I know that many British independent booksellers feel that bigger publishers are ignoring them in the fight for shelf space in supermarkets and chain bookstores. There has been much debate in the comments part of this blog over the last few months and Macmillan has taken its share of criticism. I was pleased therefore to discover that we sponsored a Small Business Forum dinner in Bristol last week. Organised by The Booksellers Association, the SBFis a forum for independent booksellers to debate the issues affecting their businesses as well as sharing ideas to help then thrive. The evening event was attended by eighty independents together with Alison Penton Harper, Beth Webb, Kate Long and Clive James who made an extremely funny after-dinner speech. This is exactly the sort of event which supports independent bookselling and which helps authors and publishers understand the issues of bookselling today.

This week is full of budgeting for next year. It sometimes feels that we might as well simply slaughter a goat and hope for the best! Any other suggestions?