This Means War!: Strategies for Independent Bookstores

This Means War!

Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Define the enemy and declare a book war.

Part 3 of the 36-part “Book Wars” series of articles

by David A. Rozansky, Publisher, Flying Pen Press

Readers, Writers & Royalties columnist

April 20, 2009

Copyright 2009 David A. Rozansky

(Note: This is the 3rd article in the “Book Wars” series of articles, a series of articles where the author interprets the strategies taught in The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene, and applies them to the business of the independent bookseller, in the arena of the difficult book trade. The first article in this series can be read at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977657920.)

In the previous article of this series, I discussed the importance of the warrior spirit for the independent bookseller, that is, a love for strategy and competition, without rest. With the warrior spirit, the independent bookseller is ready to learn the first and most important strategy of a book war: the declaration of war.

Robert Greene, in his book The 33 Strategies of War, calls this the Polarization strategy, because it’s primary purpose is to polarize the thinking of the troops and the common people, so that they see the war they are about to fight as one of right versus wrong, good versus evil. There should be no shades of gray in their minds or hearts; they fight because they are right and the enemy is evil.

There are two main parts to this strategy: the definition of the enemy, and the declaration of war.

The independent bookseller should clearly define her enemies, the competitors who stand to do her business harm, who can steal her customers and her livelihood. These are the competitors with whom she will fight for market share, what we independent business owners call “customers.”

With the enemy in our sight, we can begin to know the enemy, to anticipate and outwit, to outmaneuver, outfight, outsell. We can create plans to confuse them and use our resources to neutralize theirs.

But it is also not enough to just know who the enemy is. The Book Warrior must also alert the troops and the community, although perhaps it is not always wise to alert the competition that they are being targeted for a marketplace war.

This is the declaration of war. It lets the staff know what the objective is, and tells the customers that they have an important choice to make.

In declaring war before the staff and the customers, the independent bookseller must explain why the enemy is an enemy. Not just because they are a competitor; most people understand that retail stores compete for business. The staff and the customers must know why you are going into battle…and why they should join you, support you, lay down their time and money for you.

Thus, you must define the reasons for the war. There can be many reasons, and there are many different enemies. No two stores will have the same enemies or the same causes. But here are some examples that the typical independent bookseller might use in defining their enemy and declaring war:

* “Amazon may offer a tremendous selection and deep discounts, but at the same time, they allow anyone with a computer to publish, and so the quality of the field of literature is being polluted. Our store will uphold the quality of the American Book; in fact, we feel we stand as the last bastion of the literary arts.”

* “Barnes and Noble has stores everywhere, and is so large that they can leverage their buying power into lower prices and large selections. However, all the money they make here in our town is sent back to New York. The money does not stay here in our town, where it is so badly needed. Our owners and employees spend their earnings here in town, keeping our local economy strong. Support our town, shop local.”

* “The Internet runs amok with free information, and the ability to establish social networks is unmatched. But the human spirit craves face-to-face social interaction; it is what makes us human. And the nature of the language requires that we not be flooded by information, but rather seek out authors who can clearly express their lessons and thrill us with masterfully told stories. We offer book groups, poetry readings, game nights, and other events that make us an important community center; we hold this town together and give our citizens the privilege of a community.”

* “The city library has free books, sure, but all too often the new books are checked out, and the books can smell like an ashtray. Furthermore, the library is part of the government, after all, and we believe it is of the utmost importance that our freedom of the press and our freedom to read what we want are not controlled by our government. We have always stood for freedom, and we will always fight for your privacy.”

The competition is defined, giving you a focus for your strategy. The cause is defined so that your staff and customers will follow your lead in the fight. The cause also gives you valuable motivation to fight your book war every day.

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This is just one article in David A. Rozansky’s column, Readers, Writers & Royalties, a blog column about the book trade, from writing and publishing, to selling and reading. This series of articles—“Book Wars”—is an interpretation of the strategies listed in Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War, as they apply to the independent bookseller. His next article shows how the war strategy of polarization—the actual declaration of war—is an important first step to succeeding in the book trade.

Readers may find archived articles or subscribe to Readers, Writers & Royalties at www.ReadWriteRoyalty.Gather.com. Subscribe to all of Mr. Rozansky’s articles at www.FlyingPenPress.Gather.com.

David A. Rozansky is the publisher of Flying Pen Press. He has been in publishing since 1987, and has more than one million published words under his byline. Flying Pen Press is at http://www.FlyingPenPress.com. He is available for speaking on the subject of writing magazine articles, public relations, marketing and book-length material.

The book mentioned in this article is The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene (Penguin Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-14-311278-5, trade ppb, $18.00).