Waterstones confirms change in policy for author events

New advice has been issued by Waterstones to its bookstores on running author events

A spokesperson for Waterstones told The Bookseller that: 'We are reviewing the experience that we offer our customers and are moving away from open-ended, handselling events and asking shops to focus on well rounded event programmes that are more engaging in the long term.'

The comment follows a blog post on Monday by self-published author Ben Galley in which he wrote: 'Over the last week or so, a new directive has been filtering down from Waterstones head office...Simply put, the directive suggests that all Waterstones branches should cancel their local author events, with the exception of local book launches or those that are expected to create a queue. The events that they retain should last no longer than 90 minutes and be staffed by booksellers throughout.'