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Success Stories:
Selling Books via Bookstores

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Extend your Book Sales through
Point-of-Purchase Displays

“We’re all susceptible to the impulse purchase. That’s why the grocery and discount stores line the checkout lanes with goodies to catch your eye. It works—you buy more.

“Put this human impulse to work in your favor by using point-of-purchase displays to put your books in direct line of sight of people with their wallets already out of their pockets. We sell guidebooks to trails for hiking, bicycling, and skiing. They’re displayed on checkout counters in bike shops, gift shops, nature centers, wineries, coffee shops, and even gas stations.

“When we make a sales call we offer a free Plexiglas display stand if they buy 5 or more books. See an example at http://www.displaystands4you. With the stand (and some not so subtle suggestions), nine times out of ten, our books end up being displayed on the checkout counter. We tape a business card to the back of the stand, which gives the owner of the shop quick access to our reorder phone number.

“Of course, some shop owners say no—their counters are too crowded already. But, the ones who say yes end up selling many more books, and we make our minimal investment in the display stand back very quickly.” — Sue Freeman, Footprint Press, Web: http://www.displaystands4you.

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Bookstores Rule!

According to a survey of 1,003 New Yorkers between the ages of 25 to 35, Barnes & Noble has the best singles scene in the city (American Express survey). Among the survey's other findings: 42% of those polled said they thought the best way to ring in the New Year was “at home, enjoying a quiet evening for two.”

Now how can you use this information to promote your romance titles? Your relationship self-help books? Your party books? Not only are the chains great singles scene centers, but any good independent bookstore offers the same attraction. What can you set up to make this information work for you, your book, and the bookstore?

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Local Bestsellers

Former high school teacher Pat Morrison's pictorial history Walker County (a collection of postcards and photos) held the #1 position during the Christmas holiday selling season in Birmingham, Alabama. It beat out Michael Chricton's new novel State of Fear, Jon Stewart's America, and The DaVinci Code.

On the nature book bestseller list, small Minnesota publisher Voyageur Press has two titles on snowflakes (Kenneth Libbrecht's The Little Book of Snowflakes and The Snowflake) beating out the Audubon Society, Roger Tory Peterson, and John Bull's American Birds.

Data is taken from The Book Standard Chart Alert newsletter.

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The Best of the Best in All 50 States

In 1978, Gwen McKee started Quail Ridge Press to publish a cookbook that had been rejected by her husband, the director of the University of Mississippi Press. Then, in the early '80s, she and good friend Barbara Moseley compiled and published the Best of the Best from Mississippi cookbook. In 1984, they followed up with the Louisiana edition and in 1985 with the Texas edition. By 2004, when they published the Hawaii, Utah, and Nevada editions, they completed their quest to publish Best of the Best cookbooks from all fifty states.

Their motto from the beginning was: Preserving America's Food Heritage, and that they've done! In addition to the state books, they have also published many Recipe Hall of Fame cookbooks as well as other cookbooks. They have now expanded to publishing a line of general nonfiction and a Mississippi mystery series. Their newest obsession is a state by state alphabet series. Check out their titles at: http://www.quailridge.com.

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“Just wanted you to know that one of the many reasons that I have sold thousands of books, and will continue to do so is because of power-packed info that you send out to authors. This e-mail alone has given me at least four new ideas to get my books into even more hands.” — Kevin Wayne Johnson, Writing for the Lord Ministries.

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The Inc. 500: Greenleaf Book Group: #224

Greenleaf Book Group, a book publisher and distributor, just made the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies. With a three-year sales growth of 562%, Greenleaf is ranked #224 in this year's Inc. 500 list, announced in the September issue of Inc. magazine.

To be eligible for this year's Inc. 500, companies had to be U.S. based, independent and privately held through their fiscal year 2005, and have had at least $600,000 in net sales in the base year of 2002. In addition, their 2005 sales had to have exceeded 2004 sales. Companies are ranked on cumulative three-year sales growth from 2002 to 2005. Inc. verifies all information using tax forms and audited financial statements from certified public accountants and by conducting interviews with company officials.

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