Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Another Book Update
My trip to see the manager at Walden Books today was about as frustrating as my trip to Christian Family Bookstores yesterday, and no more successful. Perhaps I just naturally rub people the wrong way so that they don't want to help me? More likely, bookstores are simply not interested in authors that are just starting out, local or not, even if they are published by Reader's Digest (the manager told me that her bookstore doesn't usually carry books published by Reader's Digest, kept asking me who the distributor was and was fixated on Ingram's and Baker and Taylor; that the Penguin Group USA was the distributor made no impact on her, as if she'd never heard of them or Putnam; if it wasn't Ingram's or B&T then it didn't count--and she was equally unfazed by the information that Barnes & Noble would be carrying my book). Perhaps book signings simply don't generate any added business or income for bookstores. I simply don't know; I'm new at all of this, after all. But at this point, I doubt that I will continue trying to arrange for any booksignings.
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4 comments:
Nuts
If you had done your homework, you would know that the manager was telling you that her only source for your book is Ingram or B&T. She CAN'T order from any other company and that is Waldenbooks corporate policy, not her decision. Inventory is determined at a corporate level. Why don't you try submitting your book to those distributors or to their corporate buyers? Or try at a Borders store; they have a great deal more leeway in obtaining inventory, as does Barnes&Noble, because they are superstores. Don't be so self-important.
Hmm, I really don't understand Anonymous' posting. Reader's Digest published my book; why should the manager ask me about what distributors Reader's Digest chose to use? Is it hard for her to order books from a major New York publisher? Is Reader's Digest that obscure that she has to wonder who in the world might distribute their books?
Of course, B&T and Ingram are used by Reader's Digest, but her reaction to my question was nonsensical, given my question was simply whether they were going to carry my book in stock; I'm a local author and I thought my local bookstore might want to carry it. After all, a lot of people in the area know me and would be interested in the book simply for that reason.
And how exactly would I influence Reader's Digest's choice in what distributors they use?
And Walden's is owned by Borders incidentally.
Oh, and I should point out that I returned and talked to her in January after the book was released and this time she actually listened to what I was saying and promptly ordered two copies of the book for her store.
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