Interesting post on Steve Weber's blog a few days ago that I happen to run into accidentally today. Actually, I was on Bob Baker's blog and Bob was talking about Steve's book and I was pleasantly surprised that Steve has a blog (where have I been?) which you can see for yourself at http://weberbooks.com/selling/selling.htm.
Anyway, and the point of this post, is that Steve was reporting on his blog about a California bookstore that was closing down and the owner was blaming the Internet as being the cause. As I told Steve in the comment section, let's think about this for a minute.
If you are not a NY published author and you've had a time trying to get your books into said bookstores, what are you going to do? Accept your fate?
No way.
We explore other alternatives because that's the way we authors are. Self-published authors, small press authors with limited distribution, ebook authors...there are thousands of us who have tried and tried to get our books into bricks and mortar bookstores; yet, unless they're an indie, they won't even give you the time of day unless you know someone or you have become someone who is nationally known for selling an extraordinary amount of books.
Now, I don't mean to come down hard on these bookstores because I know there is limited space and it's all about business, but what do they think the self-published and small press authors are going to do?
They're flocking to the Internet to sell their books.
Well, when they flocked to the Internet, their aim was to get their readers to flock to the Internet, too, so they're out there writing articles about how to promote your books on the Internet, using tags, all that good stuff, for those READERS to find when looking for a particular subject in the search engines. If they can convince these readers how easy it is to buy online and even offer them a fantastic good deal in the meantime, and those readers find out how easy it is to whip out that credit card inside of trapsing down to the local bookstore, do you think they're going to be loyal to these bookstores and decline the offer just so their local bookstore will come out ahead?
I don't think so.
Now, if these bookstores had been good little bookstores and let us in, if only for a short time, just maybe, we might even be promoting THEM on our little Internet that is to blame for their closings. Did they ever think about doing that?
My point is, when I hear about a bookstore closing, it does make me sad because it's one thing I do love and that is going into one and browsing in person, rather than over the Internet, but if said bookstore blames the Internet, isn't that kind of not fair?
Authors are a great bunch of people. They put so many hard hours into writing books that readers just crave. If the bookstores would support self-published and otherwise, then maybe, just maybe, it could have started a great thing for this particular bookstore and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't have to close their doors because all these authors who are promoting over the Internet would be plugging those bookstores who have let them in.
Go here and watch a video about The Book Baron, a bookstore in Anaheim, California, that was forced to close because "of the Internet."
What's your opinion on this? Who's to blame - the Internet or the bookstores themselves?
Tags: How to Pump UP Your Book Promotion, online book promotion, author publicity, book promotion, book promotion tips, virtual book tour, author interviews, guest blogger
7 comments:
This is an interesting post. As the manager at a smaller independent bookstore, I must say that a bookstore must work to keep customers and grow it's customer base. It's best to find a niche or two that works well with your local, long-time customers and will also be advantageous to bringing in new customers.
We have found the romance genre' to be one of our niche's. Our romance manager has worked extremely hard making contacts with authors and publicists/P.R. firms who are as committed to romance as she is. What started as one booksigning one year, has turned into a year where we've had authors in our store every month beginning in March. We will have our August signing, then skip September because we have been chosen as the store to host the annual multi-author booksigning for our local RWA chapter in October. All because we found a niche that worked for the store and employees that love the opportunities presented to them in this niche. And we are very author friendly. We have hosted authors who aren't very well-known and many that have books published with some of the small publishing companies that started out as ebook publishers. So, we are really using the internet to our advantage.
We haven't forgotten the other genre's and provide our customers with the excellent selection they have been used to. Not only do we offer a little bit of something for everyone, but we do all we can to help a customer find a book through us, rather than sending them on an internet search. We do special orders for books we don't have on our shelves. We search out books that are out-of-print and harder to find. They don't have to provide their CC info to some unknown entity. And most of the customers who ask us about a book, will order it from us rather than choose another source.
In my opinion, if an owner sees sales dropping and doesn't seek out new ways of attracting customers, they must decide if it truly is the internet that closed their doors. Our owner has asked his staff their opinions on what may or may not work, and has listened. I feel this has been key in our continued success in the face of "bigger" competitors.
I can't really address the bookstore mentioned in your blog because it appears it would be like comparing apples and watermelons.
