Non-book product

PREVIEWS
NON-BOOK PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
Journals
Non-book product
Kirsty Hurst
Stationery and gifts buyer, Waterstones
A
S THE MARKET demands that
retailers become more than “just
bookshops”, more and more
publishers are diversifying and growing
their ranges of “non-book product”, here
used as an umbrella term to encompass all
manner of stationery and gifts. In other
words, that which is not a book but which
sits sensibly beside it, complementing an
overall commercial offer.
Booksellers may have been cautious
about stocking non-book items and stuck
to the basics—notebooks, pens, tote
bags and possibly even a mug or two—
but as our understanding of the market
increases, we have realised that a more
adaptable offer of diverse product lines
not only works, but is wanted.
It’s a fine line we tread, of what is and
is not appropriate to stock, and often we
have to remind ourselves what we are selling first and foremost. Much like books,
trends come and go in non-book product: some are short-lived, others become
so strong that they maintain a hold over
the industry for years. With the introduction of all manner of gifts, kitchenware,
crafts, toys and gadgets, we are starting
to tap the potential of products and their
dynamic involvement in our shops.
People love stationery. A sense of
control and organisation comes free
with a fresh new notebook. A pencil
case brimming with coloured pencils is
instantly comforting, not to mention
the possibility and potential of a beautiful pack of postcards or writing paper.
Non-book products, like book products,
can inspire—and have inspired this new
area of publishing. They are not intended
to overtake, but to supplement our offer
and to provide customers with more of
what they want—and some things they
don’t know they want—from bookshops.
THE NEXT non-book product spotlight will be published in The Bookseller on 9th September.
For submission guidelines or advertising enquiries, contact business development manager Maria
Vassilopoulos via @ maria.vassilopoulos@thebookseller.com or d 020 3358 0393
1
Mid-Century Modern Postcards:
100 Postcards of Iconic Designs
THAMES & HUDSON, APRIL,
£14.95, 9780500420409
1 I don’t know whether to send
these postcards to everyone I
know, or stick all 100 on my wall.
Each postcard features an
original illustration of iconic
mid-century furniture design in
beautiful muted colours and
information about each item
can be found on the back of
cards. Not just for correspondence, these beauties are for
collectors, design aficionados or
those seeking inspiration for
their home.
Classic Comics Postcards:
20 Cards to Colour and Send
2 It doesn’t look to me like the
colouring craze is going away
anytime soon, but having
coloured in my fair share of
mandalas and flowers last year
I’m pleased to see this edgy set
of postcards appear. It includes
20 images of sci-fi, romance and
action adventure comics from
the 1950s and all at an
irresistible retail price. Awesome
for retro Father’s Day displays.
3
QUADRILLE, JULY, £15,
9781849498296
Interest and popularity in the Mexican Day
of the Dead seems to
be on the rise in the
UK, the imagery being
reproduced onto all kinds
of gift and homeware
items. This is an example
of a journal with lots of
added value, a beautiful,
gold-foiled sugar skull
on cloth binding, with
gilded page edges and a
ribbon marker. Go big for
Halloween!
The Can’t Sleep
Journal: Guided Colouring
for Restful Sleep
MICHAEL O’MARA, OCTOBER,
£9.99, 97817824665249
Combining Mindfulness,
restful sleep advice and
colouring in, this journal
can’t come quick enough.
Features beautiful illustrations to colour and
expert advice on how to
optimise your sleep, as
well as techniques to calm
your mind.
More than just a bike journal, it features 30 beautiful illustrations from Eliza
Southwood, a fantastic
artist who specialises in
silk-screen printing and
whose work brings to
mind the colourful punchy
travel posters of the
1920s. The journal uses
the “bucket list” concept
to help cyclists achieve
challenges and goals.
V&A: The Tearaway
Desk Planner
QUADRILLE, JUNE, £12,
9781849498692
3 It’s really hard to pick a
favourite from Quadrille’s new
range of V&A brand stationery,
but the Tearaway Desk Planner
just pipped the rest to the post.
Desk pads are fast becoming an
office staple. They are great for
scribbling notes and organising
your day and I am yet to find
one as pretty and pleasing to
the eye as this. With 60 tear-off
sheets and six different designs,
it’ll be the most elegant way to
organise yourself this summer.
