Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Having just returned from the International Christian Retail Show, I couldn’t help but turn my thoughts to the news that independent bookstores are having a good year. And have, as a matter of fact, increased in number by 27 percent since 2009. You can read about that here and here.
But that doesn’t mean they’re riding the gravy train. Far from it. Challenges abound.
The other day I read an article in The Guardian, a UK newspaper (thank you, the Internet), on advice from the owner of an independent “bookshop,” to use the British term, for what it takes to run a successful store. 
Many of his suggestions are applicable to anyone who wants to attract customers or readers, including authors, agents, and publishers. Take a gander at some fetching ideas that might not have occurred to you.
Nic Bottomley, the owner of the award-winning Bath bookshop Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, produced this 13-point manifesto for independent success:
1. Do one thing differently every week.
2. Tell everyone what you’re doing. Tell customers what’s happening at your shop; tell publishers which of their books you’re selling hard; tell the press anything remotely interesting. It will come back to help you.
3. Never pay for advertising.
4. Copy good ideas from other geographically-distant independent businesses.
5. Inspire 10 book lovers every day; convert one book-agnostic every day.
6. Surround yourself with creative booksellers who love books as much as you and can wax on about them even more persuasively than you.
7. Use social media.
8. Use the time you were going to spend bitching about Amazon to work out, realistically, what your business needs from publishers. Tell the publishers.
9. Create a community. Hold events and book groups that are so good people will attend even if they’ve never heard of the author and that afterwards they’ll rave about to everyone they know.
10. Don’t give excellent customer service. Give extreme customer service–so that you become part of the fabric of your customers’ lives. They will do your advertising for you.
11. Sell e-readers now if you love them as much as physical books. If not, wait until the margins are plausible before you think about it and in the meantime carry on selling books.
12. Don’t buy stock from Amazon.
13. Be surprisingly cut-throat and financially driven when no one is looking; aim not to survive, but to thrive.
I love his upbeat mindset, his decision to surround himself with fellow book lovers, and his creative approach to connecting with readers. But I especially appreciate #1: “Do one thing differently every week.”
I’ve been pursuing a similar mantra for a number of months. Every week I’m trying a new way to:
- attract the kinds of clients I want to represent;
- direct my clients in how to create material they’re passionate about and that will be just what a publisher is looking for;
- know if I see a well-conceived manuscript about __________ that I’ll be able to sell it.
Which leads me to the reality that I’m also focused on #13. Although I would use the word “calculating” rather than “cut-throat.”
Which of Mr. Bottomley’s ideas for finding customers–aka readers or agents or publishers–has your name on it?
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Good list, though I’d be cautious in trying a new thing every week – some strategies need time to mature, both in their deployment and one’s ability to take full advantage of them.
* What I might add is to identify needs, rather than wants. We may want sporty cars that feed our egos, but we need minivans. Guess which sell better?
* The want vs. need thing is harder for a writer to identify, but look at he recent fad for dystopian fantasy, coming at the same time the economy was in a shambles that looked to be a long time fixing. Dystopia gave a hope and a strategy for surviving hard times…I’ve seen contributors to this blog identify themselves with Katniss from “The Hunger Games”, which is a wonderful indicator of its influence. The dystopian fantasy filled a need for reassurance.
* I agree about the use of ‘edgy’ terms like cutthroat, and the macho metaphors that can be popular in media and conversation. “She killed that song!” is a popular accolade, but to those who have seen killing, it sounds puerile. And if ‘cutthroat’ had been in suggestion #1, I would, for some very personal reasons, have stopped reading then and there.
It depends on what the new thing is Andrew. It could just be a subtle change, but it gives a sense of continuity, of not remaining static or stuck in the mud. Tedium can really switch off customers.
I agree completely that tedium should be avoided, but as authors we’re well-advised to keep fresh examples of writing (or at least our thoughts, defining our brand) out there, in social-media-land.
