About two weeks ago a VP from St. Martin's e-mailed me and asked if he could "stop by" with author John Hart, adding (in case I was unaware) that Hart had won an Edgar. I of course said, sure, come on over, and he then fedexed me several ARCs of Hart's new book, THE LAST CHILD, which I picked up thinking I might get through about half before a visit the next day. I stayed up all night reading, finishing the book in the morning (and ther's nothing better than that) so I was excited to meet Mr. Hart & talk about his book with him.
We did indeed have a nice visit - my question, really is WHY, nice as it was, did the St. Martin's VP bring him by? He's not planning on sending him to my store for a booksigning, they had also stopped at Borders. The two guys browsed around and chatted and the VP even bought a few Hardy Boys books for his kid (and I made Hart buy Thomas Cook's RED LEAVES). I think they were both intrigued by the more or less "antique" nature of our store, which is mainly - books. We sell very few side items, and it feels like a used book store, especially in the back.
We also chatted about how the VP had figured out the break even point for a book signing - for him, 100 books, maybe factoring in 12 returns. He didn 't factor in any other kinds of sales though and we talked about that. We talked about how the book might sell a few copies before the event, and more after; how the bookseller was more likely to hand sell a book he or she had read and enjoyed, and simply meeting the author is often a sales boost. As far as we're concerned we also run a review in our newsletter & on our website, a spot that gets lots of hits every month.
I felt dismayed, though, since an event where we sell 100 (or 88) books is pretty rare. With some books, over time, we sell that many copies, but usually not in one shot. On the other hand, I read Hart's book and really liked it and no doubt will do my part to handsell it. The rest is up to the customer, and at the moment, the economy. As far as "publisher support" goes, "visiting" is on the odd side, enjoyable as it was. I would rather host an event, but I sure wouldn't say no to another visit.
Till next week - Happy New Year in the meantime! If you are like me you are grateful for neighbors who own a snowblower....
