First Issue

It can be a hard battle to earn placement for your book in a bricks-and-mortar store. Not even established publishers get orders from the big chains on every book they publish; the chances for a self-publisher — especially a first-timer — can be downright slim.

Before you start railing about the unfairness of it all, it’s worthwhile to understand the economics of the bookstores’ decision. They have a limited number of stores that can each hold a limited amount of inventory, and they have a limited budget for purchasing that inventory. Even the biggest of book superstores can only hope to carry perhaps 10% of available books.

As Andrew Wheeler, marketing manager at John Wiley & Sons, points out:

Generally, for a hardcover or trade paperback that’s not being pitched for something promotional…you’re talking about whether the order is for one, two, or maybe three copies per store. Or, possibly [less], if the book is only going to the top stores for that category.

Wheeler goes on to discuss buying budgets:

…chainstore buyers have budgets; they don’t have an infinite amount of money to play with. They have to buy books for all of the stores in the chain, in their category, given the money they have available — this is called “open to buy,” and varies depending on recent sales, returns, and what else is publishing that month. Like any other budget, I’m sure buyers start with the most important things — the big books that month — and work their way down the list. If the money runs out before they hit the bottom, that’s it.

The good news for self-published authors is that there are definitely options. Amazon carries everything. There’s never any problem getting your book into Amazon. The websites of the book chains can carry much more inventory than their brick-and-mortar stores — so it’s easy to get in there as well. As a self-publisher, you have the freedom to negotiate bulk sales to groups and associations that other authors don’t have. Take advantage of it.

Certainly it’s nice to be in the chains. For many self-published authors, seeing their book on the shelves of their local Indigo or Borders store feels like acceptance, like a nod to the legitimacy and professionalism of their publishing efforts. But if you’re getting frustrated with low book orders from the chains, don’t despair. They are not the only path to strong book sales. And it’s nothing personal.

Extending its dominion yet again, Amazon has acquired Shelfari, a social networking site for booklovers that allows readers to display a virtual bookshelf and share reviews. The announcement came through the Shelfari blog last week.

Earlier in the year, Amazon had chipped in $1 million in funding for the growing site.

The acquisition presents some interesting conflicts for Amazon. Just one month ago, the e-tail giant acquired AbeBooks, a online dealer in used, rare, and out-of-print books. AbeBooks — and now Amazon — is a 40% stakeholder in LibraryThing, a bitter Shelfari rival.

Will Amazon try to buy up the remainder of LibraryThing and merge it with Shelfari? Given the public animosity between the two sites, the more likely course may be for Amazon to divest itself of its LibraryThing holdings.

Whichever way it goes, authors who haven’t been using social networking sites like Shelfari to build word of mouth for their books online should get started. With further integration between Shelfari and Amazon in the cards, more online reviews could easily equal more sales.

Continuing its quest for world dominance, Amazon today announced in a press release that it has inked a deal to acquire AbeBooks, an online book retailer based in British Columbia.

AbeBooks deals primarily in used, rare, and out-of-print books, and most of its 110 million listings are from independent booksellers. AbeBooks will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity and will maintain all of its websites.

A search of the AbeBooks website reveals no mention of the news.

No purchase price has yet been revealed and the deal is still subject to regulatory approval.

What’s your take on the acquisition?