Let's Talk Bookselling: The RISE Bookselling podcast series
By RISE Bookselling
Let's Talk Bookselling: The RISE Bookselling podcast series Feb 22, 2023
RISE study on green bookselling: meet the researchers
For the season’s finale we dive into the recently published RISE Study on the sustainability of the bookselling sector. EIBF’s Policy Advisor, Daniel Martín Brennan, speaks with the researchers behind the study, Fanny Valembois and David Piovesan, exploring this unique resource, which is the first of its kind collating best practices on green bookselling from around the globe.
If you want to find out more about the study, you can benefit from all its resources - in English and French - via the following link on our website: https://risebookselling.eu/sustainable-bookselling
Sustainable practices in book returns: a Slovak perspective
The fourth episode of this series is all about book returns, specifically about the environmental impact of this important practice between bookshops and publishers. To discuss this, EIBF’s Policy Officer, Tora Åsling, spoke to Anna Porubcová, the Environmental Sustainability Project Manager at Martinus, Slovakia’s largest book chain.
If you want to delve into the topic of book returns, we also invite you to read RISE Bookselling Industry Insights report on this topic, presenting seven case studies to understand the returns systems across Europe and how this impacts the environment. You can find it here:
RISE-Bookselling-Industry-Insights_Returns.pdf (risebookselling.eu)
Climate change, COP and the book sector
In this week’s episode of our Sustainability Series, Elsevier’s Global Sustainability Director, Rachel Martin, and Dustin Benton, Policy Director at Green Alliance, will have a conversation about climate change, the COP (and more specifically last year’s COP 28), what the COP does to address climate change and how the book sector can get involved. Let’s hear what they have to say!
Supporting materials:
UN Climate Change Conference - COP 28 - Reports and decisions
Printed and digital books: myth debunking
In this episode, EIBF’s Policy Advisor, Daniel Martín Brennan speaks with Fanny Valembois, consultant researcher specialised in the decarbonisation of cultural businesses and Jelle Joustra, Assistant Professor at Delft’s University of Technology, specialising in circular products. Diving into a discussion on printed and digital books, this episode will pick apart misconceptions and myths about the sustainability of the different formats, aiming to present you with nuanced insights into this multifaceted topic.
Supporting materials:
In this episode, EIBF’s Policy Advisor, Daniel Martín Brennan speaks with Fanny Valembois, consultant researcher specialised in the decarbonisation of cultural businesses and Jelle Joustra, Assistant Professor at Delft’s University of Technology, specialising in circular products. Diving into a discussion on printed and digital books, this episode will pick apart misconceptions and myths about the sustainability of the different formats, aiming to present you with nuanced insights into this multifaceted topic.
Supporting materials:
Sustainability 101: SDGs in the book sector
This episode is part of the new Sustainability Series, produced in collaboration with the International Publishers Association (IPA).
For today’s episode, Rachel Martin, Global Sustainability Director at Elsevier, sits down with Sherri Aldis, Director of the United Nations Region al Information Centre for Western Europe, to discuss the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and how the publishing and bookselling sectors can contribute to reaching their ambitious targets by 2030.
Banned Books in the US, with Marianne Reiner
To finish this season, Let’s Talk Bookselling is addressing a very pressing topic in the book world: the censorship and banning of books. In this episode, host Daniel Martín Brennan, EIBF’s Policy Advisor, is joined by Marianne Reiner, bookseller at La Playa Books in San Diego, California. Marianne will give us some context into this issue, which in 2022 alone affected 2578 unique titles that were censored across the country, a 38% increase compared to 2021.
If you want to know why more and more books are being banned in the US, how this problem is also growing in other countries, and what efforts can be done from the book sector, join us on this episode.
Marianne Reiner is a bookseller and events coordinator at La Playa Books in San Diego, California. Her way to bookselling was long and circuitous (lawyering, translating, interpreting and briefly owning her own bookstore) but it is really where she is the happiest! She is passionate about protecting independent bookstores and the mission they provide. You can follow her book recommendations and her musing on Instagram @AdoptAReaderSD
Book market in focus: Australia, with Robbie Egan
In this week’s episode, we travel all the way to Australia. Host Alice Hříbalová, EIBF’s Events & Planning officer, is joined by Robbie Egan, CEO of BookPeople, as they discuss the state of bookselling in the country and the value of reading.
Keep listening to learn more about BookPeople and the Australian book market!
Robbie Egan has been a bookseller for 25 years, the last 15 years spent at Readings in Melbourne where he finished as Group Operations Manager. The past four years he has been CEO of the Australian Booksellers Association, where he was previously Treasurer of the Committee of Management. His goal is to empower people to do good work by trusting and guiding them, and to build an Association that creates value for its members. Shaped by a life of reading, Robbie is driven to share and spread the magical, transformative power of books and literature.
Growing with the changing demands of city centres, with Maria Meibohm
Customer needs and shopping habits have changed drastically over the past decade - how can bookshops adapt to these changing realities and contribute to keeping the city centre a place that people want to visit?
In today's episode, host Tora Asling, EIBF's policy officer, talks to Maria Meibohm, Project Manager at the Graff Bookshop in Braunschweig, Germany, who is experienced in collaborating with other city centre retailers and public institutions to make the city centre a flourishing and attractive place for customers.
Keep listening to hear more about the Graff bookshop's innovative ideas...
