When I left Vermont's book scene in 1991 after six years as owner of a small "progressive" store, there were only a handful of independents left. It was only a matter of time before the "superstores" hit town. 

Even after Barnes & Noble came to Burlington, Va., in 1992, though, a few small businesses, mainly specializing in used books, opened for business. Peaceful coexistence between chains and independents still seemed possible. 

Then Borders arrived. It was a major commercial addition to Church Street, a browser's delight combining one-stop shopping for books, CDs and videos with a cafe atmosphere and author visits. Yet its department store approach and discount prices made life very tough for the independents.

Rise of the chains

As the '90s began, independent bookstores still held the largest slice of the nation's retail market - over 32 percent - while large chains accounted for 22 percent, according to the Book Industry Study Group. At century's end, the four largest chains had 51 percent of the market. 

The two leading online booksellers, Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com, have over 10 million customers. Meanwhile, in Seattle, once home to more than a half-dozen independents, only one shop remains. Among the factors contributing to the decline: the emergence of online alternatives and the chains' lower prices, better parking, and tendency to mimic the community spirit of the independents. 

Barnes & Noble has more than 500 superstores, designed to look like upscale university outlets or plush libraries. Borders has an alternative feel, befitting a chain that began as an independent in Ann Arbor, Mich. But K-Mart bought the business for $190 million in 1992 and built it into a nationwide chain before selling it off in 1995. Squeezed by these superstores, department store chains and price clubs, at least 2,000 independents have gone under in the past 10 years. Today there are about 3,000 left.

Publishing goes global

Meanwhile, foreign publishing houses are beginning to dominate the U.S. In particular, Bertelsmann of Germany, the largest publisher in the world, has been on a takeover binge. Already the owner of Bantam Doubleday Dell, Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998 then bought half of barnesandnoble.com, giving it control of over a fifth of the market. 

Not to be left behind, Barnes & Noble made a play to buy Ingram, the largest book distributor in the U.S. This would give it access to information about many of its independent competitors, plus the power to grab bestseller sales. The chain withdrew its offer under pressure from a nationwide protest that produced thousands of letters and calls to the Federal Trade Commission. 

Nine corporate giants - General Electric, Sony, AT&T/Liberty Media, Disney, Time Warner, News Corporation, Viacom, Seagram and Bertelsmann - own most of the world's major broadcast stations, newspapers, magazines, recording and film companies, and publishing houses. Though broadcast and cable channels continue to multiply and bookstore racks are filled, the surface diversity masks increasingly centralized ownership of most output. 

The trend isn't lost on publishers, who increasingly ask Barnes & Noble and Borders for guidance about everything from book jacket design to what has the best chance of success. Short-term customer demand, as defined by the largest wholesale buyers, can determine a manuscript's destiny.

What's at stake

It's a question of diversity. Independents spur publishers to take risks with less commercial authors and topics that the conglomerates won't touch. According to New Press director Andre Schiffrin, U.S. publishing has moved markedly to the right, abandoning critical commentary and New Deal liberalism. "The larger houses will say these decisions are market-driven," he noted. "But it's hard to argue that there are no readers open to alternative views." 

When it comes to books, a one-style-fits-all approach undermines our ability to discuss what a culture should be. As Michele Chihara notes in the Boston Phoenix, bookstores "traffic not just in paper and cardboard, but in content. In the book market, a diversity of retailers translates very directly into a diversity of ideas." 

New England Booksellers Association president Rusty Drughan adds that the primary reason to protect independent stores is to protect freedom of expression and "the flourishing of ideas - with the very possibility of social change."

Fighting Back

In 1998, 26 independent booksellers joined the American Booksellers Association in an antitrust lawsuit against Borders and Barnes & Noble, alleging they use their clout with publishers to secure cheaper prices and preferential treatment. Specifically, the ABA accuses the chains of soliciting special discounts and threatening large returns if they don't get the best deal. 

