Mandy Myles founded the online-only, independent bookstore Bookety Book Books in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut over the last few years, that has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myles said strategies from competitors like Amazon have helped normalise \u201caggressive discounting\u201d in the book industry, with readers\u2019 expectations evolving in response. <\/p>\n
And while the rise in audiobooks and e-books gave great open access to books, Myles said it was difficult to keep pace as a one-woman business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is ultimately up to consumers to decide which businesses they want to support and see survive,\u201d Myles said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s an incredibly difficult choice in the current economic climate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Myles noted online-only bookselling was different from a bricks-and-mortar approach, given it lacked the advantages of foot traffic, convenience, customer loyalty, impulse purchasing and physical space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that when you search for Bookety Book Books<\/a> alongside a book title, you will often be shown advertisements for the same book elsewhere at a price close to \u2013 or sometimes even below \u2013 what I can buy it from publishers for.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just feels like no matter how hard you work, you\u2019re always trying to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n Myles said it had been a difficult decision but she was confident she\u2019d made the right choice, and had shared her reasoning to educate readers about operating a small business in the \u201chighly competitive\u201d industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Myles now planned to pivot Bookety Book Books away from retail, to focus on the growth of the community she\u2019d built and bringing like-minded readers closer to content and each other.<\/p>\n \u201cOur next step is to expand on all of this through a dedicated website, with better functionality than just our Instagram, where we can champion authors, bookstores, books, reviews, events and community, while creating even more opportunities for readers to connect with one another,\u201d Myles said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a real opportunity online to keep reading accessible, fun, and joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n