This is just a short thought, and a call out to readers and booksellers and authors alike. Help a guy out here.
The more I study the current models for promoting and marketing books, the more it seems like a big whirlwind of futility. Hundreds of authors with almost mirrored lists of e-mail contacts that – while some of them probably buy books, in no way buy all hundred authors’ books, or even every book by their favorites. Bookmarks and “events” and you-tube trailers, websites grasping for some sort of SEO advantage that will actually drag in new readers… There are even marketing “gurus” out there trying to act as if this is a magic formula that can be taught, and not a unique problem for each author and every book. When you step back even half a pace it begins to appear foolish.
If you are selling books (not as an author, just selling them) you reach out to try and build a direct sales list, and you market heavily to bookstores (particularly the independents). You diversify your efforts. Here’s what I think. The greatest number of books are sold to, and through bookstores. These days, a lot of them are also sold on Amazon and Barnes & Noble on the web.
The smart choice seems to me to be to concentrate efforts on independent bookstores and possibly libraries, and using Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or some other online vendor ( like The Horror Mall ) to keep your product readily available to your Internet contacts.
This all in mind, I’m going to call out to you. If you have an independent bookstore in your area that you think might carry my books – dark fantasy, fantansy, tie-in, horror, or thriller (I write all of those) I want to hear about it. If you put their contact info in the comments of this post, I’ll contact them, give them some link-back, a short interview, and begin to build a network. Instead of spamming them with a thousand e-mails a month from hopeful authors, let’s try connecting in a personal, one-to-one fashion. As we work through it, I’ll share results, comments, and of course, all of the store information will be right here in the comments — until it outgrows that and I import it into it’s own category and page.
This, of course, is just thinking at this stage, but let’s start by building that list. If I get response later tonight I’ll put in three local entries for my area to help move this along.
If you have thoughts, suggestions, or you just want to argue, all of that is welcome in the comments as well.
-DNW
Written by David Wilson - Visit WebsiteFollow me on Twitter
In Richmond, VA, Creatures and Crooks would be the place to carry your books:
http://www.cncbooks.com/
All their contact info is on their home page. Good luck with this project!
Thanks…and that is close enough for me to visit and sign books if it became an option. First entry.
David
Love you new site. And I hope that comment about those who “just want to argue” didn’t mean me ;-). Although if it did, I guess, hey, you caught me.
Would a store which carries both new and used like Dallas’ Half Price Books count?
Sonja
I made contact with that first bookstore today (the one in Richmond) My goal is to create a network of stores across the country where I can tell readers – they have my books. If you think that Half Price Books would carry my new titles as well as used books, sure. Mostly I’m looking for the sort of place that caters to Sci-fi, Mystery, and Horror, I think…or at least has a good section of that sort of thing…and is not a major chain.
And now (lol) I wasn’t talking about you.
David
Could not agree with you more on the store split…almost all of our books are going out to indies rather than the chains. This makes sense in a number of ways:
1. You talk to owners…not a manager who is not the buyer.
2. No 70+ days of credit to give. With indies…if they sell it, we normally get our money within the week and they get new stock…simple.
3. The indies, in the main, treat buyers with respect and therefore, repeat business is commonplace. In the majors, sales are often based on price.
4. You don’t have to pay for window space in the indies. Over here in UK, publishers pay to take window space.
I put together a network of over 50 book shops, giving us a good spread across the UK…which can only be good for your good self, David, as we market your wares over here.
You were a partial inspiration for this project, Neil…and I’m really looking forward to spreading my madness throughout the UK.