I guess I am still naive about the book industry, because this surprised me. The The London Times has an article talking about what large bookstores (in this case Waterstone in England) charge publishers to put books in the front section of the stores.

The reader may imagine that merit alone has inspired the country’s largest book chain to champion the volume now resting in their hands. The truth is a little less romantic.

In a confidential letter to publishers seen by The Times, Waterstone’s has set out what it expects them to pay if they want their books to be well promoted in its network of more than 300 stores this Christmas.

The most expensive package, available for only six books and designed to “maximise the potential of the biggest titles for Christmas”, costs £45,000 per title.

That’s right, they charge to put a book out on the tables in front–and if a publisher doesn’t want to do it, the store reduces its order of the book and practically refuses to carry it.

Anthony Cheetham, the chairman of Quercus books, a small independent publisher, said: “It’s not a system you can opt out of. If Smith’s offer you one of these slots and you say no, their order doesn’t go down from 1,000 copies to 500 copies. It goes down to 20 copies.”

You might think that if you buy the book recommended by the staff or by school children, you are getting some sort of authentic representation of a book people like. The answer is, sort of.

At Borders, bookshop staff vote to decide the book of the month, while schools are polled to find the children’s book of the month. But the publishers still have to pay an undisclosed fee for the chosen book to be awarded the accolade.

This is so creepy to me. As much as my local independent chain Copperfield’s lets me down by rarely having what I want, I doubt this kind of thing goes on. At least, I hope not. Maybe I should ask.

What Waterstone charges for the honor of putting a book on a table: