Saturday I had a signing at a nationwide chain bookstore where the
author provides their books for the event.
This is the third time I have been a guest author with the chain and
have found each store to be a different set-up.
I make a point of arriving ahead of the scheduled event time to prepare
my presentation of the books (product) to the best advantage. Each time I have found the staff to be
friendly and helpful within the limitations the various stores presents.
Visibility
is everything – the rest is up to me.
Providing the books also involves paying the bookstore a
percentage of each sale. It’s a little
like renting a booth, however, the cost is based on the number of sales made
and that depends on how much advertising is done for the event. The store is going to sell their products
whether any of my books are sold or not.
The customers are coming because of the store’s variety of specialty
books and other items related to their market niche.
Since the books are sold within the store they must pass through
the store cash register sales for the day where state sales tax is calculated
for the books sold and charged to the customer.
That said – it doesn’t affect the author’s percentage of the sales. I paid 40% of retail cost to purchase the
books from the publisher and pay 50% of sales to the store, giving me 50% back
on the retail purchase price of the book; so my profit is 10% on each sale (40%
to purchase, 10% profit, 50% t o the store = 100% of the retail purchase
price). This isn’t a large amount of
profit (not quite free – but close), but I did rent the space in the store
based on sales. If there were no books
sold, I would not be charged for the space.
So why try to sell at a chain store niche market – it’s within the
niche market that I target. It is also
exposure to the public outside of my 50 mile radius of home. Each time I have store signings I learn
something new in how to communicate with the public and what approach is the
most fruitful when trying to promote interest in my writing. While Christian based, my writing is
historical/fiction/romance giving me a wider base to draw from and an
opportunity to talk with people about writing, history, fiction and sometimes
even current events. A moment in time
allows me to engage the person in conversation, present my book for that person
to read the back matter, and present my card in a friendly manner that contains
all the information needed for the customer to purchase at a later date when no
sale is made.
Remember I said sales and audience hinge on the amount of
advertising done previous to the event.
A press release to the local newspapers and radio stations is free and
effective. I learned on Saturday my book
was known to a customer visiting the area that purchased the book who heard
about it on her local radio station from the other side of the state. I have to thank my publisher for that advertising. Also if a poster is available to send prior
to the event for the store to put in their window with the event date and time
customers will know that an author will be present to sign a short personal
message on the first page just for them.
We all want to have higher sales and become known to a customer
base. Each time an event is scheduled
our names are introduced to new people.
Even though this is my second novel, it has regenerated interest in the
first simply because people that read the second novel now want to read more of
my work. They show an interest in the
first novel and the upcoming sequel to that work now in the final stages prior
to submission to my marketer at Tate Publishing.
My husband and I travel throughout the winter and this offers an
opportunity to seek out new markets and fairs to attend with the intention of
selling – which involves letting my marketer know where I’m interested in being
a guest author. This builds from
researching the available market, following through with my marketer and once
interest is shown by a store, library, local clubs, etc, and following through
once again by making personal contact with that local entity.
It is now time for me to create the list and contact information,
send it to my marketer, and follow through.
But how will I ever get it done?
I schedule small units of time to make the lists and within a few days
have the places I’m interested in being a guest author and submit it to my
marketer. I then allow him to do what he
does so well. I know that many
self-published authors rely upon themselves to make these contacts; however, I
have found a professional marketer is able to open some doors that otherwise
may not have swung in the right direction.
It is up to me to make the personal contact once my marketer sends
me a list of places interested in having me as their guest. It is the same as engaging a potential
customer, but this time it is a place where I will be the guest
author/presenter. About three weeks
prior to the event is the right time to send out the press release and supply
the poster that has a picture of the book and the event information to a store
when supplying the books for the event.
Each event is unique and holds a certain thrill when a total
stranger picks up that book I wrote and says, “This sounds interesting, I think
I’d like a copy. Will you sign it for
me?”
Viva-la
Sales!