* What I was thinking of were tactical or strategic changes in advertising campaigns, because this subject clearly falls under that aegis…and advertising is at once profession, science, and art. We may think we know what appeals to our target demographic, but in the absence of methodical sampling we can be very wrong – and change a “good thing” with which customers had been building a relationship to something that simply doesn’t work.
* Remember the plastic-headed”King” used by Burger King about ten years ago? The campaign ran from 2003 to 2011, and did nothing to bring in customers; sampling came back with one word – creepy. And it was. BK wanted a changed, ‘fun’ image. Changed it was, fun it was not, and what saved them was that they still had a good basic service (and, until recently, the best vanilla milkshakes going). They tried to tinker with the campaign over its lifespan, and both the company and its customers breathed collective relief when advertising regicide was finally committed.
Excellent point, Andrew, about gathering data on what needs readers have. Although, sometimes they might not understand why they related to Katniss, for example. Data can pique our interest, but we have to think about what motivations lie behind actions, and that’s much harder to get at because they’re often sub-conscious.
I took the bookstore owner’s mantra to do one thing differently each week to be a small adjustment, or one step toward a larger change. We’d all be overwhelmed if we had to make a major shift each week. Well, at least I would.
We certainly need to give time for changes to either work or not. Unless it’s a pretty obvious flop from the get-go.
Janet, this is inspiring stuff. What hit me was the way he engages people – reminds me of the UK’s Boots Pharmacy model. Theirs is not a bookstore secret, its a business secret. I think BAS does remarkably well with dialogue and I commend you for that. Participation in your blog provides a relational glue, but also helps to build loyal advocates who reveal their writing abilities through every engagement. In this mass-customized world, where people are reduced to stock-in-trade, differentiation can only truly come through “extreme” service that connects with people and restores the “human touch”. If anyone should lead that march, its people of faith.
Great insight, Peter. I agree that blogs like this one are pivotal for authors engaging and moving forward. Engagement is the key word, for me at least.
Thanks, Peter, for mentioning our agents’ engagement in creating a community here on our blog. We receive no visible benefit for doing so, but we believe all of us are searching for a place to belong online.
And, yes, extreme service is valued in today’s anonymous-centric world.
Jan, I am intrigued with ‘no visible benefit’. Help me understand – how do you measure that? How would you recognize success? Why do you do it at all? I truly am just trying to understand. I know that building a web persona is a long-term slog. Success is the accumulation of many little things done well. I think that is true of all service. Don’t underestimate how far you may have come. Maybe you don’t want to reach a new level as it might over-stretch your capacity, but at some stage you may need to do something to reach a new level. Church growth battles there too – a fellowship can get to say 300 quite quickly, hover there for a year or three until something bumps it, and then grow to say 600 and stagnate again. Its hard to understand. My view though is that it has to do with connectedness, but there is no space here to work through that. I have seen in commerce, church and other organisations, how powerful dialogue, connectedness and relationship can be. Brand builders use it to instill brand identity, recognition and loyalty. I once discussed with Michael Hyatt the notion that, in spite of his caring enough to respond to comments on his site, he was not actually engaging – he was just ticking boxes, acknowledging, but not engaging. I felt that fewer posts with greater depth might be better for him than what was at risk of being a mile wide and an inch deep – that said, he is really good at what he does. Engagement is interactive and in the real world, not the virtual world, demands great skill in stimulating a thread of debate and leading groups of people down the road to consensus. Mr Bottomley may well have worked out how to achieve that and to cultivate self-sustaining groups that gravitate to his bookstore. He is clearly putting in the effort to build networks that will eventually bring a stead flow of sales.
Peter, when I say “no visible benefit,” I’m thinking that we don’t make money via the blog (nor are we trying to); we aren’t writing the blog to get new clients (but we have obtained some); we aren’t working to drive our readership up to some astronomical range. Hence: no visible benefit.
We decided to create the blog to give to the writing community and to add our voices to the online publishing chorus. Those are difficult to measure, but we believe we’ve made contributions along those lines. And our readership is strong; we have thousands more readers than commenters each week.