In a previous lawsuit, independents and the ABA charged that large publishers favor chains through unfair practices like paying large sums for co-op advertising to maximize their exposure. Since small publishers normally don't have this option, the chances are much slimmer that their titles will be prominently displayed or ordered at all.

"We're struggling for the existence of independent booksellers," explains Avin Mark Domnitz, ABA's executive director. "The dominance of the national chains is not in the best interest of the American culture." 

Another hopeful sign is the emergence of some independent publishers passionately committed to books that defy market predictions. Last year, the ABA pitched in with "Book Sense," a project that includes national marketing and a Web site designed to save the independent way of life. 

Still, without serious antitrust action to limit corporate acquisitions, this could be a losing battle. Over 2,500 U.S. companies still publish books, but half the revenues go to only six. A few retail chains, working with mega-corps like Paramount, Harcourt Brace, Time Warner, Reader's Digest and Newhouse, are positioned to help shape most production and packaging in the literary marketplace.

Hope on the Web

According to Laura Moriarty, assistant director of Small Press Distributor, the leading wholesaler of independent books, e-commerce and Internet search capabilities make back-list buying easier and more common. "The Internet is another way to locate the communities who are both producing and consuming the small press books," she explains. 

Two SPD projects - Get Lit and Underground California - are specifically designed to assist independent stores. They offer special discounts, free advertising and signage to stimulate orders and display of independent press books. SPD also has launched an online bookstore offering 8,500 titles with an emphasis on non-mainstream writers. 

Independent stores know they need an online presence to stay competitive. Two of the options are Book Sense and SeekBooks. The former, a distributor linking about 100 outlets, issues bestseller lists based on independent store sales and is about to launch an online ordering service for its members. At SeekBooks, a "You & Me" program offers small booksellers an online annex with more than 500,000 titles and its own "hot list."

The Threat of e-Books

Yet such efforts to revitalize and preserve independent bookselling are concurrent with a technological transformation that may alter the way millions of people obtain and read books. Thousands of titles already are published and sold in digital form. Others can be purchased in electronic form directly from publishers. Within a few years, back-list titles will be available electronically from larger houses. 

In the world of e-books, there are no printing, shipping or warehousing costs. Books can be downloaded directly into a computer or a light, portable reader. The Rocket e-Book is one of a half-dozen prototypes currently being developed and marketed. Consumers are expected to become hooked, drawn by the lure that they'd need only one "book" for most of their reading. 

Theoretically, e-books mean that more authors will be published, reader access will expand, and sales of independently published works will increase. But the good news for publishers and authors comes with a price: independent stores face a new and almost irresistible form of competition. 

In the not-too-distant future, bookstores may become cultural "destinations" as much as suppliers. And what they'll supply is information, electronic reading devices, and a comfortable atmosphere. Imagine a cross between Borders and Radio Shack. 

This may work to the advantage of some independent stores. If the inventory is largely "virtual," expertise and local savvy can again become a competitive advantage. 

"Independent bookstores are well suited to being the successful bricks-and-mortar seller in that environment because it becomes about the experience, not the commodity," argues Len Vlahas of the ABA. "We'll be the winner, because of that human connection." 

Maybe. But only if independents keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology and are willing and able to invest in hardware. More likely, we're heading for a two-tiered system: state-of-the-art multimedia stores, mostly chain-owned, and traditional bookshops, mostly independent, that feature older and out-of-print books with limited new releases. 

"Traditionalists" and bibliophiles count on independent bookstores surviving and even thriving as havens in a high-tech world. Borders may have the discounts, the mass-market blockbusters and the technology edge. But independents have some things the chains don't - uniqueness, community roots, openness to fresh voices and a love of books that goes beyond the bottom line.

Greg Guma is the editor of Toward Freedom, a world affairs magazine, and author of The People's Republic: Vermont and the Sanders Revolution. A longer version of this article appeared on the Media Channel Web site. Contact Greg Guma at MavMedia@aol.com.