Teganjaz Books Presents... Author, Tracy L. Darity

The Tampa Bay area of Florida is very limited when it comes to African-American owned bookstores. Our premier bookstore, Books For Thought closed some time ago when its owner, the late Felicia Wintons Taylor, was forced to close the store when her battle with Breast Cancer began to take its toll. Felicia was a champion for local writers and aspiring authors, such as myself. Once my debut novel, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! was published, I pretty much stalled in terms of an outlet to place my book. With placement in the big houses a long shot I began to look at independent bookstores throughout the area.

I packaged my press release kit, complimentary copy, and promotional materials, and set-out to introduce myself to bookstore owners. Several weeks later, and no return calls, I decided to call some of the stores to see if they had a chance to review the materials I had left. My first call was my last. What this store owner had to say was a real eye-opener. He asked me questions such as:

• How have you been selling books up until now?

• Why is it important to have your book in a store?

• Why would you waste time trying to direct potential buyers to a bookstore when you have them where you want them…in front of you?

• Do you think bookstores are going to market the book of an unknown self-published author (SP)?

And the questions went on and on. I was taken aback at first but the more I listened the more sense he was making. Currently, I market my books on-line, and distribute promotional materials to local businesses. I am creating a presence, so I like to think. I then go out to festivals and expos, etc, and sell. People love to touch the books, thumb through the pages, and read a few passages. They like to meet the author and ask questions about the book, about the process, and much more.

It really isn’t important to me to have my books in stores. I prefer to have them in the hands of readers, on their coffee table, being discussed at book clubs, and checked out of libraries. I actually didn’t think I would be wasting time directing potential buyers to bookstores; I just wanted to give them the option if they weren’t prepared to purchase the book during our initial meeting. Plus, people often ask where can they get the book, and what stores are they sold in. It would be nice to rattle off some locations.

Mr. Bookstore owner was ready to counter everything I had to say and it was starting to annoy me, but I continued to listen. “So, you have someone standing there with your book in hand, why not close the door on the sale right then and there?” he asked. “You give them the option to go to a store and buy the book later, well guess what; you just placed your book in competition with 1,000 other books.” According to him, book signings are just as bad, unless you are a best-selling author and 100’s of people are coming to the bookstore specifically to meet the author and buy the book they are selling. Otherwise, I’m placing myself at a disadvantage and making things much harder than they have to be. Wow, so I asked him what would he suggest? “Meet the Author events,” he said. “Get your friends, relatives, and co-workers to host signings in their homes, at their churches, or other outlets. You’re now the center of attention and your only competition is you.”

Now, he was starting to make sense. Nevertheless, I thought it’s still a good idea to have my book in stores. You know, just in case that person who didn’t have the funds really intended to pick-up a copy next week, or, if that person who picked up my literature from a local business happened to be on their way to the bookstore. I could actually send business his way.

When it got down to the nitty gritty, the all mighty dollar is what it’s all about, right. My bookstore owner broke it down for me, further. He’s in the business of selling books, not marketing them. The people who patronize his store already know what they are looking for when they enter the store. The majority of his sales are on books by established and best-selling authors. Like most bookstores, books need to move or they are sent back to the publisher for a refund. Most SP authors do not have refund clauses through their distributor. There are rarely feasible discounts given on these books. Stores can buy the books at 40% off the list price, which can still be expensive and cuts into store profit. A book by an unknown SP author will most likely need to be discounted because the POD (Print-on-Demand) service has the list price much higher than it should be. Therefore, it is not beneficial to stock books that aren’t going to bring in much profit to begin with. Well what about the 60/40 split that a lot of SP authors negotiate with independent bookstore owners? “Okay, so I am going to make 40% and what do you, the author make, because remember, in your 60% you must account for the cost of the book, shipping, and other incidentals like promoting your signing and travel, so you are down to about what 20 % profit, if that. See, the author still comes out with the short end of the stick.”

I am not sure if it was my deep sigh, or if this gentleman just felt the need to school this newbie to the business, but when it was all said and done, he decided to take my complimentary copy and display it to see if there was any interest. The book sold shortly after and several people have told me that they went into this particular store to inquire about my book, but I have not heard back from the owner, nor, have I contacted him. The truth of the matter is, this conversation held more truths to it, than I cared to admit. In today’s market, on-line booksellers such as Amazon.com have taken over book sells. I think the numbers are something like 75% of all books are sold through on-line retailers, with 25% coming out of brick and mortar establishments. African-American themed bookstores are a great outlet for minority SP book writers, but when it all boils down, unless you are in the area of such a store, it is not financially feasible to market out of those businesses when you consider travel expenses to get to the store for your book signing. The next option would be to sell on consignment. That can be tricky if the store you consign with is 200 hundred or 2000 miles away. How do you get your money when they do not hold up their end of the bargain?

Many will still counter that having a book in a bookstore and doing signings at these stores are the way to go, but when I ponder over the topic, I must be realistic. The couple of book signings I have done at stores were not beneficial. The popular franchise stores will only order about 10 – 15 copies of the book. That nets about $20 - $25 in royalties. I can bring additional books, but guess what, they still want their share. And like Mr. Bookstore Owner said, the 60/40 split really does come down to about that same $2.00 per book profit.

As a self-published author, I believe it is time to step outside the box. Many of us do what we have seen others do and assume this is the way to go. Like most things around us, a new day is dawning and a new way of doing things is on the horizon. It is time out for mimicking others and time to do what works best for us. Others may not like it, and may try to shoot down our ideas, but at the end of the day the success of our books is solely in our hands, from publishing, to marketing, to closing the deal on that next sell.

Much Love,

Tracy

Tracy L. Darity is the author of He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! and Love…Like Snow In Florida On A Hot Summer Day. For more information, please visit: www.TracyLDarity.com  and www.TracyLDarity.ning.com.

If you are in the St. Petersburg, Florida, area, please visit God’s Property Custom T-Shirts, located at 4928 Gulfport Blvd (22nd Ave So), to purchase your copies of both books.