Don't Expect Your Local Bookstore to Do Anything For You as an Author

You read that right-don't expect your local bookstore to do anything for you as an author.
Surprised I would say something like that? At first glance, maybe, but think about the key word for a moment-expect.

While you can take the term expect in a couple different ways, what I mean is even though local bookstores can be easier to work with than say a B & N or Borders, you should never "expect" the owner/manager to help you.

You can ask, suggest, hope for (and potentially beg) them to help you, but never approach the situation assuming because you are both local, they owe you special treatment in some way. In truth, you need them to sell books and they need you to a point to help promote their store. Your relationship needs to be mutually beneficial as much as possible, and it's up to you as the one proposing you work together to make sure that happens.

Whether you're preparing to contact your local store for the first time, you have a long-time relationship to nurture, or you think you need to do some repair work, there's a great example of how to do the right thing at the Shelftalker Blog this week (which also inspired this post).



Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett