From Publishers Weekly:
Independent booksellers often talk about their tight bonds with their local communities, and, increasingly, one of the many ways in which they are engaging with those communities is by stocking self-published titles by local writers. For years, the libertarian and frequently contrarian nature of independent authors was at odds with the requirements of bricks-and-mortar indies; self-published authors were empowered by the emergence of online retailers that produced, published, and sold their works, and they didn’t consider how those books would be sold in physical stores. But the relationship between indie authors and indie bookstores has evolved, and numerous booksellers are willing to stock self-published titles—albeit within certain limitations. PW surveyed the members of BXsellers, our Facebook group for booksellers, to find out what criteria they apply to handling self-published work.
Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, co-owner of Greenlight Bookstore, which has two locations in Brooklyn, said she limits the selection of self-published books each store carries to authors who live nearby. “We do have certain requirements—the book must have the name on the spine, for example—and we have a six-month consignment policy, but we consider it a community service,” she wrote. “And some do end up taking off!”
. . . .
Megan Andrews Blackshear, co-owner of Bookbound in Ann Arbor, Mich., concurred. She sells only books by self-published authors who live in the store’s county and admitted that, though a handful of titles are “awesome” and have become Bookbound favorites, “a majority of these books do not sell a single copy.”
Several booksellers said that they will consider stocking an author once that author has demonstrated that he or she has readers. Victoria Roberts, operations manager at Hugo Bookstores in Massachusetts, wrote, “We consign self-published books but do not order them in unless they have a track record of success. If we sell a lot of your book on consignment, we would consider ordering from Ingram, but only if it is available at a full discount.”
. . . .
Claire Benedict, co-owner of Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vt., noted, “We have started to hold ‘How to Self-Publish Successfully’ educational events for authors. They’ve been very popular. Generally, we will carry a self-published book by a local author if its looks professional on consignment. For authors with a track record, we will buy them outright.”
One word of advice several booksellers shared for self-published authors: do not mention Amazon. Bear Pond’s Benedict wrote, “We do not carry Amazon-published books in our store, even for locals.”
Link to the rest at Publishers Weekly and thanks to Nate at The Digital Reader for the tip.
“We do not carry Amazon-published books in our store, even for locals.”
Hmm, where are my book’s chances of being seen better, Amazon or some bookstore? Hmm.
MYMV
The power appears to be all on the bookstore’s side. That’s not a relationship. I wonder if the effort is worth the author’s time and expenses.
Bear Pond’s Benedict wrote, “We do not carry Amazon-published books in our store, even for locals.”
Really? We should be beyond that stage by now. I once called up a store, told them what I had and they wouldn’t take them because I published through Createspace. Of course I heard all about how Amazon was going to destroy everything. What they didn’t realize is that I am teacher and buy texts for my classes through local bookstores. They lost me as a potential customer for good.
I interpreted this as an effort to avoid becoming a shop front for Amazon. They don’t want people browsing hard copies and then buying online, instead. That is surely understandable and reasonable.
I can do that with just about any Random House book they have on their shelves.
No, they’ve made it pretty clear through the ABA that they would rather lose a sale than to see any money go to Amazon.
Here:
https://www.mhpbooks.com/american-booksellers-association-joins-boycott-of-books-published-by-amazon-effectively-sealing-off-north-america/
Self-important bunch, aren’t they?
They intended to act in concert to foreclose AmazonPublishing from the market. A pretty clear antitrust violation if it had shown even a shred of success.
Six years later, their boycott has simply made APub books an exclusivity draw for AmazonBooks and Amazon 4-star.
AmazonPublishing and the authors they partner with are rolling merrily along.
That attitude sounds pretty short-sighted to me. If it makes money, then you should go for it.
Too many bookstores aren’t run to maximize revenue.