Exciting New Children's Book On The Way

[Rob Wick]

Mike,

My experience has been that at the bookstore level, where the real action takes place, having a review of a book has absolutely no bearing on whether or not it will sell or even be carried. The corporate buyers make the determination (generally) as to what books stores throughout the country will carry and that normally comes from a sales rep from one of the major publishing houses. Small press and self-published authors have to rely on their own work to get a book into a store, and even getting it placed regionally isn't easy, but as I said earlier it also has to follow certain rules before BN will let it in the door. Your best friend will be a store's community relations manager, who if they are doing their job, will get your book into the store. If you have more than one store in your area, you need to speak to each of the CRMs in those stores. Also, make friends with the independents in your area. Of all the booksellers in America, independents have actually seen their sales increase compared to national retailers.

One other suggestion. As a former editor, I can attest to the fact that I got things in the mail (this was before e-mail) that I hardly took the time to look at. If someone sent me a book unsolicited, unless I knew the person or knew of them, I rarely would ever follow up. Depending on the size of the papers and other media outlets in your area, try to set up an appointment to visit them in person. In newspapers, you would want to contact either the news editor or the city editor. Don't try to see the managing editor unless it's a small paper and that's the only level of management available. For television or radio, try to find out the news director and make an appointment with them.

That still won't guarantee you a big story, but local news always wants local people, especially in anniversary years of major events.

Good luck.

Best
Rob