BA goody bag
[This is the second of my posts about BOOKS ARE MY BAG. You might like some background to the campaign here.]
I spent yesterday at the Booksellers Association Conference, which was held for the second year running on the campus of Warwick University. It was a wonderfully upbeat occasion and celebrated the many successes of the BOOKS ARE MY BAG campaign (now also known as BAMB), which was launched to the industry at the London Book Fair in April. All the activities that were built on this afterwards culminated in the public launch on 14th September.
Patrick Neale, President of the Booksellers Association
Patrick Neale, current President of the BA (and also proprietor of a wonderful bookshop in Oxfordshire – and also, incidentally, a former colleague of mine) listed some of the many triumphs of 14th September. Here are a few of the key ones:
• The BAMB campaign ‘trended’ on social media.
• Footfall in bookshops increased by 17.4% and sales by 18.5%. Booksellers everywhere said that it ‘felt like Christmas.’
• The most pleasing thing of all was that everyone in the industry – booksellers and publishers alike – realised that this was just the start of celebrating the unique attributes of the physical bookshop.
Dame Gail Rebuck, CEO of Random House, who visited Patrick’s shop on 14th and cut his BAMB cake, said that she loved the sense of energy that the campaign has brought. She said, ‘Of course publishers care about bookshops; they are the lifeblood of our culture.’ She was not the only celebrated person to visit Patrick’s bookshop on that day. First of all, Samantha Cameron came in with her daughter (so the staff decided not to pester her); then the Prime Minister himself followed and the staff, deciding that he was fair game, asked if they could take his photograph. He said that he was in favour of the campaign and obliged (all memories of Jimmy Wales and the ‘free’ information in Wikipedia evidently forgotten!).
I shall write more about the conference – which was full of good ideas for authors as well as for publishers and booksellers – and about the campaign. For now, though, I’d just like to share with you the contents of the wonderful goody bag that I received at the end of the day, along with another BOOKS ARE MY BAG bag, which I shall carry with the same pride as its two predecessors, now grubby from a whole summer of being paraded everywhere I’ve been. I’m doubly proud that a postcard about Almost Love was included.
Oh, and in case you’re interested, here’s that photo of the PM outside Patrick’s shop!
Cameron booking a place in history
Christina James, crime novelist 
What a fantastic initiative, and a lovely goody bag to boot! It’s wonderful to hear that this has encouraged people to visit their bookstores. I was very encouraged to notice the number of shoppers in the American Book Center when I visited them last week, so those predicting the end of real books and real bookstores should hold off a bit. I hope this signals some kind of revival in the fortunes of real book stores!
What a lovely comment! I couldn’t have put it better! Thank you! 🙂
Great bag. My buddy – and bookseller – from here in A2 was over this spring for a big retail book think tank. I am going to ask him on Saturday if he got on of those wonderful bags. What great results,too. Makes me want to go buy a couple of volumes tonight. Lovely.
Thank you, J. Your enthusiasm is obvious! Yes, as a means of focus upon bookshops, it is first rate; customers love it and the stores are seeing footfall rise. All win! Thank you for commenting and calling by. 🙂
What a great idea! Have done the FB likey-thing. Our local indie bookshop is up for sale – the manager is retiring – it’s a profitable business, and we are all hoping someone buys it and keeps it going. Will make sure the new manager (crosses fingers) knows about this.
Doubly thank you, Jo! I certainly hope that your bookshop survives. Good independents are flourishing and serve their communities very well. Keep me posted! 🙂