Ever since the bookstore chain came under the leadership of James Daunt in 2019, he has been slowly and steadily changing how books are selected and stocked in stores, presumably giving local booksellers control rather than dictating what happens from the New York office. While this approach has been widely lauded and Barnes & Noble has been opening new (smaller) stores, independent publishers aren’t receiving the same attention and sales as before.
While smaller stores and reduced shelf space are certainly part of the issue, Daunt’s claim that local booksellers can make their own decisions is undercut by some claims in a recent Publishers Weekly article by Jim Milliot: “[Publishers] allege that, contrary to the company’s public messaging, managers at those stores have told them that they can only buy books that have been bought in New York—though they have agency over how many copies of those titles they buy. The policy, publishers said, makes it pointless to pitch a book to any B&N manager based on its regional appeal, let alone to headquarters. Daunt said in fact stores can place their own orders provided ‘that they are cautious with titles that aren’t carried in our distributor centers.’”
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