And Jan, I get that. A winning CEO, who personally inducts all new employees, said, “We are not in the business of making money, we make experiences” – and the money followed. I resonate with what you are doing and why you are doing it. I recently wrote about how we can spoil an opportunity by driving the obvious, yet win if we can just do the right things for the right reasons and let the underlying needs resolve themselves, as in “seek ye first the kingdom, and these things will be added”. You have given me a meaningful insight into why this forum is so enjoyable – it has no specific expectations or agenda, so we can all be ourselves. Thanks Jan.
I too want to thrive, not just survive. But without the “cut-throat” part–I want to thrive as an encourager.
I keep a notebook of good quotations I encounter in my reading. This makes me think I should keep a notebook of good ideas I encounter and try one a week: a new trail to walk, a new editing technique, a handy housekeeping hint,. Thank you, Janet, for this inspiration to keep my routine out of a rut.
I’m with you, Shirlee. The term “cut-throat” conjures up images of pushing, shoving, success-at-any-cost pursuers of wealth (through money or accolades). It’s passion void of compassion. Those of us in the business of writing faith-centered material should feel uneasy when encountering the need to be cut-throat. We should always be encouraging! I’m with you on that, for sure.
I’m confident, however, that Janet would agree that Christian authors pursuing a successful publishing career benefit from a tamer version of being “cut-throat” — as she labels as “calculating” — still dedicated, relentless, intentional, and tireless.
I do best when I compete against myself. Not nice aspects of me start coming out of the shadows when I compete against others. Although, in fantasy baseball and Scrabble, it’s every person for herself in my world.:-)
Don’t pay for advertising. I don’t buy books because of an add, I buy books that my friends recommend, books I come across in the library and love, books by favorite authors, books I hear people raving about online, and books that my best friend makes me read because we always get each other a “mean gift” for our birthdays and lately it has been reading a book out of genre and sometimes you actually like that book. . . and buy it.
Also, creating events that are so fun that folks will come even if they have never heard of the author. That is awesome. It makes me think of having events for our summer staff. They just want to hang out together once in awhile without the heavy responsibility we demand of them all summer. They just come, no matter what we have planned, because they love to be together. Perhaps he is thinking of something like this?
Kristen, I doubt ads alone do well at selling books. They can be part of a campaign to make readers aware that the author has a new release. Or an endorsement in the ad is from a favorite author so sometimes I’ll buy a book because if So-and-So liked it enough to attach his name to it, then maybe I’m interested too.
Any time a bookstore party can attract a crowd, it’s a success. One of my clients, a firefighter, has a book signing at his local Barnes & Nobel every time he has a new release. His firefighter buddies come dressed in their gear, and sometimes they’ll park the rig out front. My client donates a portion of book sales on that day to a fund for disabled firefighters and their families. That’s the sort of event people want to attend even if they don’t know the author.
In thinking about this some more, it seems to me – and I may be totally wrong – that one should have a very good handle on just WHY people would want to buy one’s books in the first place. It’s not all about writing, story, and characters, or at least it seems not to be.
* Richard Bach’s readers are largely people who like him, and his philosophy. Storytelling isn’t his forte, and neither is characterization, but he has the knack to give readers a feeling of “the possible”.
* Lillian Jackson Braun’s “The Cat Who…” series had cute, engaging stories featuring cats that helped their owner solve mysteries. The writing was indifferent, the characters not terribly three-dimensional, but the premise brought people back. They wanted to see what the cats would do next, I guess.
* Tom Clancy appealed to the Walter Mitty in everyone, with ‘ordinary’ characters forced by circumstance into extraordinary situations.
* A long time ago someone included “Know Thyself” in the Delphic Maxims; pity he didn’t include a how-to manual for writers. I know that my writing does touch my intended audience, and reaches beyond it, at least a little way. But I don’t know why…I don’t yet have the feeling for what aspect of that which I do strikes notes that resonate. There either isn’t enough data…or I don’t know yet how to interpret it. And in that gap, I would have a hard time capitalizing on Bottomley’s suggestions.
