More mindless MBA-ism

Sometimes there's advantage in coming late to a story.  When you're late, you get to see all the fallout, which is a good way to learn lessons. This story about Angus & Robertson Books is one of those lesson-learning opportunities.

Another of those Weblogs I Don't Read Often Enough^[1] is Making Light, home of sci-fi editors/publishers Teresa & Patrick Nielsen Hayden. It's a good place for "inside baseball" stuff about the book business, lots of valuable discussion about the craft of writing, and the occasional dose of pure whimsy. Today's perusal turned up this post (from October 9th, about sock-puppetting in comment threads), which was based on the comments to this one, about how the Australian chain bookseller Angus & Robertson is trying to extract money from small publishers on the pretext that doing business with them isn't "profitable enough." The A&R story is the one that caught my eye.

It all started when A&R's "commercial manager," a man named Charles Rimmer, sent out an amazingly tone-deaf extortion letter to a number of small publishers, inviting them to "please pay the attached invoice" (to cover A&R's "losses" from doing business with them) or be dropped from A&R's list of suppliers. Unfortunately for A&R, one of the recipients made the letter public, to much dismay, amusement, and derision.

Since the whole trainwreck is more than amply covered by others, I won't bother doing a full narrative. Instead, read the links. While clicking you might think about these questions:

• Are books the same as bricks? Why or why not?
  
• Is blaming your suppliers for your own problems a good idea?
• Especially when they will post it on the internet?
  
• The public will interpret cluelessness as malevolence. So isn't it a good idea to avoid acting in a clueless manner?
• Especially when your owners are trying to take your company public?
• Especially since, once you've done so, no one will trust you again?
  
• Is mindless pursuit of the bottom line good for the strength of your brand? Discuss.
  
• Wouldn't we all be better off if "managers" actually knew something about their businesses?

There might be a test later.


Here are the links:
Susan Wyndham, in the Sydney Morning Herald's "Underground" weblog:

• Bookshop chain puts bite on small publishers (The letter goes out.)
• A&R dumps books (scan of Rimmer's letter, publisher Tower Books Ltd's reply)
• More outrageous(ly funny) demands (Distributor Leading Edge Books plays "Can You Top This?")
• Books aren't bricks ("comments from outraged readers, writers, publishers and booksellers")
• Books and baked beans (dot-connecting an English "abuse of suppliers" investigation)
• A&R changes tune (Apologies all round?)
• A&R heads for Borders (Worrying news for Aussie book buyers?)

Teresa Nelson Haydn, Making Light:

• Bookstore chain puts the screws on small publishers (line-by-line Fisking of A&R's demand)
  
• Charles Rimmer's socks (the post that led me to the whole thing)
  

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^[1] partially because I find the politics there irritating. But then most of the folks there would find mine appalling. To which others would say "Told you so."

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 23:14:19 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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