa (which is all we really had before the “big bad chain stores” came knocking) and they are not friendly to small press published authors. They only book the big names published by the Big NY publishers. I don’t support them. Sorry. They are as bad or worse than Borders by snubbing the small presses.
So you see, Sunny, I can’t come with you in your condemnation of Borders. I’m glad I had the opportunity to have a super nice Borders store to call home for at least a time.
Patty, you are certainly not alone with your story about the local indie and I’m always appalled when I hear such stories. That’s where I think you have to call it true personal arrogance and I say shame on them
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