Andrew, you’re sort of thinking about brand and you’re sort of thinking about emotional appeal. Most of choose to read books that satisfy us in some way–whether because we feel good while we’re reading; we feel fascinated by detail we never knew before; we are inspired to be better; we want a good cry; we want our brains tickled by a mystery, etc.
You’re absolutely right that the author needs to understand his brand and the emotions his writing elicits. Writing down the specific words readers use to describe your material is one way to find both brand and emotional connections.
I always look forward to your posts when you return from a convention or show. Your fresh insights inspire me, rattle my complacency, and make me sit up and take notice. So thanks.
I love #1. I think my eyes grew wider when I read it. I feel stuck in a[n insane] rut of doing the same old thing with the same measly results.
Must ponder something new or different every week! That one goal alone will keep the creative juices flowing for sure. I actually loved the whole list; thanks for some most excellent marching orders.
Blessings.
Bill
You’re welcome, Bill. Being away from business-as-usual yet receiving what seems like endless input is stimulating. It makes me think in different ways. I’m glad you benefited from it.
I’ve found trying new ways of doing old tasks is invigorating and makes me hopeful I’ll see stronger results. I wish the same for you.
First of all, who’s in for a pilgrimage to Mr. Bottomley’s? #roadtrip
I have been focusing very hard lately on #9, creating a community. It’s been fairly easy to become part of the community of writers by commenting on blogs, networking, engaging on social media, etc. But I’m trying to find ways to better engage with potential readers. I’m not yet published, so there’s not yet a book to push. So, I’m still working on being creative in that area. Any tips?
Thriving as an author is something I hope we’re all striving for. Why else are we doing all of this? I think you have to feel it in your bones, really love it, to pursue writing to this degree. Doing what you’re created to do = thriving.
Thanks, Janet! Another great post.
Teresa, a roadtrip to Mr. Bottomley’s sounds splendid. I’d love to meander through the aisles, attend an event, and sip tea with Mr. B.
Trying to connect with readers before you have a book is such a challenge, especially if you write fiction.
But you can begin to establish your brand by reflecting some aspect of what you want to write via your social media involvement. Connect with established authors who write along the same lines as you. Make note of everything they do that reminds readers of the author’s brand. Connect with readers who are engaged with that author; often on Facebook people will friend you if they recognize you from comments you’ve been making. And Twitter is all about following people we don’t know. Like interests should help to expand your world on Pinterest.
I hope those suggestions help to give you a bit of a boost.
Thanks, Janet. These suggestions do, indeed, help. Makes me feel like I’m on the right path already. Consistency, diligence, and patience are the names of the games I’ll be playing. 🙂
Good morning, Janet.
Thank you for sharing Mr. Bottomley’s list. It’s good advice for any business.
I think # 9 and # 10 are vital and that they relate back to other things in the list (such as using social media, telling everyone what your doing–which are part of building community, and “Never pay for advertising.”) If you do 9 and 10 well, you won’t have to pay for advertising. The best advertising is done in person, word of mouth, from customers who are not only “satisfied” with your product, but passionately thrilled with it.
I just finished reading an excellent article for authors about marketing by starting with a small group of insiders. The article was written by Thomas de Plessus and it is on the blog The Write Life. Early in the article, he askes the question, “Why keep [your insider group] small and certainly part of that answer was in order to give group members personal attention. Further down the list, he added that the members will feel special. That was the first thing that flashed through my mind.
Years ago, when Twitter was just starting to be known, a songwriter / musician I really like and admire moved from performing with her siblings to having a solo career. She opened a Twitter account and, discovering this, I followed her. At that point, her following was in the hundreds. She did a great job at tweeting, sharing what it was like recording an album on her own, getting ready to go on tour, etc., and she responded to her Twitter followers. She, of course, asked followers to retweet her tweets and to encourage others to follow her. That was fine. I had been (and still am) a huge fan of the family group. I am passionate about their music and am happy to tell people about them. I also felt she was doing a great job connecting with fans rather than having a publicist, or an intern, or a team tweet back. Obviously, once you have thousands of followers, you can’t tweet to all of them individually and I never had that expectation, but what I experienced was her leaving the original followers behind to focus on new followers. The gratitude expressed was always for new followers and never did she acknowledge the group of people who were there at the beginning. Her tweets became “I’m so excited that I have a thousand more followers! Oh and by the way, here’s my new tour schedule for you to retweet. Eventually (it took a couple of years) I felt used. I not only stopped retweeting, I stopped reading her Twitter and FB accounts.
