Frontlist | Know what makes bookshops so valuable

Frontlist | Know what makes bookshops so valuable
on Dec 21, 2020

In a year when we all reassessed what was valuable (remember the run on toilet paper?) local bookshops came to mean much more than bricks and mortar. We asked writers what made a bookshop valuable to them this year.

In the darkest days of the pandemic, bookshops became our lockdown lifelines to the larger world. Book launches moved online, lazily browsing shelves became looking at a Twitter feed, and some bookshops managed to keep their customers close with home deliveries. For writers, bookshops serve as small places of solace where they can see and interact with their community. So as Amazon once again tries to own Christmas, we thought it was time to nudge you to shop local by asking four writers what makes a bookshop valuable to them all year round, and perhaps even name their favourites. NICK EARLS BRISBANE AUTHOR OF ZIGZAG STREET AND THE WISDOM TREE NOVELLAS ‘Surely no author is mad enough to publicly name a favourite bookshop, thereby telling all the others in the world that they aren't it? ‘Having said that, I’ve been in a lot of bookshops over the years, and the best of them have something in common. They’re typically the ones that have the most that sets them apart from the retail model that centres on a massive warehouse (or warehouses) and a website. That model is good at stocking and shipping a huge range of books as a durable barcoded product, but the best terrestrial bookshops are part of a community, and encourage reading communities to see them as a hub. ‘In non-pandemic times, they provide a personal interface between authors and readers. The best bookshops are places where time passes at a different pace as you get lost there, re-learn the at-times lost art of browsing and realise it’s really nothing like people who bought this also bought that. ‘The best bookshops are driven by a love of reading, and of linking readers – individual, recognisable readers – with books they’ll love. The handselling of new low-profile books can be the thing that gives those books momentum. In 1996, in its first couple of months of publication, Scott Whitmont of Sydney’s Lindfield Bookshop sold more than 60 copies of my novel Zigzag Street, while a nearby shop where staff hadn't read it sold two. Engaged booksellers are important for writers and readers. In lieu of a favourite, I’ll nominate the closest to home that ticks all the boxes, and for me that’s Avid Reader in Brisbane.' SALLY RIPPIN MELBOURNE AUTHOR OF BILLIE B BROWN AND POLLY AND BUSTER 'So many writers lead fairly introverted and isolated lives by choice, but I hadn’t realised until that choice was taken away from me how much I craved connection with the outside world and likeminded people. Spending all day every day in my head isn’t always the best company and I craved in person conversations with friends, other book creators and eavesdropping on people in cafes. 'Thank goodness for The Little Bookroom. Leesa Lambert and her team are the hub of the children’s book community here in Melbourne. Her infectious energy, enthusiasm and massive heart ensured we all had a place where kids book people could connect with each other over the long months of lockdown in Melbourne. 'Whether through online book events, books dropped at your door wrapped in brown paper and delivered by “Book Santa” (Leesa’s dad) or the weekly KidLit Club Zoom sessions she and I did with Adrian Beck, The Little Bookroom kept me going through some pretty challenging times and helped me feel less alone. I feel so grateful to be a part of this whole big, beautiful book community, this year more than ever.'