How Do I Get Local Bookstores to Carry My Books? by @nblackburn01

bookstore

Camela Cami Thompson asked,[share ] “How do I get a bookstore to carry my books?”[/share] Excellent question, Camela! Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

I frequently hear authors complain that independent bookstores won’t carry their books for personal reasons, or because there is a dislike or disdain for independently published books. While this could be true in a very, very few cases, this isn’t the norm and a rejection should not be taken as a sign of a bias against the industry.

We all know that indie published books have carried a stigma, but those times are a changin’. Even indie bookstores are finding requests to carry independently published books.

On that note, though, the problem remains that a brick-and-mortar bookstore only has limited space, unlike Amazon who has huge warehouses and streamlined processes to supply their goods to customers. There is a calculated profit that must be made for the store to stay in business, just as there is limited space for store owners to take risks with books that they will not sell at a profit. To stay in business, independent bookstores have established clear policies and procedures that must be in place for indie published books or even at this time, traditionally published books by lesser known authors to reach the bookshelves of their bookstores. Remember that independent bookstores range from small stores to multi-store chains such as Anderson’s Bookstore outside Chicago.

In preparing this post, I had the opportunity to interview several bookstore owners who range geographically from the beach town where I live now, to the biggest independent bookstore outside Chicago. (I will be sending Rachel an invoice for the books I purchased while at my local store!) {Editor note: Ha.}

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

In a review of the internet literature on this topic, which was supported by the bookstore owners I spoke with, some overall ideas did appear.

Does your local bookstore have the following in place?:

  • Co-op Policy: The big thing that stood out is that most of the stores that I interviewed or were discussed in the literature review, most stores offered a local author programs have a co-op policy. The co-op (or partnership opportunities) included a stocking fee and commission for books sold. If marketing, such as mailers, book signings and other add-ons, such as prominent store placement were included, the price went up substantially. Fees ranged from $50 to $750, depending on the package selected.
  • Networking: I am a big fan of networking. I think the best business deals are made through networking. Bookstores are interested in the business you’ll bring to the store, which is why they are helping you reach out to other bookstores if your books sell successfully in their store. Bookstores help authors with other stores to develop a following for the author. If the author has a following, more books are sold. Remember, if you develop a name, even locally, that will result in more sales in their stores. Be prepared to give names for their mailing lists if you go with a package that includes mailers. Make sure that those names you give are those who want to be contacted by the bookstore. When an author works with these stores in a partnership fashion versus a what-can-you-do-for-me manner, the stores want to do business with them. Remember: Friends want friends to be successful!
  • Niche: I call ninety percent of the books the Big 5 produce “cookie cutter books.” They are all the same and tied up with nice pretty red ribbons. Know your book. Is it considered a niche book? Is the bookstore looking for titles/themes that the Big 5 can’t touch on? Is it written about local history or set locally? There are numerous authors who write these types of books. It is one of the reasons that I love indie books so much.
  • Local author events/book signings: Some bookstores host special events for local authors, which include book signings or presentations on their books. Authors are allowed to sell their books at these events. There may or may not be a special fee for this, but find out if this is an opportunity you might be able to take advantage of.
  • E-book/POD options: If shelving space isn’t available for a print copy of your book, has the store developed any kind of e-book system, such as Indiebound or print on demand options? I have frequently purchased books from independent bookstores outside my residential area because they had this option for purchase.

scrabble, BadRedhead Media

BE PROFESSIONAL

I can’t end this post without also focusing on professional behavior. In all of the posts that I have written, I stress that published authors are also business professionals. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always carry over to presentation to those whose business the author wants. It is imperative that authors act professional and ensure they present a quality product.

  • Book: Does your book look professional? Is it PROFESSIONALLY edited? Is the cover a stock photo with block lettering or a professionally designed cover? Is it professionally bound?
  • Dress: When you meet with the store, are you dressed professionally or did you show up in jeans?
  • Scheduling: Did you set up an appointment with the local bookstore to talk about your book or just pop in and expect them to drop everything? Did you set up an appointment with the store manager or person in charge of buying books to discuss stocking your book and to ask about policies? Even stopping by the store to say hello and asking who you should meet with is appropriate. But just going into the store and expecting the manager to drop what they are doing to meet with you shows a disrespect for their time.
  • Behavior: Are you acting as a professional? In my discussions with the store managers, as well as a review of the literature, author behavior was front and center. Do you expect the stores to take your book with no commitment from you? If your book is declined, are you acting in an unprofessional manner, such as arguing with the store manager? Chances are if you do, your book will never see the light of day on that store’s bookshelves!
  • Presentations: In events, how are you presenting yourself? Are you a storyteller with an inviting presentation, or do your nerves get the best of you and cause you to shut down? Those who capture the audience sell the most books. If you must, practice/script your presentations to an audience. There are very few people who can simply go out and wing a presentation and have it work for them. Don’t risk it. You might not get a second chance.
  • Identification: I found a helpful article by Roz Morris, whoM I consider a guru on all things indie. She stated that when she approached local bookstores, she didn’t state that she was a self-published or indie author. She identified herself as a local author. Most of the bookstores, if all the other aspects discussed above are in place, want to support local authors.

