I am posting the email below with Mr. Gawtry’s permission.  As you read this, keep in mind that Watkins is not a fly by night bookseller, its doors opened in 1894!  Some will argue that this is just a change in marketing, but change is not always good; death and disease are manifestations of change.  The economic pressures on independent booksellers worldwide are indeed a fatal disease that may soon exterminate these valuable community resources.

I don’t know that the tide can be turned – people are often cheap, and think of nothing but their own gain with no consideration of the long term consequences – but more of us should be aware of what is happening, both in the United States and elsewhere.

The Net Book Agreement was a British regulation that has never existed in the United States, but we are seeing the exact same thing happen here as a very few large corporations increasingly create what is essentially a monopoly in bookselling by driving the small, independent retailers out of business.  You may disagree, but it will be a sad day for me when I can only purchase books online or from a box store.

Please support your local bookseller!

From: Stephen Gawtry [mailto:Stephen.Gawtry@ntlworld.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:44 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Re: Closure of Watkins

 
Dear friends and colleagues,

Some of you may have already heard the sad news, but I’m afraid that Watkins Books has gone into administration and the shop closed on Tuesday, February 23^rd. Watkins has been struggling for the last few years to keep its head above water. The tide turned with the collapse of the Net Book Agreement and the rise of discounted books. Independent bookshops relied on the bigsellers like Harry Potter or the latest Dan Brown to enable them to survive and stock the classics and slow sellers. Once the Net Book Agreement went, supermarkets were suddenly allowed to sell the bigsellers at heavily discounted prices, literally taking the bread from the mouths of the independents. When “The Da Vinci Code” first came out in paperback, Watkins was buying copies from the wholesaler at around £4.50, while up the road Tescos in Covent Garden was selling it for around £3.50. I heard of one independent bookseller who drove to his supermarket and filled up a trolley with the latest Jamie Oliver book, as it was far cheaper than getting it from his regular supplier. On the last Harry Potter books, supermarkets like Asda were selling them as lost leaders. A vast mountain of brand new £16.99 hardbacks marked down to £4.99 so that every little ‘Potter’ fan would urge their parents to take them there and hopefully buy their weekly shopping at the same time. This is the real crime. These people don’t respect books. To them they are a throw away commodity. What other area of retail gives away the latest brand new products like that? The collapse of the Net Book Agreement has enabled the supermarkets to take the cream of the bestsellers and demand huge discounts from publishers, thereby depriving bookshops of their life-blood. But what happens when there is suddenly nowhere to buy the classics, the text books, the car and computer manuals? Yes, if you know exactly what you want, you can order online. But what if you don’t know? What if you need to look at the book or to browse and see what is right for you? This is the reality. As of 2009, 500 independent bookshops in the UK had closed since the demise of the agreement in the late 90s. That number will vastly increase over the next year. Online sellers like Amazon have compounded the problem and the recent recession has just about brought the high street to its knees. Even specialist shops with loyal customers like Watkins are now struggling to survive. I always thought Watkins would pull through somehow and have not yet given up hope. There are several people interested in buying Watkins and hopefully it will rise again from the ashes and be given a new lease of life. Having worked at Watkins since 1993, I have seen many changes, met many dear friends – authors, publishers, distributors, work colleagues – and of course customers! I would like to thank everyone for their continued support over the years. Like Watkins, long may it continue!

Those of you who have adverts, books or articles in the Spring or Summer issues of the Review, please note that I have every intention of continuing with the Review and will do my best to get future issues out when I can. I will let you know more once I know more myself.

Best wishes,

Stephen Gawtry
Editor, The Watkins Review

Travels Through Middle Earth: The Path of a Saxon Pagan has been reviewed in ‘Witches & Pagans’ magazine.  The editor was kind enough to send me a copy of the review:

TRAVELS THROUGH MIDDLE EARTH: THE PATH OF A SAXON PAGAN

ALARIC ALBERTSSON

LLEWELLYN, 2009

In The Path of a Saxon Pagan, Alaric Albertsson decides to share his experiences and his beliefs of this Anglo-Saxon tradition relative to his personal path instead of speaking for all Anglo-Saxon Pagans, and he does this quite marvelously. Travels provides an introduction and more into Anglo-Saxon Heathenry today, while still honoring and reflecting on the contributions of the ancestors and the journeys through Middle Earth, and the other realms and customs within the fyrn sidu, or the “old ways.”

I won’t pretend to know much about Fyrn Sidu, but Albertsson is refreshingly informed in a way that isn’t pretentious or overbearing.  One chapter is dedicated to mead-making, and while the information can seem somewhat overwhelming and daunting at times, he’s clearly aware of this and doesn’t take himself too seriously. Albertsson has a sense of humor you don’t often see reflected on oneself in their work, and that humor made me like him even more. He doesn’t dumb down the information, but does his best to present it in a way that encourages you to read further.

Albertsson also teaches us how to create a wéofod, the Saxon altar, and how to prepare and celebrate the húsel, ritual or ceremony.  There is in-depth introduction into a person’s orlay, or wyrd (“fate”) that kept me wanting to read more, and a discussion of the Nine Noble Virtues that provides a great guideline to incorporate in any spiritual practice.

My favorite elements within Travels Through Middle Earth are his in-depth discussions on the ancestors.  I don’t think I have come across a book in quite some time that relays the importance of honor within the ancestral realm as well as with the deities. Albertsson makes sure we understand that the Gods shouldn’t be viewed as “divine vending machines”; the way we treat them reveals the true value of our personal honor.  This is what I want to hear. This is what I want to read from an author addressing Pagan cosmology.  Our word is crucial in all that we do, and Albertsson doesn’t leave this stone unturned.

Whether you’re a Saxon Pagan or simply someone interested in delving into the mysteries of Middle Earth, this book is full of information and introspection that takes you deeper into a practice that’s rarely written about.  The chapter on “Honor and Wyrd,” in itself, makes this book a worthwhile read.  Travels Through Middle Earth may be the journey of  “a” Saxon Pagan, but I believe Albertsson represents “the”

Saxon Pagans quite honorably.

SILVERMOONE.

4 out of 5 broomsticks. 

(Before you ask, I don’t know why I didn’t get the fifth broomstick.)