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Day of the Dead
Hardback Journal
LAURENCE KING, JULY,
£12.95, 9781780678245
2
MICHAEL O’MARA, APRIL,
£7.99, 9781782435785
Audubon Journal
The Cyclist’s
Bucket Journal:
A Road Bike Journal.
Previewer’s Picks
well as gorgeous illustrations and a lovely satisfying soft finish. Combines
gardening, beauty, health
and cookery, you really
can’t go wrong.
Eat Pretty, Live
Well: A Guided Journal
CHRONICLE, APRIL,
£12.99, 9781452151922
Following on from the
success of Jolene Hart’s
Eat Pretty, this journal
can help you improve
and track your health
and beauty habits. It is
crammed with content as
ROGER LA BORDE, MAY,
£9.99, 738380911257
The journals from Roger
La Borde have such amazing attention to detail,
and are illustrated so
thoroughly throughout,
that they could almost
be described as wordless
picture books. Stunning
endpapers and a ribbon
marker; totally beautiful.
Use This Journal if
You Want to Take
Great Photographs
LAURENCE KING, JULY,
£12.95, 9781780678887
This innovative journal
prompts photographers
to take fun and inventive
photographs, following the success of the
bestselling Read This if
You Want to Take Great
Photographs. A great gift
and a perfect addition to
any photography section.
Tote Bags
Ulysses Tote Bag
PUBLIKUM, APRIL, £9.99,
9786082213675
A new range inspired
by quotes from literary
masterpieces. Last year’s
tax on plastic bags saw
sales of tote bags rise,
and they are fast becoming a bookshop staple.
This homage to Joyce’s
Ulysses, with its minimal
design and maximum
space for books, is a must!
The Canvas Art Bag
PICTURE PARLOUR, MARCH,
£28.50, 634158800528
New on the scene, Picture
Parlour is making so
much more than just tote
bags. Each design has
been screen printed by
hand onto high-quality
unbleached cotton canvas.
It comes folded and
presented in a kraft gift
box, making it a real
stand-out product this
spring.
B is for Book Tote Bag
GIBBS SMITH, APRIL, £9.99,
9781423644170
The LoveLit ranges from
Gibbs Smith are clever
and witty gifts for book
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lovers. Others in the new
series include L is for
Library and R is for Read.
Perfect for hauling books
about.
Notecards
patterns. The pencil set is
the natural next step,
including black and blue
pencils and a ruler in a
neat pencil box. Perfect
for visual thinkers.
RHS Exotic Notecards
FRANCES LINCOLN, AUGUST,
£12.99, 9780711238176
A notecard set with a
luxury difference: the
wallet has been printed
with images of exotic
birds and flowers on silk.
Containing 10 notecards
and envelopes printed
with designs from the
Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library.
QUADRILLE, JUNE, £15,
9781849498654
Die-cut, foil-embossed
notecards with matching
striped envelopes featuring the well-known cat
and lip images that Lulu
Guinness is renowned
for. These design-led
notecards are not just for
Lulu fans, but for anyone
seeking stylish and striking social stationery.
Millie Marotta:
Peeping Birds Mug
Everyday Notebooks
MELD HOME, SEPTEMBER,
£10, 5060132078556
After the success of her
beautiful and intricate
colouring books, Millie
Marotta is expanding
into gifts. Her signature
designs bring the beauty
of the outdoors inside
using touches of tonal
colours on fine china. The
whole range is out this
autumn and features tea
lights, plates, textiles and
more. This Peeping Bird
Mug sums the range up
perfectly: functional, striking and fun.
BabyLit Anna
Karenina Notebooks
Bright Ideas Neon
Coloured Pencils
CHRONICLE, APRIL,
£10.99, 9781452154787
Neon is going to be big
in fashion this summer
and I have already seen
a lot of stationery and
gifts following suit. What
better way to brighten up
spring displays than with
beautiful bright boxes of
crayons? A new twist on
the colouring trend.
Photo Albums
Lulu Guinness:
The Notecard Set
The new contemporary
range from The Art File
is right on trend for this
summer, combining a
mid-century palette
with gold foiling. Fabric
covered, ringbound and
beautifully finished.
