London Independent Bookshops
There are a lot of quite good and special bookshops in London. It has become quite a kind of London thing – London’s bookshop is one of the reasons that people want to come here for holiday. There are very old bookshops, like Housmans Bookshop – the socialist bookshop in London which has been there since 1940s. Also Daunts – one of the oldest bookshop in London. Daunts in Marylebone has a history of 400 years now. There are also a lot of new bookshops in London opened in recent years.
Nowadays, a lot of people in London would go to ‘bookstore crawl’ instead of ‘pub crawl’, which means that instead of choosing ten pubs and going on a drinking in each one after another, now they may pick ten bookshops and buy books in each one after another. Bookstore crawl can be less expensive and more fun.
London Book Crawl Event Page
Bookshop and Writer
Bookshops and writers are sympathetic to one of another. A lot of great bookshops from the history were all about their relationship with the writers, like Shakespeare and company and James Joyce. Shakespeare and company was the first place to publish the entirety of James Joyce's Ulysses when no one else would. It is kind of prestigious for a bookshop to have associations with great writers. And writers like to be connected to bookshops because that is the business they are in – selling books. Writers do book launches and readings in bookshops. There are also popular events held in bookshops with writers signing their books. So it is good business both for the writer and the bookshop, and it is also enjoyable for the readers when they read something they really like and share their experience of reading with the writer.
In Word on the Water, approximately four or five book launches are hold every year. Word on the Water is very friendly to new writers by offering them a distinctive and popular platform.
With regards to the relationship of the writers and the city, Jon said, ‘I think it must be hard for writers outside London because they are not in such kind of social cultural environment. There are a lot of books written about London and set in London. London is a kind of inspiring city for literature. Also it is hard to reach a lot of people outside of London. The concentration of populations here means you can hold events and get people to attend, whereas out of town writers have to be famous before they can get people’s attention.’
Oliver Cable with 'Jazz and Poetry on the Water' Night
Oliver Cable is one of the writers who has close connection to Word on the Water and the bookshop owners.
Oliver Cable reading poet outside of Word on the Water
Oliver Cable is a London-based independent writer. In 2006, he published his debut novel Fresh Air and Empty Streets, and did his book launch in Word on the Water. ‘I met Jon in Archway three years ago and we just started talking. I used to bring him books. Any book I finished I would take to him so he could sell, because he was selling second-hand books. And then I discovered that he had a barge, and I came down here a few times. That's how we met,’ Oliver said. ‘I’m very much in debt to these guys because Word on the Water was the first bookshop to stock my book. It’s selling quite well even without the readers recognising me. So I think this kind of bookstore works to recommend to people the books they won’t necessarily buy. These book are not the top 40 necessarily, but they are great books from the past, or they are classics, or they are written by the minority writers.’
Oliver also organises Jazz and Poetry on the Water event together with the bookshop owners. This event is mainly on during the summer - July, August, September and October. During the time of my fieldwork, they held the event on 20th January because at that time there were a lot of people around Kings Cross for Lumiere London.
Oliver said, ‘I have been long interested in the combination of jazz and poetry and I didn’t find any nights around London that I really enjoyed cause I was looking for the jazz night that is very messy and free – lots of cool people coming around and having the chance of meeting new people. I didn’t find that anywhere, so I thought probably I could try to organise something here, and the guys were quite supportive. So we had this event of jazz music and poetry, which went really well. At the beginning we had about 200 or so people coming. And then we had about 500 or 600 people at one night which was too much for the site and it was so full here.’
Poetry reading by James Bentley (20 Jan)
Jazz music playing (20 Jan)
‘I chose this bookstore (to organise events) because it’s no ordinary bookstore – it’s a very special kind of thing. The concept works well here rather than other ordinary bookstores because they are so samey. This bookshop is so unique and when people are down here they are a more creative version of themselves. And they meet creative people and they would have talks about stuff that they probably won’t talk about in a more traditional bookshop. Other bookshops always stock the same books, but here you can find the books that other bookshops don’t stock. This bookshop is so unique it lends itself. A lot of people come walking along here and this bookstore just catches their attention. And they will just buy the book which they never plan to buy. They are probably more interested in the story behind buying the book. They would tell their friends that they buy this book in a random and unique bookstore on a barge along the canal. So by buying a book, they are also buying a story and buying themselves in the part of the story,’ Oliver said.
