Originally published in The Bookman (Hodder & Stoughton) vol.1 #1 (Oct 1891).
It seems rather a sad thing to say that in spite of all the Reviewers who review books, and all the Critics who criticise them, the public are generally bewildered by the multitude of their advisers as to what books they should buy. Now what should they do? Why, go to their bookseller and ask his advice, and I am glad to say they do. I am very sorry for the reviewers, and I am sure they would be sorry for themselves to find that in spite of all their proffered help to the reading public, the bookseller is assailed all day long with the query, What have you got new? Many booksellers pin their faith to the Athenæum, but, as a rule, a bookseller's judgment of a book is arrived at by a process unknown to the reviewer, and I hardly think it is my business to detail that process here. It may, however, be sufficient to say that before a book is published an early copy is submitted to him, and after glancing at the volume, he is very quickly able to say whether the book promises to be a success. Of course he is frequently wrong, but, as a rule, a bookseller never makes a mistake in purchasing too many copies of a book. Now this brings me back to the reviewer. We frequently find elaborate reviews of a book which bring the customer to the point of purchasing the volume, but alas for the wasted efforts of the reviewer, the price of the book is found to be quite beyond the means of the purchaser. Now why in the name of common sense does not the reviewer mention the price of the book? It can be very easily ascertained, and be the means of saving the reader and the bookseller a great deal of trouble.
It was said at one time that a review in the Times was sufficient to carry off an edition, but these days have gone, if they ever existed. It still has a considerable influence on the sale of the book, and I had an experience the other day which will show its power. A customer called and said that there was a book reviewed in the Times that morning, he could not remember the name of the book, and on being questioned as to the subject-matter of the book, he could not remember that either, but all the same he wished a copy of the book. My experience taught me that there had been some happy phrase or sentence in the review which had caught my customer's eye, and that was quite sufficient to cause a craving for the volume. The Spectator is particularly happy in this way, and a short review there is frequently more successful in creating a demand for a book than a lengthy notice with nothing particular in it, or minus one of those felicitous expressions which immediately rivet a reader's attention.
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There is no doubt that the year 1891, so far as it has gone, has been a very indifferent one for the booksellers. There has been a want of any conspicuous book to give a spurt to business. It is a curious fact that one single good book is quite sufficient to make a good season. The knowledge that there is a book of thrilling interest on the bookseller's shelves exerts a magnetic power on a book-buyer in causing him to wend his steps towards that book, and the purchase of that one book leads to his being the possessor of a considerable parcel, to his intense surprise, but to the delight of the bookseller. We now want something to "boom," as
"The Rudyards have ceased from Kipling,
And the Haggards Ride no more."
We are now all anxiously waiting for the coming season, but as yet there is not much sign of any good thing. But as the "unexpected usually happens," there may be something in store for us which will make our hearts rejoice.
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Many booksellers now say that bookselling is on the decline, and they point to the diminishing number of booksellers in town and country. Others, again, that there are more books sold now than thirty or forty years ago, and I think this opinion is the correct one. Bookselling may be in a smaller number of hands, but the output of the publishers is still a tremendous one, and it must filter through the booksellers in some way. It is an exceedingly pleasant and delightful business, but it doesn't answer for a bookseller to be too much of a "bookworm," as he must study the commercial as well as the literary aspect of a book if he is to be regarded as a successful man of business. But I fear "the trade" is not attracting the best men within its borders, or if they do come in they are generally in a hurry to get outside again. There has, however, sprung up quite recently in London a spirit of "camaraderie," which promises to have great influence in knitting the trade together and restoring a better feeling than has hitherto prevailed.
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