BE A PARTNER

One of the bookstores where I now live (a beach town) carries a large number of self-published books by local authors. The owner told me that while most of the authors she has worked with are very professional and have an understanding of PARTNERING with independent bookstores to sell their books, one author still stands out in her head. This gentleman popped into her store in cargo shorts and flip flops. His book had a run-of-the-mill feeling to it and she stated it looked as though it was just thrown together. When she declined to sell the book, the author became argumentative with her, accusing her of not selling indie published books.

In one of the pieces I reviewed, there was an interesting comment that stated if local bookstores wanted the community to support them, then the bookstore must be willing to support local authors. So on that note, if local authors want local bookstores to support them, remember to put your best foot forward—both your product and yourself.

Sign up for my newsletter and never miss a post again! I will never share your email and that’s a promise. Follow me on Twitter @RachelintheOC or @BadRedheadMedia for social media, branding, or marketing help. Increase your blog traffic by participating in #MondayBlogs (a Twitter meme I created to share posts on Mondays — no book promo)
All content copyrighted unless otherwise specified. © 2015 by BadRedhead Media aka Rachel Thompson, author. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided a link back to this page and proper attribution is given to me as the original author. 

3 Comments

  1. Claudia H. Blanton on May 25, 2015 at 6:28 am

    a very thorough blog post, I will share this information with my writer group – nice, thank you!

  2. Lloyd Lofthouse on May 25, 2015 at 9:18 am

    In 2008, when the 1st edition of my 1st novel came out, it landed in the local Barnes & Noble less than two miles from our house. The only reason that happened was because I signed a contract and self-published through iUniverse right before it was purchased by Author Solutions in 2007 (I wouldn’t recommend any element of Author Solution today to even someone I don’t like as it is a giant nightmare vampire that will drain author’s dry of $$$$).

    At the time, Barnes & Noble still owned 49% of iUniverse and they had a program where books that were honored with an Editor’s and/or Publisher’s Choice award would be stocked in the closest Barnes & Noble nearest the author’s house. My Splendid Concubine’s 1st edition earned those two awards. I also managed to stock that novel in several independent bookstores in my area—two would go out of business within the next year or two. Four of those indie bookstores hosted author events that ranged from standing room only to one where no one came.

    In fact, in 2003, iUniverse was recognized by publishing industry groups for its Editors’ Choice designation putting that company ahead of the other six print-on-demand companies (that I think have all been bought out by Author Solutions since then—-again, I don’t recommend this company. If they contact you, I suggest that you run, and run fast in the opposite direction).

    I wasn’t happy with the changes at iUniverse that followed the Author Solutions buy out, and I left iUniverse in 2010 and published the 2nd edition of my 1st novel on my own with my own ISBN # under my own imprint, but by 2010, I’d given up working with any kind of brick-and-mortar bookstores because of the time and trouble involved. It took time to drive to all of those bookstores. And for the stores who agreed to the Co-op arrangement, It also meant driving back to those bookstores every few months to see if they owed me any money and to restock more copies if the ones they carried had all sold. While I enjoyed presenting at the few author events I had, even when no one showed up, in the end, I found it easier to find an audience and sell books through my Blogs and social networking.

    But I didn’t have an internet author platform in 2008. It took more than two years just to learn what an author’s platform was and build it. During the first two years before I had that internet platform up and running and attracting readers, I sold a little more than 500 copies of my first novel. Since 2010, I’ve sold more than 20,000 copies and they are still selling but much slower as the competition continues to grow.

    I think that traditional published authors have and are learning from indie authors how to find their own readers through an author’s internet platform. I think these platforms were first built by was pioneer indie authors who were on their own from the start and many of them established what the internet publishing world is today. It was from a few of those pioneers that I learned what I had to do to build my internet author’s platform. I also joined the 2nd oldest writers club in the country, The California Writers Club (CWC) founded in 1909 by Jack London and friends and that brought me in contact with many authors, both traditionally and indie published and we help each other in almost every aspect of what it takes to publish and promote a book. In fact, the Berkeley branch of the CWC hosted two author events for me that went well and were much better attended than any of the brick-and-mortar bookstore author events I had back in 2008.

  3. book promotion companies on October 23, 2023 at 10:02 am

    Find the neighborhood booksellers who carry the genre of your book. Each bookshop might have its own standards and preferences for accepting books.

Leave a Comment