Hand-selling to the Masses

By Robert Gray -- Publishers Weekly, 4/24/2006

Bookseller Susan Novotny stops in front of a mirror in a dimly lit corner of the studio, combs her reddish brown hair, then asks whether she should go on with or without her blue jacket. Moments later, wearing the jacket, she sits in front of the cameras hand-selling on Live at Noon, a daily news and lifestyle show produced by Albany's NBC affiliate, WNYT-13.

Novotny, owner of the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, N.Y., and Market Block Books in Troy, N.Y., on this afternoon offers unscripted, enthusiastic recommendations for a diverse selection of titles, including The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry, Live, Laugh, and Be Blessed by Anne Bryan Smollin and Geronimo by Joseph Bruchac (an Adirondack region author she describes as "our very own"). She touts The Irish Pub Cookbook by Margaret Johnson "because this is Albany and, as Irish as it is, we could use a cookbook that isn't all rubbery corned beef and dry soda bread."

The set looks like a living room, and Novotny exudes the warmth, humor and intelligence of a welcome guest. As you watch her, you can't help thinking you might like to visit her store. And that is the point.

For Novotny, such media appearances are part of a strategy to attract consumers who might not otherwise think about coming into one of her stores. Novotny is certainly not the only independent bookseller exploiting the power of local media to increase business. For example, Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers (Madison, Conn.), appears regularly on The Faith Middleton Show on Connecticut Public Radio's WNPR. On the other side of the country, Writer's Voice Radio, a 30-minute weekly program about books on San Francisco, is produced by Media Interchange in cooperation with A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books. The show features author readings, a literary calendar and about 30 local booksellers recommending their favorite new titles.

Still, local media throughout the country have the potential to be of much greater use in addressing one of the biggest problems in the business—reaching consumers who don't shop at independent bookstores. According to Book Industry Study Group data for 2002 (the most recent year such a study was done), only 38% of adults over the age of 18 purchased their books from traditional bookstores (including independents and chains). Couple those findings with a Zogby Consumer Profile survey conducted during the spring of 2005, which found that only 21% of adults prefer shopping in independent bookstores, and the challenge is clear.

Novotny believes that media appearances project the message: "Come on in; we're readers just like you." In addition to her monthly appearance on WNYT, which is broadcast to 14 counties in three states, she also appears regularly on The Roundtable on WAMC, a public radio station that reaches parts of seven northeastern states, and on WGY-AM, a 50,000-watt station that is heard throughout upstate New York. Live streaming audio is available online at both radio stations, and WAMC offers podcasts.

"She really understands what people in the Capital region are like," says Michele Young, producer of Live at Noon. "They prefer local touches. They like to see a local person."

Novotny jokingly calls her appearances on the local NPR station "preaching to the converted," but adds that her longtime relationship with WGY—as the "Book Lady" on Don Weeks's popular morning drive-time show—reaches "a whole different market. I am wedged in between Rush Limbaugh and Paul Harvey, and I assure you that the Book House has been no worse for the wear in this placement."

Novotny chooses books that she hopes will appeal to a wide audience. Apparently, it works. "The listeners track me down in the store all the time, and I'm more than happy to sell them any book: the titles I recommend as well as Michael Savage or Bill O'Reilly gracing the shelf alongside Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore," she says. "We have a reputation for being an open-minded bookstore where all points of view are welcome."

Two of her senior frontline booksellers—Marggie Skinner, master bookseller and community liaison, and Stanley Hadsell, manager at Market Block Books—share media duties with her. "It's amazing how many times people hear the show and mention it to us," Hadsell says. "We have a lot of customers who cheer us on." He adds, "People come in and mention a book I talked about on the radio, and one book sale leads to another."

Skinner agrees. "I get feedback all the time," she says. "They recognize my voice and say, 'You're Marggie! I hear you on the radio.' " Hadsell adds that their goal, whether on the sales floor or on the air, is to create personal connections. "One thing I believe is that for indie bookstores, it's all about being a community resource. Our being on the radio just makes that resource accessible to more people."

Rebecca Fitting, a district sales manager for Random House, lives in the region and is a fan. "Susan and her team perfectly fuse passionate yet professional hand-selling with the personal neighborhood bookstore approach," she says. "If you ever catch one of them on the radio, watch out because you'll be jotting down names of books while driving, just so you can search them out later."

Skinner says that getting their voices heard helps break down social barriers. "We're pretty relaxed and it's conversational," she says. "I think our customers feel like they're eavesdropping on a personal conversation."

The media appearances complement the store's other community outreach programs, which include off-site presentations at retirement communities; professional enrichment programs for teachers and librarians; a relationship with more than 35 book clubs; regular in-store reading and events series, and co-sponsorship of the New York State Writers Institute on the University at Albany campus.

Her bookstores are a reflection of the wide net Novotny casts as a bookseller. The 30-year-old Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza serves a largely suburban and academic audience. Market Block Books opened about a year ago in a downtown section of Troy that is undergoing a renaissance. It is a beautiful corner bookstore with large glass windows showcasing an inviting and elegant interior. Novotny says it caters to "an inner-city population, a large residential pedestrian community from the surrounding brownstone neighborhoods."

Innovation has always been a key to Novotny's success, says Carl Lennertz, v-p, marketing/independent retailing, for HarperCollins. "She just sees things a different way and is always willing to experiment. Her outreach to the community is extraordinary, from the university to business groups to, well, everyone."

When the goal is to reach as many people as possible, says Novotny, on-air visits just make good business sense. They enable her to do in front of a large audience what she does for one customer at a time in her store. "I'm never at a loss for words, excitement and enthusiasm about the books I sell," she says. "It's free marketing, but it always comes from the heart."