Is the Accountant really going to say something nice about this place? Sort of.
Et tu Devil's Accountant?
Sort of. I founded this blog to promote and feature good works throughout the literary sphere and when I learned recently about a very proactive approach by B&N to sell academic books I had to put my money where my mouth was.
Incidentally I did not have to remove my foot.
This week's Front List / Back List is a two part affair. This is mainly to allow for a somewhat expanded review of the Back List title which goes up tomorrow. Also, because today's post is somewhat more of a commentary on the book business than a review of a book I felt a bit of separation was necessary.
Also tomorrow's post will be the first of Lost Books Month. The second annual Lost Books Month, that is.
Let's get to it.
Barnes & Noble's Big Insight
Those of you that haunt bookstores will no doubt have come upon Oxford's Very Short Introduction series at some point. They're the small trade paperbacks with the lateral bands of color and the names of respected thinkers beside the brief title. It's an introductory series that Oxford launched to increase awareness in lay readers concerning typically austere subjects like say economics or Anglicanism (okay, so that was kind of a joke).
Being somewhat of an autodidact I have always had a soft spot for the introductory work. They can be wonderful tools to round out your knowledge or a launching point for deeper investigation.
There is no questioning the importance of the series. These are leading scholars climbing out of their ivory tower cloisters and writing for a larger audience.
Personally I've read and enjoyed three of the series. Christopher Butler's Postmodernism, Frank Close's The Void (a literal and literary look at that most essential of life's realities: non-being) and in particular Partha Dasgupta's Economics. I can personally recommend all three and all three are availble below via...Powell's.
Now... Just what does Barnes & Noble have to do with this?
B&N, whose institution I am an alumnus of, has repackaged the series as A Brief Insight under their Sterling Publishing imprint. Sterling was acquired by B&N in 2003 with what amounted to only mild controversy. B&N, mind you, has had its run-ins with antitrust law. Most of these scraps have concerned the retail giant's distribution and publishing acquisitions.
B&N launched the refurbished series this year with additional images and illustrations in an inexpensive and snappy hardcover. Instead of inexpensive read, "Printed in China" and instead of snappy read, "Ripped off Routledge's blue trade paperback binding style."
The average price of the B&N edition is in the mid teens and, get this, is "buy one get one free" at a Barnes & Noble.
No joke.
These are the same titles as issued in the Oxford series only slightly retitled and illustrated. Prominently displayed on a Barnes & Noble end cap and at a ridiculously low price or essentially $6 to $7 a pop the series is now both accessible from a cost and intellectual standpoint.
The indie bookseller in me wants to say that it's not fair. The businessman in me wants to say that it is a clever retail strategy. The bibliophile / critic in me wants to say that it is a wonderful way to spread knowledge and keep a innovative series alive and kicking.
So how about those three things: indie bookseller, business and critic. Let me expand on the three.
Indie Bookseller
This is what you are up against. Not only are the internet retailers and big top stores strangling you with a new electronic format that you are 100% excluded from being involved in but they can also do something like this in your back yard.
Barnes & Noble is offering a unique item at a insanely low price. Sure, it's as fair as life is but you know how that adage goes. The only way this is unfair from a legal / institutional way is if B&N is selling products like these at cost or sub-cost in order to push more rivals over the edge.
In that case I would say that B&N's current distribution and publishing capabilities when combined with their retail market share may have crossed certain antitrust lines.
Incidentally, the books in B&N's reissue are available to any bookseller. They can be ordered wholesale, as far as I can tell, at discount and sold in your own bookstore.
Just not "buy one get one" which of course doesn't discount the notion of monopoly.
Book Business
The decision to obtain limited rights to sell books like Oxford's series through their bargain publishing companies is pure marketing genius. Such pricing and packaging is designed to beat Amazon's insanely aggressive e-book pricing and bolster the reputation of Barnes & Noble's physical retail arm (it used to be called a bookstore).
The more B&N does projects like the repackaging of such literary minded series the better off the future of their bookstores will be. When standing in front of the display I had to tip my hat to it. The books are really nice. And cheap. You should check them out if you don't mind the tenebrous implications that the "Printed in China" label might hold.
Critic
Good job, B&N. You've done something to promote a populist series of educational books and made them extremely accessible from a cost standpoint.
It of course doesn't make up for that sham of a poetry section you have at the Valley Forge location.
Remember to tune in tomorrow as I kick off the second annual Lost Books Month with a tale of ecological horror.
The Books Mentioned
Economics: A Brief Insight by Partha Dasgupta. Sterling Publishing (Barnes & Noble). Economics. Hardcover. 213 pps. ISBN: 9781402768941. $14.95.
The Void: A Brief Insight by Frank Close. Sterling Publishing (Barnes & Noble). Science. Hardcover. 182 pps. ISBN: 9781402775383. $14.95.
Postmodernism: A Brief Insight by Christopher Butler. Art Criticism. Sterling Publishing. 186 pps. ISBN: 9781402768804. $9.95.
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