Various Sources of Books: Charity Shop, Book Donors and Independent Sellers
Another unique characteristic of Word on the Water is that the books it sells have various sources. Customs can always find books they can never find in a chain bookstore. Some of the books are brand new, bought online, some are bought from charity shops in London, some are donated, some are bought from independent book sellers.
On 15th March, the books Jon booked online arrived in boxes. He ordered from Garderners Books, a leading wholesaler of books, eBooks, music and film.
New books from Gardeners just arrived in bookshop
After sorting out these books, Jon sat on the sofa writing prices on the last page of each book. In Word on the Water, the owners set the book prices, which are mostly dependent on the owners likes. If they like the book a lot, they would set a lower price than the marked price of the book.
The charity shop is also a major resource of the books. There are hundreds of charity shops in London. For example Octavia Foundation has loads of vintage books. A lot of bookshops used to cooperate with runners, people who go around charity shops to get books and then sell them to bookshops. The books charity shops get are mostly from donation - people moving house and donating the books that they can't take away. People donate books directly to the bookshop as well. Some days they can receive hundred of books.
The owners also buy books from independent book sellers. On 15th March, two book sellers came to the bookshop and sold their books. Jon bought about 10 books in total from them. One of them is a book collector and seller, another is an avid reader who sells the books he has finished.
Jon buying book from the collector and seller
Jon buying book from the avid reader
The collector collects old books of different versions. Jon bought a vinyl record and two very old books named British Music from him. The avid reader came to Jon with a big khaki canvas backpack, filling with a lot of books and a pair of white sneaker. He was wearing a cowboy shirt and a blue tie, with a bleached and slightly worn jacket outside. He told me the reason he came here: ‘I’ve never been here before. I was walking on the way to Kings Cross and didn’t expect to see a bookshop. And I saw this man and his books. So I thought I would come down to sell some books. I bought these books (the books he was selling) to read and after reading them I would put them to sell. I love books, and if I use the word ‘love’ in multiple context, I love people who sell books and who care about selling books. So if I can support in any little way people who sell books, I try to, one hundred percent.’
Jon is very proud of the variety of his bookshop. He said, ‘the more different places the books come from, the more interesting the shop gets, because you can’t see all these books together anywhere else. I get some interesting and unique books from the charity shops and some from the donators, rather than getting the similar books as other bookshops. The selection criterion has to do with the subject - some I think I can sell. I’ve got very small shop. If I have a bigger shop I might want to sell cookery books but this is not the bookshop where people want to buy cookery books. They rather buy politics, history and literature.’ Jon loves each of the books. Everyday Jon has to take the books on the shelf outside back in the barge before getting off work. I offered to help him sorting the book several times during my fieldwork but Jon refused me every time. He told me the reason:‘I know exactly the location of every book and I can find every book. I do this every day and if anyone helps me it will only mess it up.’
Secret Boat Talks, Music and Fashion
In Word on the Water, you can always find the most beautiful things on the world all together - books, knowledge, thoughts, music, art, fashion... It is a bookstore, and not only a bookstore. It is more like an open platform for people from all walks of life to enjoy the urban space and the cultural atmosphere in London.
Secret Boat Talks is a regular event of the bookshop. The topics of the talks are broad, including politics, literature, new technologies, history, life style etc, and the tickets for these talks always sell out very fast. In winter, guests would crowded together next to the wood-burning stove to learn about the fascinating subjects.
Secret Boat Talk
Bookshop facebook event page
During my fieldwork, students from Central Saint Martins majoring in fashion came to take photography, using the barge as the setting.
Many musicians came to Word on the Water to performance. The roof of the barge is a perfect venue for musicians and attracts passengers too.
