CONTEMPORARY PUBLISHING MAGAZINE
Initiatives like these are especially important to independent stores as social and digital advertising drives traffic to their fronts even more so than to the bigger chains, Stephanie Valdez, co-owner of Community Bookstore and Terrace Books, agreed. Onorati also pointed to preorder campaigns that more specially target local stores as a way to help drive traffic, specifically with special signed editions of the book as well as other giveaways that tie-in to the story and help build a relationship with the reader. Margot Sage-El, owner of Watchung Booksellers, echoed this idea, explaining that these items act as currency that indies have that other retailers don’t and create a more community-like atmosphere. These campaigns also include cross promotion of readings and signings with the author and publisher, which often fail on a local level, Onorati said. Valdez added that promoting the entire book tour as a whole rather than the individual events would provide for better coordination overall and drive more interest across the campaign. Not just putting the blame on publishers, Onorati admitted that indie shops need to be better at asking rather than just expecting for these sorts of things to happen. When sending advanced copies to stores, Valdez also implored publishers to think more strategically when sending out galleys, targeting individual bookshops with books that fit their store and customer-base better. Physical copies are also often better as that reminder on the nightstand can make all the difference in having a clerk read it, and therefore better be able to understand and recommend it, over digital copies.
Finally, the panel gave a look inside how successful holiday promotions had been for them. While most retailers make a significant portion of their yearly gains on Black Friday and the surrounding days, for independent shops, that is not often the case. The panel agreed that while events like Civilised Saturday in the UK or Watchung’s own Festivus Friday do bring in customers, books are generally bought a bit later and they expected the busiest days for the stores would be the few just before a holiday, if previous years are to be repeated. Understanding when these stores will be at their busiest will ensure that publishers know when they may need that extra bit of support. While independent bookstores may not sell the volume that some of the other chain-retailers do, they are still an increasing segment of the market and are typically frequented by regular buyers that listen to recommendations, so keeping them close and happy should be a priority for any publisher. Taking these requests, as well as having these sorts of discussions with your own local book shops, is a positive first step in building that relationship. For information on future Publishers Advertising and Marketing Association events, visti www.pama-ny.org.
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