Again, I am a realist. I get that she got busy. She has team tweeting for her now and that’s okay, but I think the fact that she moved from a focus on building community to growing numbers was a marketing mistake.
Keeping in contact with fans is vital, I think. One doesn’t have to answer every tweet or blog comment or (dare I say it?) fan letter (if anyone still writes letters). Keeping in touch and keeping it personal (or at least feeling personal) could be as simple as writing a short something each week on the author website–and something that isn’t blatant advertising: “I’ve been having a great time! I’ve been researching herbal medicine and folklore. The protagonist in the novel I’m working on is an herbalist and, thanks to her, I’m now an herb enthusiast! I look at my spice rack quite differently now, especially the basil. It seems to be the wonder herb. Glad I love Italian food.”
A little blurb like that from an author (not from her team or webmaster) would be enough to keep me happy and feeling connected to her.
Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!
Christine, thanks for your thoughtful reply and Twitter example of how to disappoint fans.
One of the greatest challenges facing anyone trying to build followers is transitioning from hundreds of followers to thousands to millions. How do you keep it personal and engaging and more than an advertisement?
I think what you’re long for Christine, is a sense of authenticity and read connection.
The person I’m aware of who continues to do that so well is Debbie Macomber. In her e-newsletter, her recent releases are always mentioned, but often she has some sort of contest readers can participate in, and each newsletter opens with an update on happenings in Debbie’s life written from her POV. Almost always there’s a photo of Debbie with family members, doing something homey like planting a garden or baking cookies. Plus Debbie hosts events where her readers have a chance to do fun activities along with her. She loves her readers, and it shows. May she be a shining light to the rest of us.
Thank you, Janet. The examples that you give in regards to what Debbie Macomber is doing, especially the hosting of “events where her readers have a chance to do fun activities along with her.” That “along with her” is an important phrase. The feeling of connection is important and that type of thing would provide it for readers–even if they are in the millions. Look at J.K. Rowling. She certainly can’t reach out on a one-to-one basis to her fans, but she has created a website, Pottermore, for fans and contributes writing to it. And that’s what she does–she contributes. She certainly doesn’t maintain it full time. The fact that she is writing something especially for those fans who use Pottermore seems (from the comments I’ve read) make them feel special.
For me, authenticity is vital. It sounds like she does a good job being genuine. As do you. 🙂
Such a great list, Janet. Thank you for sharing.
As a reader, I am particularly drawn to #10. What a dream come true, to be a regular part of a bookshop run by a close friend and stop in nearly every day to chat about books and about life and share a cuppa. Bye-bye, Amazon!
As a writer, #3 resonates with me, especially as it correlates to #13. I’ve read from other authors that paid advertising doesn’t pay off, especially with all the opportunities via social media and blogging now.
(Our family is planning a trip to England next Spring, so I’m putting Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights on our must-see list! I wonder if they ship? 🙂 )
Meghan, you’ll have to give us a report on Mr. B’s upon your return. Unless we all take Teresa’s suggestion and just join you on a road trip!
Sounds good to me!
I’d like to change #2 up a bit–SHOW everyone what you’re doing. Cynthia Ruchti wrote the sweetest blog post this week about seeing an author’s faith lived out, causing her to want to purchase that author’s work. I want to be that kind of person … one who lives out her faith and attracts other naturally because of that faith.
http://christianauthorsnetwork.com/non-marketing-marketing/
That was really good, Shelli. Thank you for posting this blog entry link.