Moomin Characters
Photo Album
BLUEPRINT PHOTO ALBUM,
JUNE, £7.99, 5055170578052
Cute and quirky, this
photo album is a great gift
for kids and old-school
Moomin fans alike. It fits
6"-by-4" photographs
and has gorgeous, classic
black and white-illustrated inside covers.
Record Books
GIBBS SMITH, APRIL,
£9.99, 9781423642732
The BabyLit series from
Gibbs Smith is both
adorable for children and
irresistible for collectors
of classic literature, and
so the expansion into
Related Products has
been greatly received.
Following on from its tote
bags are new notebook
sets, comprising three
(ruled) books with
patterned inside covers
and lined interiors.
Waterstones’ Top 5
Related Products
One Line a Day: A
Five-Year Memory Book
CHRONICLE, £11.99,
9780811870191
Hubbard & Reenie
Set of Notebooks
This compact, hardy,
cheerful little journal will
quickly become a part of
your everyday life, featuring 365 daily entries that
appear five to a page.
HUBBARD & REENIE,
APRIL, £12, 644221010945
These tactile little craft
books are made in
England using 100% recycled paper and vegetablebased inks, and feature
quirky Illustrations by
Katherine Morris, inspired
by flora and fauna. Overall,
they make you feel good
about taking notes!
Rory’s Story
Cubes Original
642 Things to Write
COILEDSPRING GAMES,
£9.99, 837654603970
CHRONICLE, £11.99,
9781452105444
Summer Meadow
Colouring Pencil Set
Really Tiny
Booklight (Blue)
These are fantastic dice
sets that introduce a
new genre or theme to
story writing. Not just for
kids, these are great for
creative writing and those
with a touch of writer’s
block. (Plus they are loads
of fun.)
REX INTERNATIONAL,
£1.50, 5027455399270
This is one of my favourite pencil sets, a little
cardboard tube with 12
different coloured pencils
inside. Great for colouring
and perfect for carrying
around, plus many other
designs are available.
My favourite writingprompt journal, this
is really inventive and
bizarre, with prompts that
really get your imagination going. There’s also a
great new pocket version
out, perfect for creative
commuters.
THAT COMPANY CALLED IF,
£6.99, 5035393051075
A book-lovers’ staple—
and one that is certainly
not celebrated enough.
Always on my checklist
when travelling, it’s
perfect for use on trains,
planes . . . and for reading
under the covers. ×
Tapestry Stitched
Notebook Set
RIFLE PAPER CO., APRIL,
£12.99, TBC
Thoreau Notecards
PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL
PRESS, MARCH, £10.99,
9781616894887
This pack of four notecards, each printed with
a quote from Henry David
Thoreau and representing a different season,
comes with colourful
photographic envelopes.
Gorgeous for all ages
and occasions.
Colouring
Seasalt: Life by the
Sea Birthday Book
RPS, APRIL, £8.99,
9781849757416
This birthdays and anniversaries book makes the
perfect gift, charmingly
illustrated with 10 colour
designs inspired by the
landscapes of Cornwall.
Cloth quarter-bound
and with thumbnail tabs,
it’s fantastic for a bright
spring offering.
Grids and Guides
Pencil Box
PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL
PRESS, APRIL, £10.99,
9781616894665
I am a huge fan of the
Grids & Guides notebooks,
with their incredibly
useful and satisfying
graphs, diagrams and
Tropic Address and
Birthday Book
THE ART FILE, MAY, £10,
5035268359534
Rifle Paper is renowned
for its use of vibrant,
unique colour combinations and patterns, and
their new range is just
that: unique and beautiful.
These three illustrated
notebooks are printed on
canvas and have Rifle’s
standard lie-flat binding.
A real luxury feel for the
everyday.
Gifts
The Unicorn: Designed
by Wintercroft
CARLTON BOOKS, MAY,
£9.99, 9781780977348
Now for something
entirely different. Following the success of the Fox
and Skull masks comes
the Unicorn, designed by
Steve Wintercroft. Easy to
build from the pressout templates and with
numbered tabs, it’s so
much fun—and so impressive once completed.
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