Book Talk on WYPL 89.3 is a wonderful resource for folks in Memphis to listen to authors talk about books, crafting literature, etc. The rest of us are lucky that it is available through Podcasts on the web. Check out the link above to hear an in-depth interview of Susan Gregg Gilmore. So, while newspapers around the country are cutting back the literary sections and the local Nashville NPR station hasn’t had a book reviewer in nearly two years, we can all tune-in to some fine programming on WYPL at home in the Memphis Public Library.
Sure it’s good for the local economy to trade with the small business people in town. But, also, by supporting the local bookstore you may be helping to ensure the health and viability of good literature. Many major publishers insist that authors on book tour make their appearances at indie bookstores in a community if at all possible. Most authors would prefer to support an independent book store as well, because those are the folks who hand-sell their books and usually go way out of their way to support authors. Read below Jim Milliot’s piece in Publishers Weekly:
For Indies, It’s More Than Market Share
By Jim Milliot — Publishers Weekly, 5/30/2008 11:14:00 AM
Even though two recent studies have put their market share at below 10%, independent booksellers are as critical to publishers as they have ever been. In an ironic twist, the very fact that the number of independent booksellers has declined severely in the last decade makes the stores that have survived all that more important, publishers say. “Their numbers are obviously smaller, but they are a significant outlet for us,” says Matty Goldberg, v-p and group director for sales and marketing at Perseus Books Group. “The booksellers that are left standing are true believers in books and the book business,” Goldberg adds. That sentiment is picked up by Anne Brooks, director of sales at Overlook Press, who notes that Overlook often sees higher sell-through on titles favored by independents. “When they latch onto an author they really like, they just don’t buy [the title], they sell it,”Brooks notes. “That makes a big difference.”
“Independents have something you can’t put a number on,” observes Karen Torres, v-p, trade sales marketing director for the Hachette Book Group USA. “They bring a buzz that can help elevate a book and build word of mouth.” “Independents, with their strong relationships in their communities, are often ‘tastemakers,’ ” notes Wendy Sheanin, senior marketing director at Simon & Schuster. It is their role in creating that sometimes elusive buzz that makes indies crucial today, says Ruth Liebmann, v-p, director sales communications & events, at Random House. “Buzz is more than just a good review,” she notes, adding that booksellers talking up a book to different facets of their communities—customers as well as other readers, like teachers and librarians—can generate early interest in a title. “Before there is a bonfire there has to be a spark,” Liebmann says.
A viable independent network helps ensure there will be a diversity of voices in the market, publishers note. Even though books are sold in a variety of outlets, it is important to have an organized network in place that, along with the chains, can break out new authors. Having a new author highlighted by Book Sense, Borders or Barnes & Noble can help make a career, and having an author selected by all three “is like winning the trifecta,” says Carl Lennertz, v-p of independent retailing at HarperCollins.
All publishers can cite instances where independents were out ahead of other outlets in making bestsellers. “They led the charge for The Glass Castle,” says Sheanin. “They help to put Stephenie Meyer on the map,” Torres points out. And for books that don’t reach that blockbuster level, indies play an even more important role. Ken Holland, v-p of field sales at Macmillan, notes that indies accounted for about 30% of the initial retail sell-in of Per Peterson’s Book Sense bestseller Out Stealing Horses, and long into its sales life, they still account for 20% of the retail channel sales (the trade paperback edition is now #1 at Book Sense). Lennertz notes that while indies’ share of sales may be only 3% for commercial titles, it can be 25% for other books, and Goldberg observes that books from iconoclastic publishers (like McSweeney’s) often sell in greater numbers at indies than the chains.
Holland notes that the type of books indies are best at selling has changed over the years. While serious fiction, memoirs and regional titles are still an important part of the mix, indies are more willing to add new categories such as paranormal and “smart chick lit,” Holland says. “Good independents will embrace good books if there is a good story,” says Torres, who says she has seen more independents willing to take on commercial titles if they believe the title can sell in their stores.
It is not inexpensive to maintain a field sales force, but many publishers believe it is necessary, both to give indies the tools they need to sell books effectively and to get the attention of booksellers who receive thousands of galleys. Trish Weyenberg, director of field sales/paperback at Penguin, notes that her marketing efforts are aimed at moving beyond just book buyers at the indies to get to the frontline booksellers. And Liebmann points out that books that work at indies tend to have long lives in backlist as they get picked by reading groups and in course adoptions. “A strong independent marketplace is a good investment,” Liebmann says.