Booksellers Protest Rep Cuts

Today the board of the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association sent a letter to sales directors and heads of houses at the big six house to voice their “alarm” about cuts to field sales. “This draconian move against our bookselling segment will be responsible for the disappearance of book culture,” they maintained. “Field sales reps are a crucial part of our business.”

Echoing the letter, Joe Drabyak, president of NAIBA and a bookseller at Chester County Book Company in West Center, Pa., told PW, “The field reps really are the worker bees, and they’re cross-pollinating the industry. There’s a difference being on the phone with somebody and meeting with them face-to-face. That interaction means everything and it really results in sales.”   Publishers Weekly