Thank you for allowing me to address this.
Our store can be found online: http://thebookstore-radcliff.com Drop by and let us know you saw us here and see if your favorite author will be visiting us for a signing.
From Betty's POV, I can see where she's coming from, so I agree with what she's saying. But I also agree with you, Dorothy. I was supposed to be included in a booksigning with two other YA authors next month at B&N. I was told by the author who made the contact at B&N that the lady was unable to order my books. I may be self-published, but my books are avail thru Ingram. Or I could've ordered them myself and brought them.
Now, I'm out and it's just going to be the other two authors (who are traditionally published). I'm a little hurt and a lot disappointed. I find it hard to believe that she was unable to order my books when I received a check a month ago from a wholesaler that only sells to public libraries.
Self-publishing is still getting a bad rap, but it's a lot better now than it was back then. My books are just as good as theirs, and yet being a local author seems to mean nothing to these chain stores.
I reside in New Zealand and am an author published by small and medium publishers in the Sates and the UK. Some of the independent bookstores in my neighbourhood go out of their way to stock my books and host my book launches. Will I buy other authors' books from them or from the Internet? Surely that's a no-brainer. Support the community, your local readers and writers, and we will support you.
Of course, whether that's enough to form a customer base that can ensure the survival of the shop, is a different matter. But hey, I've just heard that the local branch of Borders is closing down... food for thought for sure!
It's the bookstores. And the bookstores ALONE. Look at how much space they have! Don't you think it would make good business sense to include a section for SELF-PUBLISHED, SMALL-PRESS, and INDEPENDENT-LY published authors?
HELL NO! It's all about name-recognition, social placement, and the like--all to the tune of the Almighty Dollar.
So the bookstores say: (in a Dick Cheney sort of way) "Go f$ck yourself! If you ain't published TRADITIONALLY, then we don't want you!"
But notice how little the space is in the bookshelves. I swear--and I'm not kidding here--there was LITTLE in the way of room for all of the books I saw down at my local Borders.
But at a used bookstore? COME ON IN! THERE'S *PLENTY* OF ROOM!
Packed in a sardine can, or...? A 10x15 storage unit.
Which would you choose to shop in? Preferably the place that has LARGER space to move around in. Even the SPACE between the aisles is piddley assed small at Borders. I had to keep saying: "Excuse me! Wide load coming through!"--because I was afraid of knocking some poor kid over with my fat butt; trying to pass... :0)
So when you have the internet, you have NO LIMITS. And that's what we should be embracing: A WORLD WITHOUT LIMITS.
Like our books.
Celise:
Being a local author used to mean something years ago. But nowadays, it has no pull with the local bookchains.
Try instead to place your books inside independent stores or used book stores. They would be happy to have you--to say the least.
Good luck! :0)
I buy all my books from an independent book store that is inconvenient to get to and 25 kilometers away. Why?
They have an excellent rewards program. Every six months I get a rewards check based on how many books I have bought. I usually get at least 1 free book every 6 months.
After doing my sums, I found that given the number of books I buy throughout the year, the cost of the postage and handling and the conversion rate made buying books online bookstores overseas too expensive.
I looked at all the bookstores in the CBD in Melbourne and found Reader's Feast had the best rewards program. So now I get all my books through them.
If they have to order a book in, they pay for delivery not me and I enjoy the bonus of getting at least one book free every 6 months, plus being able to afford more books because I don't pay for postage and handling or get diddled on the conversion rate. Once I have ordered the book, all I have to do is wait for the notification in the mail that the book has arrived. Too easy.
Dorothy,
Wonderful article. I realized this long ago. I got tired of publicist telling me to focus on the bookstores. After touring and selling only 4 books in 3 days to "bookstores"--no pre-promotions, no bookclub roundup, I may as well have been invisible--I decided there had to be a better way to make money than that venue.
Even with the plunging book sales, many chain bookstores continue their "snobbish" ways. I say, continue on. I'm planning to internet my way to my book fortune. I don't have time to wait for this publisher or that publisher to get "me" and thus give me the approval the bookstores seek. Uh uh. Not my style. More like shot out of a canon with fire licking my butt and only 1 cup of water within a 1 mile radius. LOL.
Again, good article and great tips.
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