Fleur Sinclair

Fleur Sinclair has been the owner of the award-winning Sevenoaks Bookshop in Kent since 2015 and is now President of the Booksellers Association and sits on the board of Bookshop.org, the online bookstore that supports local, independent bookshops.*

A relative newcomer to bookselling, Fleur trained in photography and worked in the fashion industry, before turning her passion for books and reading into her career. A lover of consuming multiple books at once, Fleur is currently reading Sally Rooney’s ‘Intermezzo’, Monique Roffey’s ‘Passiontide’, and ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ by Marlon James.

'Being a reader and someone who very much likes shopping and high street shops is probably what I brought most to [the role].'

Can you tell us about your career journey and how it has led you to becoming President of the Booksellers Association (BA)?

I've always been a reader, but I didn't study it. I didn’t study anything at degree level at all actually. I used to work as an agent in fashion photography, but it was something I didn’t want to return to in my late thirties after I had my children. As an agent, your job is very much a “mothering role”, with people looking to just vent or feel support, so you have to be a willing ear/shoulder and I just didn't feel that I had the capacity to be that for anyone other than my own actual children. I had a career rethink, looking for a way to re-enter the world beyond my home, and went to work in the bookshop that I now own. I worked there two days a week for just about a year before the owners said that they were looking to retire, and “Did I want to buy it?”

I've been the owner of Sevenoaks Bookshop for far longer than any other thing I've ever done within the trade. It was a little bit of a trial-by-fire learning curve, I would say, but I think being a reader and someone who very much likes shopping and high street shops is probably what I brought most to it. Quite quickly into my tenure as the owner of the Bookshop, I was invited to join the BA’s council, who work within the trade and help to steer the organisation with their knowledge of the most pertinent issues. The BA represents all high street bookshops large and small, from supermarkets and Waterstones to very small independents, so the council is representative of the whole high street too. I felt quite alone when I first started running the shop, so I was really glad to have the support. The BA are very good at helping people to create their own support networks within the trade, and I’ve made some of my absolute best friends from fellow booksellers, so I think the organisation is invaluable.

From being on the council, I was invited to become a Vice President and spent four years in that role, which gave me a good indication of what being President would possibly be like. The progression from Vice to President isn’t necessarily a given so it was a great privilege to be asked. 

'I would like to see more recognition of the importance of the cultural value of bookshops and the reach that their events and programmes have within all our individual communities.'

What excites you most about your new role? Can you tell us about any plans you are looking to implement during your tenure? 

I have been quite daunted by the role so I don’t know if I've ever felt really ‘excited’, which probably sounds a little disingenuous! The previous Presidents have all been very different in terms of the experience that they bring to the role, and as the world changes, there's always going to be something which is more prevalent, that you're going to have to deal with. Two Presidents back was Andy Rossiter and he just basically had COVID for his whole presidency, so he was a firefighting President!

Once I started talking with Meryl [Halls] about it and working out what I personally felt I can bring, I had a much better sense of the things I’m hoping to accomplish. One of the main ones is that I’d like to see bookshops and booksellers recognised as equal partners with publishers. Essentially, we are all interested in selling books. We are not the creators, but while publishers package the products, we package the place in which to sell them, so we have creativity involved on both sides. Adding to that, the power of Sales teams and their reps are invaluable. I'm not so naive as to think that all sales come from the high street, but you can’t get the same level of consumer research from places like Amazon. You know, the things that we are told either overtly at the till or in the customer behaviour that we witness, it all gets fed back to sales reps and helps to sell more books. Ultimately, we are equal partners, so I’d like to try and forge relationships whereby booksellers are more invited to the table on an equal footing.

I would also like to see more recognition of the importance of the cultural value of bookshops and the reach that their events and programmes have within all our individual communities. The problems that have come from Baillie Gifford pulling out of literary festivals has really highlighted how tricky financial structures can be. 50% of the revenue of a literary festival that's doing really well comes from ticket sales alone. However, if someone has bought a day ticket, they’re going to see maybe eight authors throughout the day, but they’re not necessarily going to buy eight books - but bookshops prioritise the book sales because that’s what we want as well as the engagement from the community. I would like to see publishers recognise bookshops more as culturally special places and invaluable places to support. I think there's room for everybody in the event sphere, but I feel that the power is with the publishers and the literary agents to make sure that bookshops are included in tours and other activities because it really does help to sustain us financially and helps us to be able to promote every type of book.

'I hope that there will be other people of colour who will see me in this role who will maybe consider that bookselling or bookshop-owning is something that is also for them.'

