How to survive as an independent bookshop

Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy is appearing today in The Steyning Bookshop in West Sussex, queen of romantic fiction Katie Fforde will be at Brendon Books in Taunton tomorrow, and former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo has lined up a visit to Edinburgh's Mainstreet Trading Company later this week. A week-long celebration of independent booksellers kicks off today with hundreds of events planned for the next seven days, as the beleaguered sector looks to raise its profile.

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There are currently around 1,200 independent bookshops in the UK, but trading conditions have been difficult as stores struggle with competition from Amazon, supermarkets and an increasingly cut-throat high street: last year 102 shops closed. "This is a tough way to make a living," said the Booksellers Association's head of membership services, Meryl Halls. But she pointed to statistics from Nielsen BookScan, which showed that although last year consumer spending on books fell by 1% in volume overall, the independent sector saw a 1% increase in volume over the same period.

"It's a difficult high street, but the independents that are running their businesses professionally and well are certainly holding their own," said Halls. "The upside of being an independent bookshop is that booksellers can make their own decisions quickly – if something isn't working, they can change it. They can put themselves out there to find new authors, and they no longer think they have to compete on price. Instead, they compete in different ways."

As well as appearances from authors including Lynda La Plante, Patrick Gale and Evie Wyld, this week several independent stores are planning Where's Wally fancy-dress competitions, while there's a guided meditation led by a Buddhist monk at Jaffe & Neale in Chipping Norton and a debate to mark the 25th anniversary of Philip Larkin's death at The Book Hive in Norwich.

From today, the 250 shops taking part in Independent Booksellers Week will also be showcasing the titles competing for the Independent Booksellers' book prize. Won last year by Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, the award's shortlist is selected by bookshops and voted for by customers. This year, an eclectic collection of authors including Hilary Mantel, Ranulph Fiennes, David Nicholls and Anita Brookner are competing for the adult prize, while Morpurgo, Emily Gravett, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Robert Muchamore are all up for the children's award.

"I have never wavered in my loyalty to independent bookshops and visit my local bookshop on average once a week," said Brookner. "I know that the owners will get the books I want, engage in discussion, and supply the sort of service that is intimately connected with the whole business of reading." Morpurgo agreed. "When I'm in an independent bookshop I know I'm with soulmates. That's a great feeling, and good business too."

Read the rest of this article from The Guardian here.