Welcome to December 2022! It’s the 26th edition of the link posts at How About This. There are 26 miles is a marathon. There will be more than 26 editions of How About These Links, so put on your reading shoes!
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OVER THERE (found elsewhere)
I want to highlight two posts from the past week which talk about book sales in Canada. Canada has one major book retailer, Indigo, which has at least half of the book sales market in Canada (book store sales, not necessarily including online book sales).
The Sutherland House newsletter suggests that Indigo is going to become more of a diversified retailer over time and that books are less of a priority for the chain, with a possible end game of exiting the book business altogether.
Paul Wells writes an in-depth account of a new Indigo store in the Ottawa area, noting the prevalence of other merchandise categories (there’s even a photo of a fancy bed for sale). The books are still there but they might not be as central to the Indigo shopping experience as they once were. I don’t buy many books in book stores these days but as Han Solo once said “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” On the other hand, if this creates an opening for Canada’s independent booksellers to thrive, then more power to them!
Soaring Twenties Social Club:
Omnibus #44 - the usual weekly round up, a great diversity of writers and creators working here.
BACK HERE (the past week’s posts)
Monday featured my interview with Dr. Greg Loewen, NS based writer.
Tuesday featured my interview with STSC member and writer Oleg Volkov.
Wednesday featured the results of my 30 day logo design challenge.
Thursday featured my month 7 recap of publishing How About This.
CROSS-PROMOTION(S)
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RELEASE
Time to release the H.A.T. Scouts for another week! And remember, it’s always better to be a H.A.T.T.E.R. than a hater.
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Indigo has been moving to a more diversified slate of goods for a long time - I had a friend who worked there in high school, and even then it was specifically laid out as a direction. Obviously I’m not privy to corporate decisions over there but I can’t say I’ve noticed a huge change in the non-book footprint of the stores in the decade since.
Fun fact: Heather Reisman received an honourary doctorate during my graduation from undergrad and I’ve carried a grudge against her since because her speech was both unbearably long and boring.