You Say You've Written a Book..

We get phone calls on an almost daily basis with”I've written a book and it's published by (insert a self-publishing service here)". We love local authors. We love to support someone passionate about what they have written.... but there are some very definite do's and don'ts when it comes to getting that self-published book into an indie bookstore.

First, what do we mean by "self-pubbed". We mean that your book was not bought by a full service publisher that supplies an editor, cover designer, and does all the marketing and distributing of your book, for which you get royalty payments.

Here are some suggestions of how not to and how to approach the indie bookstore with your book

1) DO NOT do a cold call the week after your book comes out. DO visit the bookstore before, after, and during the writing and printing of the book. Bookstores are much more likely to want to carry the book written by the person that has been in the store than by the person that calls them with "I live five minutes away and have never been in your store"

2) DO NOT be rude. DO treat the person you talk to as you would want to be treated. The people working in a bookstore are professionals passionate about books. But they are also overworked and under paid. Coming in with an attitude that your book is the best and we're stupid for not wanting to carry 30 copies immediately will not make us want to make an effort to add your book to our huge pile of books waiting to be reviewed.

3) In your email to us DO NOT mention that it's currently available on the EvilRiverEmpire (or other megachain stores), we know that EVERY book is available on the EvilRiverEmpire... that is NOT a selling point to us. DO tell us how to acquire your book. Is it listed with the major book distributors? Do we get it from the "publisher"? Do we get it from you directly? What is the wholesale price? (It is best to have a set wholesale price so we don't have to haggle with you about pricing. Industry standards are 40-50% off list price)

4) So now that we do have a few copies of your book in stock, DO NOT disappear. You want to sell books, we want to sell books. It's a lot easier for us to sell the book if you let people know they can get it at our store. Link to us in your emails, website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Tell Aunt Martha and Cousin Sue. Are you doing a reading/signing with us? Then please don't leave all the publicity work to us.... make sure we have cover images, author images, a full bio, blurb of the book, any reviews you have already received, etc. Are you doing a press release for the event? Then let us see it first. We have experience with the local book section editor, the local TV station, etc. We can help make sure your event listing appears... but DO NOT expect us to do ALL your publicity, and please DO NOT only link to the EvilRiverEmpire on your online places.... like I said we want to sell your books as much as you do... and we can't if your telling people to go somewhere else to get it.

5) DO NOT invite yourself to do a book signing. DO NOT email (the first one we get from you) and say "I see you are having a Dog Day, my book is about dogs, and can I come?" DO let us know that you are interested in an event at the store. DO let us know when you are available. DO understand that many of our events are set up 3-6 months in advance. DO trust that we know what events work at our location.

6) DO NOT assume that having your book at a chain store is the same as having at an Indie. DO understand the value that an Indie has for your town. You are local right? Your kids went to school here? You've used the local parks, police, and ambulance? Guess who pays for that- NOT EvilRiverEmpire, NOT MegaSameEveryWhere Chain. WE do, the Indies. So having your book in an Indie store is not just about selling more copies and having more places to list that sell it, it is about supporting your community that will in turn support you.

I want to take a minute to highlight again what I think the most important thing to do is- BE NICE.

We are professionals. We know what will and can sell in our store. We know the subjects are customers are interested in. We know the price points they are willing to pay. If we choose not to carry your book, it is not personal; and understand we will not make the decision to carry your book on the spot. We rarely do that with the major publishing houses that send us hundreds of advance reading copies, so we won't do it with you either. Be willing to leave us a copy of your book, with the understanding that we have over 10,000 books already in the store, we cannot guarantee that we can be able to return it to you. Think of leaving that copy as an investment in future sales.

Best of luck!

-Sam