Waterstone's May be Closing but Books Are Here To Stay, Says Publisher

By Martin Murphy

The closure this month of two Waterstone’s stores in Dublin with the loss of 46 jobs has come as “a major blow to Ireland’s book industry”, according to Publishing Ireland.

This latest news for the Irish book Industry follows the demise last year of booksellers Hughes & Hughes.


“The closure of two more of Dublin’s bookshops further compounds what are very difficult trading conditions for Irish book publishers,” said Jean Harrington, President of Publishing Ireland.


Data released from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggests that sales of books, stationery and magazines have fallen 9.3 per cent since December 2009.


I contacted Waterstone’s to ascertain what the reasons were behind the stores’ closure. A representative for Waterstone’s, Mr Howells, said “Waterstone's announced a review of the company's estate, which would result in some closures, on the 5th of January.”

“As a result of that review, we have closed 11 stores this past Sunday, including two stores in Dublin (Dawson St and Jervis Centre). Our Hodges Figgis branch is unaffected.”


Mr Howells concluded by saying he had no detailed information about why the stores were closing other than that “all closures were for commercial reasons.”


Mr John Mooney, Editorial Director at Maverick House publishers, explained his view on the closure.


Mr Mooney said that books are viewed today as a luxury product, which makes them non-essential.
When times get tough, they, along with other luxury items, are less likely to be purchased. It was Mr Mooney's view, however, that books are, in fact, essential items, because "people become educated by reading them."


"Certainly as a decreasing product, sales of any items deemed to be luxury goods are down. I think Waterstone's have been suffering as a result of that."


Mr Mooney said it should be borne in mind that, with respect to shop sales declines for Waterstone's in Dublin, their shop on Dawson Street was opposite to Hodges Figgis and just around the corner from Reads.


"I think it was really a situation that a very large shop in close proximity to two other large shops ... caused their reduction in sales, the inevitable loss of jobs and the closure of the store."

Mr Mooney said that book sales in Ireland today have returned to what they were before the economic boom. "I think publishers are all suffering from setbacks due to the recession, but I’m not so sure that it is an overall catastrophe."


The increase in reading of e-books has opened new opportunities for publishers. In relation to Maverick House, Mr Mooney says they are "exporting an increasing number of books ... for the Asian and UK markets."


Mr Mooney did note that his company many not be as seriously affected as others, because they do the majority of their publishing for international markets, while other Irish publishers tend to publish more for the domestic market.


Mr Mooney said that, in general, the publishing sector has looked at e-books with a sense of distrust. Maverick House are embracing the e-book, as they are now converting their back catalogue into e-book format.


In terms of the online book stores and their increased sales in recent times, Mr Mooney says that many publishers are earning a great deal more money now that it is easier to source books online.

The paperback
"I don't think a day will ever come when someone does not want a physical copy of a book: I certainly love reading a physical copy of a book.


"Books make a great Christmas present and I can't see that being replaced by e-books, because someone’s sending an e-mail saying ‘I just bought you an e-book’ has not got the same effect as something that has been left under the Christmas tree," said Mr Mooney.

Book festivals

Mr Mooney thinks that the days of the local book shop are by no means numbered. However, book shops must do more to leverage the popularity of book festivals. "I think people have a great love of books and, ironically, as a by-product of the recession people have more time to read now," said Mr Mooney.

"Publishing is a very big and complicated business and what we have seen is that there are great opportunities to be had right across the world in publishing."


The majority of Maverick's books are being exported to Asia and the UK, with Ireland only representing 10 per cent of their sales.

According to Mr Mooney, Maverick House still makes a point of showing their presence in Ireland, and they have a number of authors giving talks and readings at the Dublin Book Festival.


"One thing about book festivals at the moment is that they are giving a voice to authors that have not been heard before."

Mr Mooney believes that there is a “great independent movement in Ireland” with respect to publishing that he thinks is not being taken notice of by the media.


"People are writing books and getting them published, they are doing small print runs, and there is a great sense of camaraderie with writers groups and readers groups."


"I think that shops need to get in on that act and start holding author nights ... the days of just putting books out on the shelves and hoping they sell and if they don't, then return them to the publisher, [those days] are well and truly over."

Great expectations

Maverick receives submissions on a daily basis from across the world. “It takes a lot of discipline to sit down and write a book, and it also takes a lot of discipline to know how to get it published," explains Mr Mooney.

"The biggest problem we have is that we see a book, there is a market there for it, we believe the market is size x, and maybe the author, as soon as they have an offer on the table, will think that “Maybe I should be a millionaire!” and they don't go with the deal and the thing never gets published.


"I’m a great believer in water finding its own level, and if people are professional and they act in that way then they can get their work published. There's a market for every book, it's just discerning the size of that market and delivering to it.


"Publishing is radically changing all the time, it is becoming very technologically adept ... if anyone thinks that a paper printed book is going to vanish, I simply don’t believe that's the case ... you can't put 100 e-books on your book shelf," concluded Mr Mooney.