local bookstores can present a great
opportunity for you and your book to
gain exposure
and sell more copies but how do you get
a bookstore to carry your book
if you're wondering about that then this
video is for you
hey there i'm julie the book broad from
book launchers we're your professional
self-publishing services team helping
you
write publish and promote a non-fiction
book that will help you have a huge
impact on your readers and done right
will also help you grow your brand
build your business and make you money
the best part
you yes you keep all rights
and royalties seeing your book on the
shelf of a bookstore is
one of the greatest moments for an
author there's just something
so cool about your book in a store i'm
not a huge fan of self-publishing
authors pursuing
widespread bookstore distribution i did
some math on it
i'll link to that video explanation at
the end and it's kind of scary
but i do think getting some local
bookstores or key location stores to
support your book
can be amazing for you and your book but
you might not know how to go about doing
it here's what you do
first plan your sales approach
traditional publishers have
an on-the-ground sales team who will go
to the store and pitch the books they
want to promote so you
have to be your own on-the-ground sales
team head into the store with a sales
sheet on your book including details of
your promotional plans
including local media and any events
that you might be doing locally to
generate interest in your book
remember the store really only cares
about whether your book will sell
it doesn't matter if your book is great
or not
they have a limited shelf space and a
small margin so what they want to know
is will it sell so your job isn't to
convince the bookstore manager that your
book is great
your job is to show them that you're
going to send hungry book buyers in
there to pull out their credit card and
buy your book
and hopefully buy other books while
they're there
so now you're probably wondering what do
i put on a sales sheet well
it should include details like your
media exposure
awards your book has received events
you're doing in the area
best seller lists if applicable or
really anything else that might make
your book
noteworthy our clients have used the
media kits we prepare for them to sell
the books to stores you can also pitch
an event or see if they're hosting
authors for bookstore events like book
readings or q
a sessions in which case you can also
offer up your own contact list your
client list your email list social media
or really any other way that you can
help them promote that my recommended
strategy is to do an event in the store
like a book signing or a q a that's also
coordinated with local media and your
own promotional
strategy because most of the time that's
what's going to make a store interested
tying into an awareness month if
applicable to your subject can work
wonders too especially if it's an
awareness month the bookstore already
wants to promote
most bookstores will stock books for the
event they'll have you sign copies that
they'll sell later as autographed copies
and if your book sells it could become a
permanent listing or at least a
longer term listing that's what i did to
get widespread bookstore listings
i had about 10 different bookstore
events across canada and pushed
sales hard it worked and seven years
later a lot of bookstores i did signings
in and some i didn't are still carrying
my book
the second step is to discuss listing
and wholesale discounts with the store
once they're interested
now they got to buy copies if you're set
up through ingram then your bookstore
can order from them but they want more
than a 15
discount on your book in order to sell
it so you have to discuss what they need
most bookstores require a 40 discount
which means setting your ingram
wholesale discount at 55
but you may be able to strike a deal in
between since you're going to do a lot
of work to drive traffic to the store
alternatively many bookstores may offer
to do a consignment deal where you get
paid
after your book sells whatever you agree
on bring them a review copy of your book
along with your sell sheet or media kit
so they can see it finally
fulfill your promise when your book gets
listed your promise is that you're going
to sell
those books just holding a book signing
isn't enough to bring people in the door
to that bookstore to buy books
you have to have a marketing plan to
sell books during the event
and even after my bookstore appearances
did much better
with a radio piece in the morning or the
day before i also
emailed people on my newsletter list in
the local market and
suggested i also emailed people in the
local market and suggested they come by
and say hello
posters around the area can help but
remember if you're not famous
you have to sell the hook of the book
and the benefit you offer when someone
speaks to you it's not about
you and the reader getting to meet you
because they don't know who you are
keep that in mind because the people who
are going to come out and see you are
much more limited than the people who
want the expertise you offer or the tips
you can share if your local sales do
well you may find yourself faced with
the opportunity
and decision of selling books across the
chain of bookstores that you're in but
before you do that
make sure you watch the video at the end
alright now i'm curious
there are some really smart and savvy
youtube viewers here so let's chat about
how you
get local bookstore distribution and
sell through because again
the sell through is the critical part so
let's talk about getting your book into
the store
below and when you comment the day a
video is released you get entered to win
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on now you must watch this video right
here
on bookstore distribution before you get
into this because i did the math on what
it can cost
to be listed in bookstores and it will
make your jaw drop
and this video right here is from robert
workman on a cool strategy he used to
get his book into airport bookstores
across the u.s
both are really awesome videos and i've
got the coffee on for you so i'll see
you there
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