Controlled Chaos: Strategies for Independent Booksellers

Controlled Chaos

Strategies for Independent Bookstores

Empower your staff

Part 8 of the 36-part “Book Wars” series of articles

by David A. Rozansky, Publisher, Flying Pen Press

Readers, Writers & Royalties columnist

May 5, 2009

Copyright 2009 David A. Rozansky

(Note: This is the 8th 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.)

This series of articles discusses how war strategies can be applied to the book trade for the benefit of the independent bookseller. Last time, I discussed how a good Chain of Command can facilitate the flow of information to and from the staff. I stated that for that strategy, the independent bookseller has the advantage, because larger stores and online retailers have larger, more complex networks that inhibit the flow of information, while the independent retailer can easily call a staff meeting and quickly issue orders and receive news.

This article focuses on the strategy of “Controlled Chaos,” as described in Robert Greene’s The 33 Strategies of War. This is a strategy where your larger competitors are going to have the advantage, and they tend to use it well and often. It is their way of compensating for the difficulty they have with their long-distance chains of command.

The strategy of Controlled Chaos refers to being able to dazzle and confuse the enemy by attacking from all directions and seeming to be everywhere at once. It is the strategy of hiding the size of your forces, and camouflaging your position.

An army does this by segmenting its forces into different sized groups, each of which is able to act of its own accord and develop its own tactics and plans to meet the leadership’s overall strategy. This collection of groups allows an organized attack without strict structure.

Large chain stores and big box stores are very adept at this, it is the very nature of the corporation. They have many different departments, even at the same store. Each store is given a certain latitude in planning its own operations, and regional managers keep track of local events and authors. There are also separate teams at the headquarters.

For a truly horrifying look at how these teams might be functioning in the near future when the online presence has become omnipresent, read James R. Strickland’s cyberpunk thriller, Looking Glass.

When a customer walks into a large chain store, they are assaulted by the national marketing campaigns, the different buyer’s selections, the executive policies, the regional manager’s decisions, the store manager’s intuition, and the store shelvers’ knowledge of what is on hand. All of these teams operate according to the company’s master plans and according to the store manager’s localized procedures.

By allowing many types of decisions to be made at local levels, these larger stores can compensate for the obstacles they have in the flow of information up and down the chain of command. They can thus compete locally by responding rapidly to local events.

It’s no wonder that the independent bookseller feels overwhelmed by larger stores.

In contrast, the independent bookseller has fewer people to work with. It is harder to build a large number of teams when there are fewer people, and with fewer teams, it is harder to attack from all directions.

But there are ways to effect Controlled Chaos against larger organizations.

In the large organization, such as a chain of bookstores or a discount chain, there is always the feeling among employees that they should only do what their job description entails. At the independent store, it is easier to impress on all staff members that running the store and winning the customers is everybody’s business, and it is easier to train everyone to take on any task should it become necessary.

By making the staff flexible, the independent shopkeeper can create many different teams. While it is impossible to create all of these teams at once, these teams can be reorganized at a moment’s notice, and each person can easily fill any role on any team, allowing each person to participate on several teams at once.

Another resource that independent booksellers have is community involvement. Certainly, the larger stores can contribute to the local community, and often do. It is common for the chain bookstores to support local schools and libraries, for example. But the type of community involvement I am talking about is more involved than simply sending books and money to local literary programs. It means participating in the community, being a good citizen.

For instance, the storeowner can run for local office, or be involved in local politics. She can certainly get involved in her town’s chamber of commerce, and teaching courses at the local community college is another choice.

By working within the community, it becomes possible to find teams within the community, to assist her store in its war against large corporations.

Independent booksellers are usually found on the Main Streets of our towns and cities, alongside independent stores in other trades. Whether it is the small town hardware store, the old-fashioned barbershop, or the cozy little Italian restaurant, small retail businesses in any industry are faced with large corporate competitors. Joining forces with these other independent retailers creates an incredible amount of controlled chaos, whether you use coupons, cross-promotions or package deals.

It is also possible to organize customers of all these independent retailers into tactical teams. May of them love “their” little store, and anything you can do to support that store wins their support.

Also look to local authors, especially the aspiring writers who are having trouble getting their books into the larger stores. Look to independent publishers to help you fight the larger corporations. They can often give you deals and extra support simply because you agree to shelve their titles. These authors and publishers will respond by sending everyone they meet to your store. Set up signings and special events for these lesser known authors, to give them a closer relationship with your store than with the national chain stores.

These authors will then carry their adoration of your store and its cause to their readers they meet personally, which also happens to be the readers in your own town. And as they grow in popularity, they are likely to remember the store that gave them a break in the early years.

Now, with all of these diverse teams set up—local businesses, independent publishers, aspiring authors, civic groups, local schools, local government, and even the local customers themselves—it becomes easier to compete at a level the larger stores and online retailers can’t match. Find a way to sell books to the customers of the other independent stores in town, such as do-it-yourself books to the patrons of Joe’s Hardware Store, popular fiction to those waiting in line at the Lucy’s Looking Good Beauty Salon, and Italian cookbooks to those who eat often at Vinnie’s Pizzeria and Pasta Emporium. Put together a catalog for the local Boy Scouts troop to use in door-to-door fundraising. Create a list of forthcoming political titles for local legislators to share with their constituents.

By working the street outside your store, you can create many more teams than your competition can, and then you can appear to be everywhere and anywhere, at any time and at all times. This creates Controlled Chaos, and the competition will have no idea where you will strike next, or how to defend itself against your marketing advances. Whatever you do, do not limit yourself to your own storefront.

I would be amiss if I did not point out the Indiebound program from the American Booksellers Association, as well as the various “Buy Local” programs from national and local independent retailers associations. These associations are just one more team you can put in play to outsmart the competition.

Book Warriors, please post a comment and let us know of unusual ways to use teams or ways that independent businesses can appear to be in many difference places.

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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. The next article in this series explains how independent booksellers can turn their staff and customers into crusaders for their cause.

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 following books were mentioned in this article:

The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene (Penguin Books, 2007, ISBN 9780143112785, trade ppb, $18.00)

Looking Glass by James R. Strickland (Flying Pen Press, 2007, ISBN 9780979588907, trade ppb, $24.95)