Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
The other day I almost flipped past the page of Christian Retailing Magazine with the title “How to Plan Profitable Product Assortments for Your Store.” Then I paused. It occurred to me that by reading the article I might gain insight into how a bookstore buyer makes decisions about what to offer shoppers.
Today, let’s think like a bookstore retailer.
1. Managing inventory is a live or die proposition.
As book buyers and as book writers, we know that the bookstore owner has to make money to carry our books, to keep the doors open. But the article I read was all about how to manage that inventory and stay alive. As a writer, you think that, of course, a bookstore should carry your book, but if you’re a retailer, you would be smart to be cautious.
2. Get rid of nonproductive stock as soon as you can.
Bill Nielsen, the article’s writer and “Christian retail veteran,” has worked in executive-level positions with Family Christian Stores, Lifeway Christian Stores and Berean Christian Stores. Nielsen suggests this time-frame for sorting the wheat from the chaff on a bookstore’s shelves: “Any item that has not sold in more than 90 days is suspect. Items that have not sold in more than 150 days need immediate attention.”
What does that mean to an author? To keep your book on a bookstore shelf, you must do everything you can to muster your troops to buy your book within the first 90 days from a bookstore. If the store makes that sale, more copies of your book will be ordered. If the first copy or two (which is the most the buyer is likely to invest in before the book releases) don’t move within 90 days, that title is being shipped back to the publisher–never to be ordered again. (I, by the way, have heard that some stores return product in 4 weeks.)
As an author, you’re hard at work telling readers to buy your book; the retailer is at the other end of the chain, trying to figure out which product to keep on the shelf. Both of you want the retailer to make that sale, but authors don’t often think about how fast that sale has to take place.
3. The best sale a retailer can make is a special order. If a customer requests that the retailer special order a book and have it shipped directly to the customer, the retailer never has to handle the product and the retailer gets paid before he has to pay for his inventory. Nielsen describes this strategy as “the best and easiest way to generate profit-margin dollars…and give cash flow a shot in the arm.”
Thinking like a retailer, I see the benefit for the retailer, but I have to say, as a customer, exactly why do I trek off to a bookstore to have the retailer order it for me when I can, you know, order it from Amazon where my credit card info and address already reside?
I’m thinking neither the author nor the retailer should hold out hope to make a lot of money via bookstore special orders. Although, if you can convince all your relatives and friends to go to a bookstore and to special order your title, the retailer might decide there’s demand for your book and order one or two to put on his shelf–for 90 days.
4. Replenish core items often. A retailer knows he can’t afford to invest in inventory that doesn’t turn quickly. Having slow-turning inventory translates into unproductive shelf space. The Christian Retailing article suggests that with core product, one or two units be stocked but new orders be placed weekly. If a best-selling item is newly-released, then the buyer should obtain a four-month supply. Nielsen defines a core product as one in which at least six units are turned in a year.
Really? Six copies of a book sold per year puts it in the “core product” category? For a writer, that means the bar isn’t all that high to qualify your book for core product status. Concentrating efforts in specific geographic areas (such as where your novel takes place, your hometown, etc.) could mean your book is available for much longer than the initial 90 days.
5. Seasonal items are cleared out long before the “season” is over.Nielsen sees seasonal items as important to bookstores because they help the store to stay “relevant all year long.” But “the key is to order pre-season and stop replenishing four weeks before the season ends. For example, back-to-school items should be ordered to arrive by July 1 and should not be replenished after Aug. 1.”
For the writer that means start your seasonal marketing campaign well in advance of the actual season to stay in step with stores. No sense suggesting last-minute shoppers stop in at the local bookstore on Christmas Eve. Your book probably is on its way back to the publisher by then.
For me, reading this article constituted a vivid reminder of how bookstore retailers live on the razor’s edge. Each decision to stock or to return inventory can mean life or death to the store. And that decision can mean sale or no sale for your book.
What surprised you most as you tried to think like a bookstore retailer? What shifts might you make in how you market your book as a result of seeing the world from behind the cash register?
NOTE: As eager as I am to read your comments, I’ll be traveling when this blog posts. But I’ll check in when I return to the office.
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My first thought was that the title, cover, and spine design are vital, and have to scream “Pick me up!”
In principle, it works for online sales as well. A good title and cover on Amazon’s “customers who bought THIS also bought THAT” will draw me in, at least to look (review averages also play a role, of course).
Case in point – I was looking for a book on the invasion of Wake Island, and found two good candidates, Gregory Urwin’s “Facing Fearful Odds” and Bill Sloan’s “Given Up For Dead”.
You can compare their covers –
http://smile.amazon.com/Facing-Fearful-Odds-Siege-Island/dp/0803295626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412564784&sr=1-1&keywords=facing+fearful+odds
http://smile.amazon.com/Given-Up-Dead-Americas-Heroic/dp/0553585673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412564938&sr=1-1&keywords=given+up+for+dead+america%27s+heroic+stand+at+wake+island
Both the title and the cover of Sloan’s book are more compelling (and its sales are significantly better), and yet…Urwin’s effort is generally considered to be a more balanced and accurate description of the siege (this is NOT a criticism of Sloan – he’s an excellent historian).
So I guess my first takeaway from this is that eye appeal is vital.
