![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've noticed a trend. Actually, I've been noticing a trend, but now, I'm starting to feel the crunch of it. My genre space is shrinking. That is to say, at the bookstore, the amount of shelf space dedicated to SF & F is shrinking. I find it odd, in light of the fact that seating is being reduced in bookstores across the country (Notably Borders), that the shelf space for our genre is being reduced.
I don't have answers, and I know I'm working from observations, not hard data. Two points might determine a line, but can hardly be said to describe a trend. No, I'm not really in a panic, just in a mode to vent. But underneath that, I'm wondering, am I the only one noticing? Is it actually happening? Or am I being chicken little?
Okay, I might be overstating the case somewhat, since I only have two points of data: my local Borders and Barnes & Noble. What I do not know, is how much leeway individual stores have, both in purchasing and stocking their books, nor how flexibly they react to demand. That is to say, if they are very good at reacting to demand, it could be that my particular area just isn't as interested in these genres. I'd have no way to personally measure that. What I do know, is that I visit both of these stores routinely, and I always browse these sections of the bookstore. Even if that's not why I came into the store, I still browse. I want to know if a new book is out by an author I like. Sometimes I get rewarded with a pleasant surprise, because a book I'd been waiting for arrives. (Okay, so I'm not the best at paying attention to official release dates and the like.)
I have to pass Borders on my way home from work. It's inevitable, especially since the alternate route I take to avoid the lights by Borders is blocked off due to construction. But I must drive near it, one way or the other. Barnes & Noble isn't terribly far out of my way, and as long as traffic isn't bad, is worth a peek too. The trend I've noticed, is that raw shelf space is shrinking at both of these stores. Borders, there's no question. I'm in Borders at minimum weekly. And the space is changed. Now the D&D books were moved into the SF&F area, taking up half a rack. (Previously they were racked between the graphic novels, and romance.) As well, at least one rack's worth has been cut from the end of the SF&F section, has been removed.
What does this mean? Frankly I don't know. Perhaps there is an ebb and flow to these things, and I don't notice the flow part, only the ebb. Perhaps the shelf space had previously expanded to accommodate a temporary uptick in demand in these genres while things like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter had drove up demand. (Though in neither store is HP shelved in the SF&F section, but in YA lit.) It's possible, though I do not think so, that demand in that area has fallen off since both of those draws have gone away.
One thing I have noticed, is that Manga and graphic novels are on the uptick. I'm seeing those areas expand in both stores. Heck, growing up, you had to go to specialty comic book stores to get anything like that. Now, there are almost as many on the shelf as their are in the SF&F section. Now wait? Aren't some of those also "SF & F" too? Well yes, that's true enough. As my Science Fiction professor in college once most emphatically proclaimed: Genres exist so that the people at the bookstore know where to shelve the books. So, while some of the Manga are in truth SF or F, Manga as a whole is a genre unto itself. Why? Because people who are interested in one manga series are more likely than the general public to also want to buy another. Just like the reason we want SF & F shelved together. Because, the kind of person who buys say, Elizabeth Bear novels, is much more likely to be buying other SF or F books than the general public.
And that's why I'm concerned at all. Even if this is merely the equivalent of calling out "the sky is falling" when it isn't. Because I'm the kind of person who is going to buy from the SF&F section of the bookstore. When I see the shelf space shrinking, I get worried. The big chain stores make a tremendous difference in buying power. If they aren't stocking the authors or books I want, then that has to affect the authors' livelihood. That's not cool. That impacts me twice. Once as a fan, because I am a fan of many great authors in the genre. But also as someone who writes, with the hopes of joining those being carried on those same shelves. Add to that, the fact that several of the larger specialty stores have closed up shop, it makes me sad. Is it just that the business is all going to the big on-line sellers? Amazon? Are the geeks (lets face it we geeks/nerds are the larger purveyors of this form of literature than the rest of the population) shifting so much to on-line purchases that its affecting the brick and mortar stores? Am I even asking a question that hasn't been asked, pondered, and perhaps even answered on the net a dozen times or more?
