Philip Pullman is right – discounting is the true book lover’s enemy | Patrick Barkham

Aggressive pricing means small bookshops make little economic sense, and carry on for love not moneySomeone should write a book about the economics of bookselling. Nothing about Britain’s 900 independent bookshops adds up.I visited half-a-dozen on a book tour last week. Books have never been more beautiful and small shops never more creative in selling these lovely objects. Many indies have sofas or cafes. They all convene book groups (seven a week in the case of Simply Books in Bramhall,