Juliette Sung performing on the roof
Although the bookshop is used as a venue for various events and performances, the owners don't make profit directly from the events. Some music performances are free and unprofitable. The American artist SYML came to Word on the Water in January to do a free surprise gig on the roof of the boat. This is a good thing for both the bookshop and the artist. SYML can reach to more audience in London while the bookshop can sell more books to the people he brings here. It is the same as the Secret Boat Talk. The ticket price for the talk is £20, including £5 book voucher for purchasing books in the bookshop, and the rest £15 goes directly to the lecturer.
Urban Landscape and Mobilities
In London, there are a lot of people living on the move. They choose to live on boat, in caravans and trucks etc. Some of them choose this lifestyle to avoid expensive rent of flats, some are after freedom and mobility. But during my fieldwork, I found out that living on the move is not as easy and free as we think. Canal & River Trust is responsible for supervising every boat on the canal. For a houseboat, the owner has to pay for the boat itself, the maintenance of the boat, the annual license fee, the mooring fee (if permanent). But for a home, permanent mooring is a very expensive way of living, so most houseboats would relocate the boat fortnightly according to the policy of berth on the canal. Sometimes it is hard for them to find a suitable place because of lack of space of the canal. They have to grab a open place they can find. For example around Temple Pier, boats squeezed all together. Whereas for a business boat, moving around is not a fun thing to do. Location is vital to the survival and development of a business project, and the case of Word on the Water is a good example. In order to make profit, the owner of the business boat has to find a suitable area for business, with regular customers and development potential. Getting a permanent mooring in a suitable place can be important for the business, and can also be hyper-competitive, especially with big cooperation involved. Also, the mooring fee varies and some places can be very expensive. According to the regulation of Canal & River Trust, mooring are usually priced according to boat length and popularity of the area. The mooring price is in accord with the land prices and the sophistication of the services of certain area. And each boat’s mooring fee is individually negotiated with the canal trust. For Word on the Water, the mooring fee is £500 per month.
The Rocky Road to Success
Business wold is all about survival of the fittest. It is a cliche to talk about the reasons for success, but Word on the Water has shown us the power of individual effort and culture. The development of Word on the Water is full of hardship. When the business was first established, it not only went against the current by going into the declining book market, it was also competing with chain bookstores in London. And as a floating bookshop, it benefited from the novelty brought by the barge and the canal, but in the mean time it also encountered many difficulties of doing business on the water. It survived the hardest time and is now a unique part of London independent book market.
To Jon, the persistence and efforts of the three partners/good friends are vital to their success. They all believe in this idea of a floating bookshop and none of them ever wanted to give up on it. As Jon said, 'we all think that we have to stick to it in order not to let other guys down. That has been a big part of our strength.' And Paddy played an important part in the success of the project by being articular and negotiating with Canal & River trust, being able to talk to the journalists, and wining the sympathy if it wasn’t there already. But most importantly, just as the saying goes, being greater than the sum of its parts, the chemistry of the three good friends has been the key factor.
The authenticity, creativity and inclusiveness of the bookshop also play an important part. The bookshop owners are doing the business that they are really passionate about and firmly believe in. They started from scratch, building up their business little by little with the devotion of their all energies, which really makes people sympathetic about what they are doing and what they are trying to do. Also the originality of the bookshop - doing something original with imagination - makes people want to support it. This bookshop is inclusive to people of different age groups, from three year old kids to elderly people to the whole family. Everybody can come and enjoy a cozy afternoon surrounded by book.
Their story is also loved by journalists and media, which have also helped them go further. Books have a sacred place in the culture and the book culture represented by the bookshop is valued and loved by news industry. The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC News, Nine News etc all have covered news about the bookshop, which helped the bookshop get permanent mooring and crowdfunding.
Last but not least, the bookshop itself being unique and beautiful is attractive enough. People love the boat - the same way as the owners did. What's more, the beautify of the book, the beauty of the people working there, the beautify of the social relationship formed by books and cultural events, the beauty of the traditional book culture all gather together in this floating bookshop, making it one of a kind in London book market.