On gardening and books
Little seems to be happening in the bookshop at the moment. The sunshine which manages to escape through the showers in the English spring has tempted me out into the garden and I've been neglecting the business that pays the bills. There is the comfort that with all the veggies and salad crops that we've planted, the bills wont be so large over the next few months but even so I really need to get down to some serious work over the next couple of weeks. So that's the resolution. Catalogue, research, market and offer books. Head down, business up: that's the way it usually works.
Of course, selling second hand books on line is changing radically and rapidly. The six months to May 2005 has seen a 5 per cent increase in the market, but growth of over 30 per cent in the supply of books on line. So many common titles, sure. But there's also been a huge increase in the supply of mid-range books, say from £15 to £50, which have always been the bread and butter of my business, and for so many other medium-sized second hand booksellers. The on-line market will stabilise. The market will continue to grow and the supply of books is ultimately finite. The problem is that no-one knows how long it will take and no-one knows exactly what infinite means or when we will reach it. In the meantime, as I said, it's head down and business up. Only the fittest and leanest operations will thrive the current environment. We fully intend to remain among that group.