Shelli, what a wonderful link. I’ve bought books (yours included) because I saw something I liked in the author. Authenticity and kindness draw me in like a bee to a flower. The writer doesn’t have to have the same worldview as I do, just a seeking and honest heart that tells a good story or memoir. ❀
Janet, #1 has my name on it. Even if something scares me (that’s an indication I’m on the right track) I want to try new things. This has been my year for stepping out and giving things a try. My latest new thing is participating in one of the ACFW’s online classes. Yay. My heart pounded in rebellion when I joined in, but I’m already loving the learning.
Thank you Books and Such (and other wonderful agencies) for teaching all of us new things 5 days a week.
Blessings ~ Wendy ❀
Congrats, Wendy, for doing something daring. It feels good, doesn’t it?
I can’t wait to hear about your ACFW class, Wendy. When things scare you is an indication you’re on the right track … that makes me smile and amen to that.
Number 10 rings for me: become part of the fabric of your customers’ lives.
#1-I like to do things differently. Shocked you all, didn’t I?
#7-Social media seems to be here to stay, and it’s free advertising.
#9-Book club+cheesecake=success.
(I’m sorta good at cheesecake)
#10? This one strikes me as drifting too close to being a creepy pleaser. But that’s just me.
Hm, I thought #10 made sense. If we want to read someone’s blog on a regular basis, or if we enjoy seeing what a person is up to on FB, or if we wait for certain authors’ books to release, that individual has, in some way, become woven into the fabric of our lives.
Ooooookay, welcome to Jennifer’s brain on Monday.
I seriously didn’t think of everything you mentioned.
Oh my word. I should not be left alone with functioning wifi.
Backs away, waves hands in the air “just pretend I wasn’t here…go on about your days, everyone…”
Jennifer, it’s okay to have had a different perspective on his point. He doesn’t elaborate so it’s easy to read each suggestion with our own interpretations attached to them. Happy Monday!
I have to say that you all at Books & Such do such a good job at being, well, good! Your articles are well written, informative and I look forward to them. You are doing what is essential in business: doing a great job at what you do! You are not lazy, or take your audience for granted. You are consistent and give your “customer” what they want. All of you are personal and kind in dealing with us. I feel like I am a part of you and that makes me return to your blog EVERY time, ALL the time. I don’t have a lot of time so I will give it to what I feel is valuable to me. You have become valuable to me! With that said, I miss book stores (In S. California) and miss hanging around them. I would totally pay more money for a book to have the experience of shopping for books. But with the last few years and the bad economy, the many book stores we had have long been gone…and thus I am forced to buy from Amazon to get the books I hear about, read about, need for my kids, etc. I am hoping that book stores will soon start to pop up again and regain the lost art of book shopping. It is a void in the marketplace…and where there is a void, there is a chance to succeed.
Thanks, Elizabeth, for being a part of our community. We love interacting with you!
Yes, the demise of local bookstores is a heartbreak. I’m hoping this little surge in indie stores will continue. Those of us who have indie stores must, of course support them.
First off, I *love* the name of his shop and have added a visit to my list of things I must do if I ever get to Great Britain. As I’ve a niece who now lives in Ireland, it’s a real possibility.
Anyway, I consciously work at nos. 7, 9, and 10. I know I should do more of no. 2, but I have a problem coming up with entertaining ways of saying I’m headed to the grocery store or I woke up thinking it was Wednesday instead of Monday. Kristan Higgins is brilliant at that kind of post.
No. 3, I agree with in theory, but I’ve had a several friends who’ve been very happy with the Facebook and Goodreads adverts they’ve tried. Of course, for every happy advertiser, there are as many dissatisfied.
I like the idea of no. 1. It’s a good reminder to try new things and you may find something amazing. If not, the journey is a blast!
Hm, I’m beginning to think Mr. B might owe me affiliate status, what with all the Americans setting out to see his store…
Carrie, we each have to find our own social media voice as much as we need to find our writing voice. You have such a delicious sense of humor in your writing that it’s hard to believe you aren’t entertaining in how you report on everyday life via social media.
{Blushing} Thank you. I’m working on it …