Second would be building demand through social media far enough in advance of the pub date to trip the ‘decision to buy’ within the 90-day (or 4-week!) window, but not so far ahead as to let interest cool over time.
My feeling is that this would require a good blurb, and, if allowed by the publisher, the posting of the first few chapters.
Finally, I’d set aside time to maximize responsiveness and engagement with my followers on social media, and look for opportunities to get advance copies into the hands of key influencers, people with a following specific to the book’s platform. Not necessarily the famous and beautiful, but folks who have something significant to say and who’re respected.
A bit more on the titles of the Wake Island books –
Sloan’s title is actually better, since it accurately describes how the Marine garrison was written off by the US in the wake of Pearl Harbor (the Marines beat off the first landing, but were overrun when the Japanese had a second go with a larger force).
Urwin’s title is poetic (it comes from Macaulay’s poem “How Horatius Kept the Gate”) but it’s a little bit misleading; “Facing Fearful Odds” implies, through the poetic link with Macaulay, a victory.
While Wake was a moral victory and added bright shine to the Corps’ luster – it was a military defeat.
Andrew, that sounds like a spot-on plan. And, yes, we are a very visual people and tend to make decisions based on a cover, which is good news for the author with a great cover; not so great for the author with a less than stellar cover.
Enlightening…Glad you ended up reading that article. 🙂 Thanks for sharing, Janet!
What an enlightening article, Janet. I too am glad you read it and shared your insights here. I think some of the things that surprised me most were how few items have to sell before being considered “core items” and the time frame mindset of book sellers. It’s completely understandable.
So, the books in the bargain book section at a store like Mardels? How long do those stay on the shelf before being discounted?
It’s good to realize the importance for authors to market their books as much as they’re able.
Jeanne, the bargain bin books will be offered for a few weeks most likely and then shipped back to the publisher where it will be remaindered. A heart-rending moment for the author.
I would have guessed a minimum of a book per week to be a “core product” — shows how much I don’t know about managing a bookstore. Thank you, Janet, for my Monday morning educational moment.
I love our little local book store. I used to never buy books for myself (until I got a Nook) but I buy a book for each of my boys every month (I have 3 boys) they then have a chance to earn that book by doing surprise chores for me or being sweet to each other. I order those books ahead of time and I know that Danika at the bookstore will hold my order until we’ve been paid and I can pick it up. Win win situation. I know my books are waiting for me for when that one boy is kind to his brother all of a sudden, and I’m giving business to locals. Besides, book stores smell nice, and there is coffee next door.
I’d heard some of this before, but like the others, I’m surprised at how few items are necessary to sell to be considered a core item. I’m wondering how frequently a book fails to sell a copy in 90 days. I suppose more often than I would expect.
Thank you, Janet, for this analysis. I’ve been reading and researching the Love Inspired line with books that come out every month. My local Wal-Mart changes these offerings every month, religously. That month’s books get only thirty days to sell. With category books, then, it seems that your marketing window is reduced to approximately thirty days. Would you consider that to be true, at least as far as bookstores go? Perhaps with Amazon, etc., that window stretches a bit further?
I also appreciate the admonishment to begin seasonal marketing early. I’ve learned that in blogging I need to plan ahead. If I want to publish a post about gift-buying for a large family, I ought not wait until December. People are shopping now.
Meghan, I’ve also found what different Wal-Marts within one city varies. One near our home doesn’t even carry the LI line. Sigh. But another one nearby does. I wonder how much it has to do with what sells in individual stores?
Jeanne, WalMart chooses to either sell certain titles in all their stores or select stores that do better with that type of book.
It would be up to the bookstore as to how many LI titles they ordered per month and how long each title stayed on the shelf.
WalMart would want to clear “old” inventory to make room for the new.
Retailer’s have to be one step ahead at all times if they want to thrive. When I worked at a used bookstore, we made a concerted effort to ride the waves that public interest put into motion. If a certain book was recommended by a certain popular talk show host we stockpiled that title. If yet another movie was made of a classic title, we bought any used copy we could get and ordered new copies. If the anniversary of a popular world event or time in history loomed on the horizon we were very intentional about the requests we made on the ‘books wanted’ board for our customers. All that to say, I loved the process of meeting the demands of those who walked through our doors.
Janet, I’m especially motivated by your suggestion to concentrate my efforts in the specific geographic areas where my novels are set, as well as my hometown (which also happens to be the location of the bookstore I mentioned above). 🙂
Dealing with ‘hometown issues’ can also be useful; I was able to place a number of copies of “Blessed Are the Pure Of Heart” with local groups working with the VA on PTSD issues in Albuquerque.
That’s a fantastic example, Andrew.
Janet, thanks for the excellent perspective. Thanks, too, for helping your readers to become savvy in marketing!
Blessings!
Thank you for the heads’ up. This was a very interesting article. Puts another perspective on the issue.
“If you can convince all your relatives and friends to go to a bookstore and to special order your title, the retailer might decide there’s demand for your book and order one or two to put on his shelf–for 90 days.” This is a great idea, and will be part of my strategy when the time comes. Thanks so much for the workable tips!
“A writer’s primary goal is to make sense. The bookstore’s is to make cents.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana