Dissecting the Book Sales Process

Dissection-you probably did that sometime in high school to some critter or another. My time at the lab table involved poking and prodding everything from starfish and worms to a mink. As a quick aside, for those of you who don't know, biology was my minor in college and my high school bio teacher was an incredible mentor to me.

Okay, back to books. Dissection is a cold, clinical process for the most part. Certainly, many students have to steel themselves (and their stomachs) in order to be able to do it at all. So what does such a term have to do with the beautifully creative world of writing? If you want to sell books, a lot.

Even though many authors love the magical, muse-inspired part of writing, the book selling part is pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum of what writers do. Though promotion does involve creativity in planning events etc. (thankfully) the biggest part is number crunching. Sales reps, stores, and the publisher all have numbers they want to see from a book. Bottom line, as cold and clinical as it sounds, the biggest thing they want to see is a profit. It's great if people are happy because of the books they buy, but that's secondary. Of course thinking about it logically, if they didn't look at the numbers the point of being in business would be...?

Besides the cold and scientific aspects, another thing to note about the book selling process is that it is complicated, especially if we're talking about bookstore sales. Sales kits, co-op marketing, and a little bit luck and educated guessing are all part of the equation.

There's a lot to know, and even though I don't expect you to be an expert at selling (if you are great!), I absolutely believe everyone needs to be familiar with the process so that you aren't following blindly.

To help with that, here is the post that inspired me today courtesy of Nathan Bransford and his associate Eric a sales assistant in the book industry. I'll give you fair warning it's a long one, but it's also very eye-opening. I'd also strongly encourage you to read the comments as Eric answers a handful of questions there as well.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Be Careful What You Wish For

Imagine this:
You decide to independently publish your book. You've done the most professional job you can and you're marketing your little heart out. Sales start to pick up momentum, your Amazon rank is respectable. Life is good. Things continue to roll along and a few days after you appear at an event, you get an email. It's from someone you don't recognize, but the subject says "Would like to talk about your book". You open it and it's from a publisher, a legitimate traditional publisher.

What do you do? What would you say? Are you sure?

Admittedly, this doesn't happen a lot, but if you really do sell successfully it can happen. It did to an author I know personally. In fact, her books sell so well (home school topics) she's been approached more than once. And she turned them down each time. That's not a typo, she turned them down. After she read what they had to offer, she knew it wasn't the best thing for her business.

A lot of authors dream of getting such a phone call, but if it happened to you, are you truly prepared to answer it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Suddenly (or not so)

Obviously, you all know a few famous people have died in the past few days and others not so well known have passed too. This morning, another was added from Sunday, it just seems the list is unusually long for some reason.

Some passed suddenly. No one was prepared to say good-bye right now. Others knew their time was short and their families did too. Their families still grieve and it certainly isn't easy, but they do not have to deal with the same "what ifs" and "why now?" Much of that was able to be dealt with already and no one was left to wonder.

Generally speaking, I'm not effected by celebrity deaths. It is sad for the families, but I feel no personal connection the way some people do. Michael Jackson was different. I am a child of the 80's and much of his music was a soundtrack to my life even though I own few tapes and albums. Those memories stand out more than the insanity of his recent years. Either way, he's not supposed to be gone yet. He was older than me but still young, still had stuff to do. Just like me, my friends and my family. I have no idea why I feel this way really. As I said, I didn't hang on his every move.

However, for whatever reason, the feeling is there. I can't help but wonder, what do I want to do before that time comes whether it's, tonight, tomorrow or forty years from now? Am I doing what I think God put me here to do? In some ways, I can answer yes and I'm happy about that. But there's also still lots to do, probably plenty I don't even know about yet, and I hope to have the chance to do it.

Few of us like to talk about death, even if we are Christians and confident in what happens next. However, a few moments of reflection is good now and then. It reminds us that we may not get time to "get to it someday". Someday, may need to be today.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

How Do Readers Choose Books and Where Do They Buy Them?

That's the million dollar question isn't it? If authors, publishers and booksellers knew the answer to that, there would be no such thing as lackluster sales or returns. As in all sales, sometimes you get the best information just by asking, which is what agent Nathan Bransford did at his blog today. He asks how people heard about the current book they're reading and where they acquired it. At last check, there were over 300 responses.

No it's not a scientific poll, but I think you can definitely see trends and just about anyone who's trying to sell books can glean useful info from it. Check things out here at his blog, and then feel free to post your answer here if you wish, or any other thoughts about the list. Agree, disagree, see patterns? The more we can share only helps everyone involved.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Dislike Change? Don't Get into Publishing

There are authors and publishers (readers and agents too) who love to hang on to what has always been in the publishing industry. Things like: all real books are dead tree books, POD is the scourge of the industry and nothing good is ever produced that way, that your book must be proclaimed worthy to be published, and if it isn't, it'll never amount to anything.

You can't blame them too much really. Most of us aren't fond of change-just ask my husband how much yours truly likes it (though I think I'm getting better). Unfortunately, few things in life stay the same forever whether we like it or not. The same goes for publishing. It's taken quite a while, but some are finally not only realizing it, they're not afraid to tell others in the inner circle that they see what's coming and they're fine with it.

What are some of the changes that are coming for the publishing industry? Agent Chip MacGregor talks about a handful of them here. They aren't the only ones by any means, but if they don't appeal to you, as the title of this post indicates, I suggest you choose something else besides writing books and trying to get them published to fill your time. If on the other hand, you're willing to see where the road will take you, secure your safety belt as they say, it could be one heck of a ride!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The Inside Scoop on Approaching Indie Bookstores

Here's a great blog post about approaching indie bookstores if you are an independent or pay to publish author. There are lots of helpful tips, but I love that there's also the "why" behind those tips. Another interesting note is the general feeling of encouragement, rather than the old "we don't take those kinds of books attitude that used to be much more prevalent in this part of the industry.

One other thing, make sure you read the comments, a couple of which just blew me away. The blogger, Josie Leavitt, just spent her precious time giving a list of clear guidelines as to how to approach her (and others), yet you'll notice a couple of posts that are completely clueless. Even giving those people the benefit of the doubt that they misunderstood something (though I'm not sure how Josie could have been clearer) also adds the lesson that even if you think you understand the guidelines, read them again and make sure before you contact someone. The adage you only get one chance to make a first impression certainly applies here.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Growing Out of Control or Ready for Pruning?

Apparently, the theme for life this week is pruning. First, the message at church on Sunday talked about how God often prunes us, clips out the stuff that's getting in the way of our healthy growth. We know that most plants need to be cleaned up and trimmed to grow properly but we forget that we do too. Sometimes God uses the little trimmers and sometimes He chooses to hack out some big stuff with the power tools. As the Master Gardner, He sees the big picture and knows what we can become when we begin to grow again.

I thought about that in regard to how my life and my writing has changed over the past few years. I'm now going in a completely new direction with my current project, and so maybe what I was doing had to be pruned because it was in the way/I was off course.

Then this morning, I saw this post on a blog I subscribe to "Overgrowth & Pruning Shears". This time the writer talks about pruning from a different perspective, one that allows some out of control overgrowth so there's enough plant to shape into a wonderfully sculptured form. She also talks about how this concept applies to our writing lives too.

So where are you in life, as a writer, both? Is someone getting the pruning shears ready or are you sculpted and ready for a full bloom?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett