Tina Boscha

A few weeks ago I posted here, telling both Amazon and Google that they kinda sucked. They each make it difficult for indie bookstores to sell ebooks, and thereby make it hard for indie authors (yes I call myself that even though some feel it’s not entirely accurate and I should just stick with self-pubbed) to sell their digital wares through independent bookstores. With print in decline and all that we already know, it seems that selling digitally is a way for independent bookstores to survive.

Okay. Well. That still stands. I haven’t figured a way out of that one yet.

But I am here to tell you that at least in the short term when paper is still sold, it is not impossible for authors like me to get their books on the physical shelves in their local indie bookstore. My experience and sampling is limited and very, very small, but I think it is worth sharing. Because as of today, my novel is at three different local independent bookstores and I’m on the cusp of having it at a fourth. (And this one, provided I can iron out a small kink and make it happen, is a BIG one. To which I will add: eeeee! And, !!!!!!!)

So, how did I do it?

The first thing I did, above all else, was to work like a fiend on the book so that the end result is of high quality. It may seem conceited to charge others to write a good book and then say that’s what I did, but well, I think I achieved that. That doesn’t mean the book is the BEST EVER. I’m not going to pull a Terence Trent D’arby and say my book is better than anything, say, Margaret Atwood has written. (She is one my all-time writing idols.) Please - I have much to learn. It doesn’t mean that my book is absolutely perfect (because nothing is). It just means that I worked very hard to produce the best possible book I could, and I believe I did that. (A topic for another day: reviews vs. sales. I have some really nice reviews but my sales are quite slow.) That means that the writing itself was the first thing I tackled.

The second thing was to put the novel in the best package I could. This means everything from proofreading (800 edits at the very end, oh my god, blerg) to formatting (thank you Scrivener and web tutorials) to cover design (a big wet sloppy metaphorical kiss to Kai Persons). For the sake of all that is holy, please make your book look as indistinguishable from a traditionally published book as possible.

Okay, but beyond that, how did I do this?

I asked.

This is the craziest thing I am learning about this whole process of chasing dreams. When something is a dream without a belief of success behind it, it makes it easy to not go for it. To think, erroneously, that no action can make it happen, keeps the dream remaining as it is: in the mind, imagined, fantasized. I lived in a dreamworld about publishing River in the Sea for years. But when I actually crossed over to doing, I realized that I was going to have to put myself out there a lot more. I couldn’t fall back on my stern Midwestern roots and hope that good work got noticed on its own. The only person who was going to get the book out there was me.

So I took a breath and I asked.

To get my book at the University of Oregon bookstore, I walked in and asked about the process at the info desk. I was given a contact name and I emailed the book buyer, asking if they might be interested in carrying the book. I sent links to the Amazon page as well as provided my background. This request was actually the easiest, because the bookstore’s policy is to support nearly every faculty member’s book.  What has been brilliant about having the book there is getting to know the staff to the point that they called me to let me know they had sold four of the five copies and were reordering! They saw my excitement and it became their own. That was pretty amazing.

To get my book at J. Michael’s in Eugene, I walked in the store and asked the owner. I was upfront about being self-published and being published through Create Space (essentially Amazon), and stated I was open to putting the books on consignment so that the owner could avoid dealing direct with the enemy. I told him about my background in writing and overall I was polite but assertive - not aggressive - and had copies right then and there should he be interested. What happened next surprised me: the owner said yes and asked about pricing. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d say yes right away, and I stumbled here. I hadn’t thought ahead, but after working through some numbers with him, we ended up at a typical 60/40 split. I learned my lesson after that - be prepared to talk money!

Getting my book at Tsunami (also in Eugene) was both easier and more difficult. I learned later that in four days alone, 22 different self-published authors had come in the store hawking their books. This was what I had done, but was quickly directed to emailing. Which I did, including a bit about my background, why I self-published, a book description, a link to reviews and the online sample, and the financial split I was open to. The owner told me later that he appreciated the ability to verify information and the professionalism. Because of that, he said yes pretty quickly and is helping me set up a reading. WOOT!!!!

For the last one that is almosthereohpleaseohplease, I wrote two business letters, including a copy of the book with the first. I didn’t hear anything. I sent a follow-up, writing that I had an upcoming review that was quite positive and that I believed it was in both of our interests for them to stock copies. That was what got the reply. (Oh man, oh man. EEE! Sorry. More later.) In each letter, I was very, very professional and tried to adopt a confident tone but with some deference. No “you’ll be sorry if you don’t do this” but more of a “I believe in my work and would be delighted if you would carry it on your shelves” tone. The writing teacher part of me is very geeked about this, because I REALLY want to show my students these letters to say that a well-crafted pitch does work. Told you I was a geek.

I have stopped at other stores in nearby towns and am waiting on replies there. I don’t know if I’ll bat 100% but I do intend on following up. And if some say no, I’ll be just fine with it. After all, there’s always online. But the point is, ASK. Be bold, be confident, be open, be professional. It’s like asking someone out on a date - you really, honestly don’t know unless you open your mouth and say the words.

It’s worth it. I’ll try it now: Would you be interested in buying my book?

:-)