Indie Authors Selling eBooks in Bookstores by of Kobo

Skip the reading and listen/watch Mark give his presentation "live"!
(scroll to the bottom of the post to watch!)

I have been a bookseller for over twenty years and have worked in virtually every type of bookstore possible – from indie store, to mall store, to chain and big-box retailer, from campus bookstore to online bookstore…..but no matter where I worked as a bookseller I can tell you that one thing was consistent:

Authors who made a positive impression on me were authors whose books I would gladly hand-sell.

Let me repeat that, in a slightly different way.

As a bookseller, I would gladly and eagerly hand-sell books, all in the interest of supporting and wanting to see certain authors succeed.

Booksellers and book lovers – the main thing that attracts people to get into bookselling isn’t a love for being a retailer; it is a love of books.  Thus, in a bookseller you typically have an avid reader.  There is a great opportunity for authors who have established positive connections with their local booksellers (no matter what type of bookseller they happen to be) to gain extra support, similar to a “Street Team” in booksellers.

Sure, it’s one thing to rely on automated algorithms to propel your eBook into spots that capture customers’ eyes.  But that game keeps changing and shifting under your feet. The minute you understand it, the eRetailer can immediately change the rules, change the way it works.

But something that never changes is a bookseller’s passion for books and for reading.

And something  that booksellers encounter every single day is the opportunity to suggest and curate, to recommend books to customers who they are engaging with in a very intimate way. Think about the power they have if YOU are an author they admire, respect and care about.

And although it can sometimes be difficult, these same cultivations, these same relationships can indeed translate into the digital space, particularly with Kobo’s partnership with booksellers and retailers around the world. At the end of the day, a bookseller who believes in you and wants to see you successful is a good thing to have – even better when there is a way for them to sell your book through their own store.

One of the organizations (this is for US authors) is the American Booksellers Association’s IndieBound.org and their INDIES SELL EBOOKS feature for their member stores. 

There is a great listing at http://www.indiebound.org/ebooks highlighting the various stores in the US that sell Kobo eBooks. On each of those websites are ways customers can search and buy Kobo eBooks – and the sales of those eBooks help generate revenue that supports that local bookstore.

So, on your own website, you can generate a link to one or more of your books via those platforms.

Here’s one of the auto-generated affiliate links you can create for free on IndieBound.org – this is for a print book. ShopIndie Bookstores

And here is a link to the eBook at a specific indie bookstore.

If you have created such links, let your local bookstore know about it; and let them know that you have done this – that you support them.  It’s good to feel loved.

But this is where being genuine comes into it. If you don’t support them and don’t care that customers buy your book from them, you’ll likely come off as deceptive and trying to be manipulative.  The best way to assure is to actually spend time getting to know your local booksellers if you don’t already know them.  Invest some time learning a bit about their unique customer base, the preferred reading of the booksellers.  If there are booksellers who like to read the type of book you have written, then share info with the book about them – offer them digital ARCs of your books.

The key thing to remember is similar to the great advice that is often given regarding social media behaviour online.  Be genuine, be honest, engage with people with integrity and good spirit. Don’t just be a pushy or annoying jerk who keeps saying “buy my book” over and over – that’s the quickest way to turn people off.  The same holds true with in person interactions.

The great thing about booksellers, particularly indie booksellers, is that they are all individuals, follow their own tastes, perspectives, etc.  That can be a great thing.

And if the person you’re speaking with isn’t “in” to the type of book you are talking about, learn to recognize the signs that not all books are for all readers.  Your book has a specific target audience – you should only be pitching it to the target audience – otherwise you are wasting your breath and likely going to be remembered as an annoying author who was more interested in trying to sell something that someone who was engaging in a mutually beneficial communication.

One thing I have done in the past as an author at local book events is I have offered some of my digital content for free for anyone who buys a book (sometimes one of my own books, sometimes ANY book – because they point was to encourage people to support that local bookstore) at the bookstore that was selling books for my event/launch/talk.  It reminds attendees of the importance of supporting a bookstore that supports and is part of a dynamic cultural community. And it demonstrates the author’s desire to support bookstores.

Writers often buy eReaders to do giveaways to their fans, newsletter subscribers, etc.  Why not purchase an eReader from a local retailer?  Remember, a Kobo reader purchased at a local indie bookstore translates into additional revenue support for that bookstore whenever that customer makes a Kobo ebook purchase.  You’re not only buying the device from them, but are helping them gain future eBook sales revenues.

Remember – booksellers love books, they love reading and they love authors. But they tend to love authors who aren’t jerks. They tend to want to support authors whose work they like, whose style they like, and who have ties to their community. And when they are interested enough in you as an author, (particularly when there’s a way for them to help sell your books/ebooks and earn the revenue that keeps them in business) they’ll help more customers find you, increase your discovery opportunities, and be advocates for you and your books right on the front lines.

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Mark Leslie Lefebvre has worn and continues to wear many hats within the Canadian book industry. And it all started when he spend an entire summer vacation at the age of thirteen in the basement of his parent's home hammering out a novel on his mother's Underwood typewriter. Mark's passion for writing and his love of reading led him to the book industry, where he has worked since 1992 as a bookseller in virtually every possible bookstore environment. 1992 was the same year Mark sold his first short story, and his most recent books (under the name Mark Leslie) include Haunted Hamilton and Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound. He has fully embraced the role of hybrid author, working on multiple self-published and traditionally published projects.

Mark currently works as the Director of Self-Publishing & author Relations at Kobo where he was part of the team that launched Kobo Writing Life, a DIY self-publishing portal for authors and small publishers, and he sits on the Canadian Booksellers Association executive board as well as the BookNet Canada Board of Directors as a CBA representative. He is an author, a bookseller, and editor and an avid reader. But he finds the term "Book Nerd" nicely covers all hats.