As the BA’s first Black female president, do you feel any pressure or responsibility to act as a role model for others in the industry?

This is such a hard question, because I'd say that my default would just be to work really hard within my shop, and not have to speak on behalf of anybody other than myself, but the lack of representation makes it feel that if you’re offered a position like this, you just don't have a choice but to take it. I think that gives quite a different perspective on the pressures of being a role model. My voice and my experience is going to be deeply personal and it's only a problem to feel the pressure as a role model because you are the first, and I think that in order to keep my sanity about it, that’s the way that I have to look at it.
I'd like to hope that my experience and the work I’ve done within the trade is enough for me to give to this role, and then have just my visibility as a Black woman in this position as enough to instigate some change. I hope that there will be other people of colour who will see me in this role who will maybe consider that bookselling or bookshop-owning is something that is also for them.

In this vein, are there any stereotypes on bookselling or bookshop-owning that you’d like to challenge? 

I think there are stereotypes and preconceived ideas of bookselling in that we don't earn a lot of money, and therefore, if you are coming from a slightly more marginalised background, are you going to want a career that doesn't earn tremendous amounts of money? But I have had situations where my husband wasn't working and I have managed to support a family of five from the bookshop, so there is a living to be made from bookselling, which I would like people to be able to see. A lot of people do come to bookselling as a second career when they already have some degree of financial security, and I think that there is a stereotypical idea that that is only something that's open to white people. I would like to add that, if you are a person of colour, there is great power in this role. I choose the stock; I choose the event schedule; and I make these decisions based on wanting to provide the best for my customers, but it's also going to be quite influenced by my own personal choices. So by having more Black people in bookselling, I'd like to think that what they would bring to their shops, to their communities, is only going to enhance the community. That's the point of independent bookshops: they will be as wildly different as people are different. If my Presidency encourages more of that, then so much the better.

'To make this better landscape, you can't necessarily just follow the same patterns that the industry has always followed.'

Can you talk to the value of having such diverse and underrepresented voices in visible leadership roles?

I think it's difficult to talk about the value of underrepresented voices in leadership roles because it feels like it's inherently invaluable. Of course, we are a business after all and there are many existing patterns and ways in which things work or always have worked, but I do feel that a lot of publishers who made knee-jerk moves for better representation following the death of George Floyd did seem to return to the safety of the same big old names, perhaps due to the financial precariousness of the pandemic. As with any business, however, it is at the behest of whoever's running the business to choose what they want: is it more money or is it a better world? It’s my belief that the two don't have to be exclusive. 

If the books you publish, the people you employ, are not moving towards a point where everybody is represented, what are you doing? Are you just looking for a paycheque or do you want a better world? Why not try to make the most of both things? If we are looking for a better world, then better representation is completely invaluable. If businesses don’t have a certain cultural awareness or interest in people that aren't themselves, then they won't know how to reach people. They can find the writers because they will be submitting to them, but they won't know how to access the readers. To make this better landscape, you can't necessarily just follow the same patterns that the industry has always followed. Anything worthwhile needs work. You have to be open and engaged and interested to want to do that work and then you can reap the rewards, but it has to be done with honesty, integrity and an open mind to change. 

'I feel that there's a lot of support in the town that has just grown and grown with every owner because they have all done a brilliant job in cementing the bookshop’s place in the town.'

Sevenoaks Bookshop has been consistently acknowledged by the industry as a frontrunner in independent booksellers. What do you think makes it so special and what can the industry learn from its success?

The bookshop celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. I am the fourth owner since it was first opened, and each owner had their own events to deal with. I’m still very close with two previous owners, but particularly the owners directly previous to me, and they oversaw the fall of the Net Book Agreement and the advent of Amazon, so that was very much their battle. They were in the first committee of the Sevenoaks Literary Festival, so although they didn't run their own events, they were recognising their value already. During my tenure, I've expanded the shop; we’ve doubled in size. I've prioritised a lot to do with children as well as a lot more to do with events. I feel that there's a lot of support in the town that has just grown and grown with every owner because they have all done a brilliant job in cementing the bookshop’s place in the town. That’s where I am: on the shoulder of giants, in that respect.

