This article is from the Booksellers Aotearoa NZ archives. It was first published in 2018.
Is Trump influencing our book sales? Do our bookshops see themselves as political spaces? Do we agree that Bookstores are one of the most politicised businesses we have?
Earlier this year, LitHub published an article called Independent Book Stores as essential political act. Among other excellent opinions put forth in there by writer Veronica Scott Esposito was this statement: ‘Bookstores are one of the most politicised businesses we have.’
In America this appears on the surface to be true. Media reported in April 2018 that all of the New York Times bestsellers so far this year were focused in some way on the Trump regime – Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff and Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, by James Comey for example. But how about here in New Zealand? Is Trump influencing our book sales? Do our bookshops see themselves as political spaces?
The Read thanks Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb from University Book Shop(UBS) Otago, Tilly Lloyd from Unity Books Wellington, Rachel Eadie from Scorpio Books Christchurch, and John Vallely from Lower Hutt Paper Plus for their responses.
Politics on the Bestsellers lists
New Zealand is no stranger to political bestsellers. Back in 2014, Nicky Hager dominated the headlines for months with his book Dirty Politics. John Key had a biography which was also timed close to that years’ election. More recently, Island Time, by Damon Salesa (Bridget Williams Books) has sold well, while last year The Great War for New Zealand, by Vincent O’Malley remained in the charts for many weeks. And we’ve been engaging with other titles – international ones, but also others published by BWB, and Victoria University Press. Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House was number two for Lower Hutt Paper Plus, Unity Books, and Scorpio Books. UBS Otago saw Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump win the White House, by Luke Harding and Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership sell well with their audience.
Lower Hutt Paper Plus name What Happened, by Hillary Clinton, and Unwinding by George Packer as their top sellers. Vallely notes, ‘I have included Unwinding as, while it is about the decline of the US economy, it gives a greater understanding as to why Trump became popular.’
Women & Power: A Manifesto was at the top of Unity’s political bestsellers (and this manifested on the Indie Top 20, while recent visitor to NZ A.C. Grayling was in the mix with Democracy & its Crisis. For NZ titles, Towards Democratic Revival by Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler (VUP) topped the sales at Unity.
Anything by Naomi Klein – No Is Not Enough most recently – sells well at Scorpio Books in Christchurch, and has done for at least the past four years. From local publishing, Eadie notes, ‘Local political titles heavily feature Bridget Williams titles.’ UBS Otago finds the same, with Wylie-Gibb noting, ‘what we consistently sell a lot of are new and backlist Texts from BWB, which address a wide range of issues and subjects‚ it is exciting how well these sell, and indicates good things about NZ civil society and peoples engagement with political issues.’
Where to find the books in-store
Wylie-Gibb from UBS Otago says, ‘We have a very full, and busy politics section and we also put new books / buzzing books out on the two new releases tables.’ UBS also has a petite Trumpian display, with a range of books, complimented by tins of ‘National Embarrassmints’ peppermints. ‘When anything particularly interesting is going on politically, we’ll gather all the relevant materials in one place, but you have to do it cleverly and subtly, and not too partisanly, otherwise people get sick of the overload.”
Lloyd notes that in Unity when political bestsellers are huge and NZ-published, ‘They go in the window, on columns, counter-fronts and at the NZ non-fiction table, in a themed display, and in staff picks. International books are much the same, but the stock table is the Politics table, which includes feminism and LGBTIA+.’
Scorpio Books place the political titles in their dedicated section, in the new non-fiction display, or NZ non-fiction. Paper Plus Lower Hutt places them in general non-fiction or on an end.
Politics on the shop floor
Tilly Lloyd notes, ‘I reckon 50% of Unity customers are politicised, 45% are distinctly politicised, and 5% are still in the board books section (leaving room for hope), thus the traffic here has plenty to say about politics.’ Of course, Wellington is where Parliament is, and plenty of MPs and council officials are regulars at Unity Bookshop. Lloyd continues to say, ‘But even complete strangers confide political views as they paywave, views which might be anathemic or agreeable to their bookseller or other customers alongside‚ I feel that soon they’ll be commenting on Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America (releasing 1 June).’
Scorpio Books has an engaged public as well, with regular customers often commenting on the state of the nation. Eadie says, ‘Though we may not always agree, we always engage and provide a space for them to talk.’ While Wylie-Gibb notes, ‘We sometimes have very ‘energetic’ discussions – well, not so much discussions, as we listen to some very strongly held points of view from all over the political spectrum.’ Vallely notes, ‘Our in-store customer discussions have been around Trump and his approach to the presidency, and in recent times have included North Korea.’
At the start of May, Unity Books hosted Ministers Stuart Nash and Meka Whaitiri for the announcement of GST to be charged to international vendors. Lloyd says, ‘There was talk about the Online GST tax around this presentation, for which we did a back-drop display of BWB Texts and Towards Democratic Renewal.’
And as part of their 50th anniversary, Unity Books gave a cash reward to authors Patricia Grace and Peter Wells for their long-span political work alongside their literary bodies of work.
It is clear, as Esposito says in the LitHub essay quoted at the start of this feature: ‘Books are different from other consumer goods – they contain facts, thoughts and stories that shape who we are – and so bookselling is different from other kinds of retail.’ When was the last time you had a political discussion with your clothing salesperson? Sure, those discussions probably exist – but your clothing salesperson isn’t in the middle of a shop of opinion-driven, interesting words that spur them.
A safe space for democracy
Esposito also states in the aforementioned article about Independent Bookstores: ‘They have been the traditional home to the misfit, the free-thinker, the person who prizes knowledge above money and who aspires to wisdom.’
Each of the bookshops we received answers from agreed that in times of international turmoil, bookshops and the books they contain become even more important in a community. Wylie-Gibb from UBS Otago says, ‘A well-curated selection of credible books should be able to inform people what is going on, why it might be going on and where things might go from here.’ Vallely agrees with her, adding ‘it is a place to go to extend people’s understanding about what is happening.’
Lloyd from Unity notes, ‘a broad and timely stockholding can definitely be part of the solution. It can inform us deeply, and also fire us up and / or provide a diversion, depending on where we’re at. We don’t yet have signage for ‘Pedagogies of Resistance’ but I feel many NZ indies play a part in what Esposito’s piece for Lit Hub speaks to.’
Eadie agrees, ‘In time of political turmoil people often look to their local independent bookshop as a place of solace, just as they might a close friend. We have observed customers connecting with each other after picking up the same political title. Good bookstores are the bastions of truth, offering books that can enlighten and inform, offering diverse and well-rounded perspectives.’
Further Reading:
Independent Bookstores as an Essential Political Act
Bookstores stoke Trump resistance with actions not just words