After Maria Meibohm (34) finished her BA in Cultural Studies and Business at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in 2011 she started working in Berlin for the publishing house Ullstein (part of Bonnier Group) and moved from there to the prestigious bookstore Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus. 2015 she moved to Hamburg to join the publishing house Oetinger in Hamburg where she gained deep insights in the children's book market. In January 2022 she returned with her husband and her two sons to Braunschweig, her hometown to enter the family owned bookstore Buchhandlung Graff. She is working as a project manager and will take over the business from her father in 2024/2025.
Drag story time in bookshops, with Brid Conroy
As we’re nearing the end of Pride month, for today’s episode, Daniel Martin Brennan, EIBF’s Policy Advisor, is joined by Brid Conroy, co-owner of Irish bookshop Tertulia, who will share her experience in hosting drag story time events in the bookshop.
Keep listening to find out more.
About our guest:
Brid Conroy has a background in finance and set the bookshop up in 2019 along with her husband Neil Paul, with a mission to make a positive contribution to the way the world thinks. The vision of Tertulia is to live in a world where every story matters, to live in a world that understands that (our) stories are interconnected. It is this understanding that can help make our world a more equal society.
The Science Fiction Bookshop model in Sweden, with Gabriella Gómez
This week’s episode is hosted by Tora Åsling, Policy Officer at the European and International Booksellers Federation, who will be joined by Gabriella Gómez, Head of Marketing at the Science Fiction Bookshop in Sweden. Science Fiction Bokhandeln is a bookshop offering “all things fantastic” and a reference point for different generations of fantasy, manga and science fiction literature fans.
What is it, exactly, that has made their business model so successful in Sweden? Keep listening to find out all about this and more.
Once described as "the manga expert with the manga hair", Gabriella Gómez is Head of Marketing at Sweden's largest bookstore for all things fantastical. Her career journey began with a fortuitous conversation about Sailor Moon in the 00's, followed by years of fandom volunteer work and university courses about graphic novels and animation.
Through her previous roles as store staff, podcast host, event fixer and social media manager at the Sci-fi bookstore, she's very well-versed in presenting speculative fiction and comics in different channels.
Nielsen BookData: Latest trends in non-fiction
In the first episode of this second season, host Alice Hříbalová, EIBF’s Events & Planning Officer, speaks with Philip Stone, Media Manager at Nielsen BookData, about the latest trends in non-fiction book sales. Keep listening to find out how the post-pandemic era has shaped the non-fiction sales.
Philip has worked in the UK book industry ever since he joined Waterstones as a part-time bookseller in 1999. After rising through the ranks to become assistant manager of the Leadenhall Market branch, he left in 2007 to join The Bookseller magazine as its chartseditor. He developed a reputation as one of the UK's foremost book market experts, regularly appearing on radio, television and in the wider media sharing his UK book market insights and was the architect of "Super Thursday".
After a five-year spell advising editorial, sales and marketing teams as Penguin Random House's insights manager, Philip joined Nielsen BookData in 2019 in the role of Media Manager where his remit includes producing the prestigious Sunday Times bestseller lists.
Building up an online presence as an independent bookshop, with Jo Coldwell
Jo Coldwell, Manager of Red Lion Books in Colchester, UK, is interviewed by Tora Åsling, Policy Assistant at the European and International Booksellers Federation. Together, they will discuss how independent bookshops can level up the presence on the internet and create effective strategies to promote their online sales.
Book market in focus: Guatemala, with Philippe Hunziker
The fifth episode of Let’s Talk Bookselling is hosted by Daniel Martín Brennan, Policy Advisor at EIBF, who will explore the dynamics and intricacies of the book market in Guatemala, in a conversation with Philippe Hunziker, General Manager of Sophos Bookstore, located in Guatemala City.
Curating a catalogue of children's books from local authors, with Trish Hennessy
On the fourth episode of Let’s Talk Bookselling, host Julie Belgrado speaks with Trish Hennessy, owner of the bookshop Halfway up the Stairs in Greystones, Ireland.
Halfway up the Stairs is one of the few bookshops in the country dedicated exclusively to children’s literature, and it plays an important role in promoting Irish literature, boasting a large selection of titles from Irish publishers and authors.
Book market in focus: Finland, with Laura Karlsson
The third episode of Let’s Talk Bookselling will take our host Julie Belgrado in a conversation with Laura Karlsson, Director of the Finnish Booksellers Association (Kirjakauppaliitto), who will help us navigate the book market in Finland through her knowledgeable viewpoint.
Kirjakauppaliitto represents about 90 % of Finnish Booksellers in brick-and-mortar, webshops and streaming services.
Events in the bookshop, with Raluca Selejan and Oana Doboși
In this episode, our host Julie Belgrado will discuss all things bookshop events with Oana Dobosi and Raluca Selejan, co-owners of La Dua Bufnite bookshop in Timisoara (Romania).
La Dua Bufnite (which translates to the two owls) is an award-winning independent bookshop, known for its creative and resourceful initiatives to get people to read.
Let’s listen to Oana and Raluca!
All about audiobooks, with Maria Hamrefors
In the first episode of Let’s Talk Bookselling, we sit down with Maria Hamrefors, chairwoman of Svenska Bokhandlareföreningen (“Swedish Booksellers’ Association”), who helps us understand the remarkable development of the Swedish audiobook sector.
Sweden has been at the forefront of audiobook market, with many streaming services launched there initially. It seems fitting that we start the exploration of audiobook market there.