I think part of the reason we work so well is our relationship with publishers. Alison Starling of Octopus Books has been coming into the bookshop since she was a little girl, so she knows the bookshop so well, and when she comes in, she says, “I’m really excited about this book I'm going to publish” and I'll say, “Do you think that would make a nice window?” and she'll go, “Yes, what a great idea. Maybe we can do an event!” — so we have a relationship of equals. We’ve done some really good things together, and she's been able to use the platform of the shop to showcase things that she's excited about. Another example of this relationship, which is the direct result of the BA’s Shopfloor Publishers scheme, is when Andrew Franklin [Founder of Profile Books] came to work in the shop in the early days of me taking over and was able to see the way we work. I had absolutely no idea who he was at first – I was just in the stage of just saying yes to everything! But this led to us holding an event with Mary Beard, as Andrew knew our customers and knew she’d be a great fit, and he trusted us to manage it. So I feel that our customers are so pleased because they feel that by supporting us, they get access to memorable evenings like that. I think through these relationships, we have a better understanding of each other's needs and how to work well together.

Other than events, is there anything else you'd like publishers to know on how best to support bookshops and booksellers - and maybe what to give a miss? 

There are other ways publishers can support bookshops and help centre us in readers’ minds - specifically created and placed window displays, signed books, letters from authors - the list is as long as the capacity for creativity. Each book is as individual as each bookshop, and I think the publishers’ job is to get to know bookshops and where best to place the promotional energy for a book. This is not a one time thing, but a constant - like all friendships! Nothing stays the same, but again, sales reps are the key to this. They know our orders, often visiting our shops monthly if not more, so they see our displays, know our sales figures and our towns. What we don’t want is generic or plasticky gimmicks. We still see a lot of this stuff and it doesn’t serve any of us, particularly in terms of our efforts to be greener. A well executed and placed promotion can sell a lot of books. A well placed bookshop event can grow readership for an author, create custom, loyalty and longevity for a bookshop AND sell lots of books.

'If change is what you want and need, you have to have integrity all the way through.' 

You’ve led many conversations around inclusivity and collaboration in the industry. Do you think the book industry is ready for these conversations? What would you like to see more of?

In a representational way, the very idea of ‘not being ready’ gives the impression that the world is just perfect as it is, doesn't it? If you look around you and think about the last however many people you hired, what colour are they? Are they all Oxbridge? Are they a good representative of the population as a whole? And then think about who employed you, where you're moving to. Look above, below, around: is it the ideal? And if it's not, how could you possibly ‘not be ready’ for any conversation that could help to make workplaces, bookshelves, the world, more representative of the population as a whole?

In terms of collaboration between publishers and booksellers, again, there is so much to be gained in every aspect, from understanding. It seems bizarre to me the sheer number of people who work in publishing who've never worked a day in a bookshop. If you’ve never served the customer, not had any selling direct customer-facing selling experiences with the product you're creating, that’s fine, but then really you should talk to people who do that every single day. They’re going to help you create better products and better journeys for those products to find the right readers. But don’t make it a one-way street: booksellers should come back, and they should shadow you. They should understand the decisions that are being made about price, or formats, or timings.

I do feel that a lot of publishing is based on data of habits that have been going for so long that it’s never going to show you anything new. I wonder if that data is holding us back from making some shifts to trying smarter, different things. I think it comes back to people in positions of power making the same decisions, whether that’s about employing people, or where you advertise positions, or how skills are recognised. If people want to see change, then they have to be open to different possibilities. If you have a seat at the table, you have to put your money where your mouth is. If change is what you want and need, you have to have integrity all the way through.

The way I see the book industry is: why do we read at all? We want to see a different world. We want to see ourselves reflected back. But ultimately I feel that if you're a keen reader, it's because you want to have a greater understanding of people and you want to have better empathy. I don't know how that will ultimately be possible without a myriad of people writing, commissioning, bookselling – so that is what we should be striving towards, because that's the point of a book in its essence.  

'She embodies the whole “lift as you climb” philosophy. It's not enough just to reach it on your own; you have to be pulling up the next generation.'

Tell us about a woman in publishing who inspires you. 

Am I allowed two women?!

The first is Bernardine Evaristo. I have had such a lot of respect for her for such a long time. I just wish a lot more writers in her position would do what she does. She is so engaged with young writers coming up; she does so much mentoring and championing and is just so generous. She embodies the whole “lift as you climb” philosophy. It's not enough just to reach it on your own; you have to be pulling up the next generation. I think she wholeheartedly does that with such grace and integrity.

The second is a friend I’ve got to know recently, and that is Natania Jansz of Sort of Books. I was really lucky that I was with her on the day that ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022. She had done so much editorial work on that book, and because of the size of her company, she’s been on the entire journey of the book. Her books are wholeheartedly hers. I have enormous respect for the integrity that she puts into the books that she publishes.

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