I have to pass Borders on my way home from work. It's inevitable, especially since the alternate route I take to avoid the lights by Borders is blocked off due to construction. But I must drive near it, one way or the other. Barnes & Noble isn't terribly far out of my way, and as long as traffic isn't bad, is worth a peek too. The trend I've noticed, is that raw shelf space is shrinking at both of these stores. Borders, there's no question. I'm in Borders at minimum weekly. And the space is changed. Now the D&D books were moved into the SF&F area, taking up half a rack. (Previously they were racked between the graphic novels, and romance.) As well, at least one rack's worth has been cut from the end of the SF&F section, has been removed.
What does this mean? Frankly I don't know. Perhaps there is an ebb and flow to these things, and I don't notice the flow part, only the ebb. Perhaps the shelf space had previously expanded to accommodate a temporary uptick in demand in these genres while things like the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter had drove up demand. (Though in neither store is HP shelved in the SF&F section, but in YA lit.) It's possible, though I do not think so, that demand in that area has fallen off since both of those draws have gone away.
One thing I have noticed, is that Manga and graphic novels are on the uptick. I'm seeing those areas expand in both stores. Heck, growing up, you had to go to specialty comic book stores to get anything like that. Now, there are almost as many on the shelf as their are in the SF&F section. Now wait? Aren't some of those also "SF & F" too? Well yes, that's true enough. As my Science Fiction professor in college once most emphatically proclaimed: Genres exist so that the people at the bookstore know where to shelve the books. So, while some of the Manga are in truth SF or F, Manga as a whole is a genre unto itself. Why? Because people who are interested in one manga series are more likely than the general public to also want to buy another. Just like the reason we want SF & F shelved together. Because, the kind of person who buys say, Elizabeth Bear novels, is much more likely to be buying other SF or F books than the general public.
And that's why I'm concerned at all. Even if this is merely the equivalent of calling out "the sky is falling" when it isn't. Because I'm the kind of person who is going to buy from the SF&F section of the bookstore. When I see the shelf space shrinking, I get worried. The big chain stores make a tremendous difference in buying power. If they aren't stocking the authors or books I want, then that has to affect the authors' livelihood. That's not cool. That impacts me twice. Once as a fan, because I am a fan of many great authors in the genre. But also as someone who writes, with the hopes of joining those being carried on those same shelves. Add to that, the fact that several of the larger specialty stores have closed up shop, it makes me sad. Is it just that the business is all going to the big on-line sellers? Amazon? Are the geeks (lets face it we geeks/nerds are the larger purveyors of this form of literature than the rest of the population) shifting so much to on-line purchases that its affecting the brick and mortar stores? Am I even asking a question that hasn't been asked, pondered, and perhaps even answered on the net a dozen times or more?
I don't have answers, and I know I'm working from observations, not hard data. Two points might determine a line, but can hardly be said to describe a trend. No, I'm not really in a panic, just in a mode to vent. But underneath that, I'm wondering, am I the only one noticing? Is it actually happening? Or am I being chicken little?
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
From:
no subject
Taken alone, I could attribute it to a mere local shift in one store. Seeing it happen at the B&N just down the road, I might think perhaps it's just our locale. Add to that, that two specialty online retailers that serviced this genre have had to make the decision to close within the last year, I go from "anxious" to "nervous" that my genre is shrinking as a whole.
And of course, I could still be chicken little, and there's nothing more here, than a flock of ravens in my dream.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
Not dead yet
Though, of course, it is somewhat anectdotal, since I haven't been poking around in a lot of other book stores lately. It could be that particular Borders just has a lot of geeky customers like me who like F&SF. Being across the street from a nice Whole Foods might help, too. I could see a fair amount of cross-over in those markets.