With so many new booksellers entering the business and new store openings, NEIBA used its day and a half of educational programming to provide panels with information for newbies. The sessions also served as refreshers for long-time general and children’s booksellers alike. Below are some of the most helpful ideas culled from sessions on Selling More Nonfiction, What Reps See, and Growing a Children’s Bookseller: Demystifying Stages of Reading from Birth to YA.
• “Pretty much the same things apply to selling nonfiction as fiction. I still think the most important tool is in-store merchandising. Face-outs are the most effective way of selling a book.” (Dale Szczeblowski, general manager of Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.)
• Don’t be afraid to add more display tables. “ ‘I see carpet; you’re not in the carpet business.’ ” (Szczeblowski, quoting rep David Kitzmiller)
• “Don’t give away sales to Amazon. Don’t forget backlist.” (Debra Woodward, sales manager of Red Wheel Weiser)
• Mix fiction and nonfiction on display tables. (Woodward)
• “Invite your reps to staff night.” (Nikki Mutch, sales rep for Scholastic)
• Sales reps are eager to know all the booksellers at their accounts. Mutch encouraged frontline booksellers to e-mail her with galley requests.
• To get an author event, write a “fantastic” proposal. (Mutch)
• Although Scholastic’s deadline for events is firm, John Muse, sales rep for Simon & Schuster, encouraged booksellers to send in requests even if they missed the deadline. Sometimes a publisher doesn’t get the requests it expected for a market it wants to reach, so it’s willing to consider late requests. Plus, if a proposal is really good, houses will often add to the tour. Each publisher works differently. Questions should go directly to the rep.
• Once you confirm an author event, write up a confirmation and submit it to the publicist. And make sure that you read the confirmation sent by the publicist. That way you can make sure you’re both agreed on how to proceed. (Mutch)
• Order more books for an event than you think you might need. It’s better not to run out. Most publishers have a policy for quick returns for event titles. (Mutch)
• Be sure to have bottled water, Sharpies, and Post-It notes for author events. (Mutch)
• “Presentation is huge,” said former bookseller turned Ingram sales rep Stacie Williams, who urged booksellers to pay attention to how their stores look to customers. “Make sure your shelves are dust free, even the ones on the bottom.”
• For photos of ways that stores add excitement to displays, Williams has collected photos of some strong displays at New England booksellers here.
• Tag books of the future on Edelweiss to create lists for preorders. (Muse)
• IndieNext nominations are vital to publishers – it gives them feedback on whether or not their marketing is effective. (Muse)
• Send your store newsletter to reps. They can get information for their call report and increase your profile in the publishing offices. These reports are read by editors, publicists, and marketing people. (Muse)
• Sort ARCs by pub month, so you can stay ahead. (Muse)
• It’s important to read to babies. By 18 months, there is already a gap between babies who are read to and those who are not. (Lucille Rettino, v-p and director of marketing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
• We have seen 20% growth in board books over the last three years. (Rettino)
• Nonfiction picture books have become desirable in the school market. (Rettino)
• Early readers (for ages five to seven or eight) are different from picture books and are edited and designed with the emerging reader in mind. The subject matter is meant to appeal to them, and often concerns family or making tough decisions. (Rettino)
• Middle grade (ages 8 to 12) vary in length from 240 to 320 pages. The content focuses on friends, family, and the character’s immediate world. It’s a time in children’s lives when they get to make some choices. (Eileen Lawrence, director of marketing at Algonquin Young Readers)
• A good resource for MG titles is the [Nerdy Book Club] https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com. (Lawrence)
• “When I read a book, I’m so 14,” said Katie McGarry, sales rep at HMH, who uses a “kiss scale” to rate YA (ages 12 and up). In addition to whether or not the teens on the front cover of the book are kissing, McGarry goes by the age of the model and the look that’s used to determine the correct rating. She showed the cover of Katie Coyle’s Vivian Needs a Miracle, which shows Vivian being driven. The implication is that she’s not old enough to drive, or can’t drive.
• In response to an audience question about gender issues in recommending a book, Rettino said, “You never want to say ‘this is a boy book’; ‘this is a girl book.’ Always try to appeal to the broadest audience.”
• PW blogger Kenny Brechner, owner of DDG Booksellers in Farmington, Maine, requested that publishers add more hi-lo books (with high interest and low reading levels) to their lists, and more clean teen titles.
