Waterstones are the evil empire, and alongside all the other big chains are entirely in the pocket of the publishers, who pay vast sums of money to have their books promoted i.e. put on tables / in the window / 3 for 2 deals etc – nothing to do with what the staff may believe to be the quality of the books. It’s killing smaller-name writers who are just starting out and don’t have the weight of marketing behind them. Support small indies, who promote books on the basis of their own worth! (Of course, if I ever get published, and my publisher wants to pay Waterstones to put me on the table, well it’s completely fair enough.)