One copy at a time
Or, how I've sold more than 2,000 books since 2018
Events coming up next weekend!
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to hang out in Chapters/Indigo Calgary stores. I spent three hours on Saturday in the Crowfoot location and three hours Sunday in the Chinook store, signing books. Here’s how it went.
The table location I had at Crowfoot was terrible. There was already another author in a prime location in the store. My table was placed offside of the front door. People either breezed right by me or noticed me on their way out, after they had made their purchases. I said hello to every person that came in. Most people acknowledged me, but few stopped. One was a woman named Sheila (waving because she’s reading this) who has bought all my books, but we’ve never met in real life. It was a wonderful start to the day. Sheila picked up a copy of Flow.
I tried moving the table forward. I placed my retractable banner in different spots. I stood beside the table and in front of it. Nada. Bupkas (the Yiddish word for nothing). Three people purchased Katya Noskov’s Last Shot. Just as I was starting to lose hope and write this off as a lost cause, my experience as a retail manager kicked in. The voice in my head whispered, Make them see you. Move the product.
I had lined up bookmarks on the table, free for the taking. But people can’t take what they can’t see. I stood with a pile of bookmarks in my hand and greeted everyone who came in: “Hi! I’m here signing my books today. Can I give you a bookmark?”
Everyone took a bookmark. I had only one more person stop at the table (he was curious, but not purchasing anything that day he said), but after I was packed up and gone, six more books sold.
The next day, I was ready to repeat the experiment at Chinook. No need. My table placement was phenomenal and the people shopping at this store are a different breed. Before I was even done setting up, I sold two books. People were drawn in by their own curiosity, wanting to look at my book and hear all about it.
For the remainder of my time in the store, I watched. You can see it in a person’s eyes when they are glancing as they seek something else. There is no second look and their pace doesn’t change.
But when the eyes linger or double back for another look, that’s when I threw out my line and reeled them in.
COME ON OVER. CAN I TELL YOU ABOUT MY BOOK?
And it worked. Before my first hour was up, I had sold five books. By the time my three hours were done, 12 books were in reader’s hands.
I love watching people, but watching people in a bookstore is a whole other level of fascination for me. When I wasn’t signing books, I was paying attention to what people had tucked in their arms.
Lots of Ali Hazelwood (Deep End), Holly Black (The Folk of the Air series), and naturally, Rebecca Yarros (an assortment of Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm). Loads of Mel Robbins (The Let Them Theory).
At Crowfoot, two women stopped at the BookTok table and had a quick discussion about Five Brothers by Penelope Douglas. I smiled to myself because way back in 2017, I won a copy of Punk 57 from a Goodreads giveaway. I had never heard of Penelope, but the book had an interesting premise and they were a self-published author, like I was about to be.
In 2023 Berkley bought the print rights for all of Penelope's self-published paperbacks and have been slowly re-releasing new editions. Penelope is now a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and their books have been published in twenty languages.
So you just never know how this writer journey will pan out. In the meantime, I’ll keep selling my books, one copy at a time.
What I’m reading
Give the state of the world lately, I think I’d like to immerse myself in some dystopian fiction. The last time I did this was March of 2020 (*cough*) and that led me to start producing a podcast. So which do I start with? The book about a group of friends trying to save the world from tech giants (The Future) or the one about teenage girls who develop the power to electrocute people and seize control of society (The Power)? Tough call, right?
Hi Dana,
I am waving back, because yes, I read your post! Meeting you in person made my day & I appreciate you acknowledging me in your post. I am sorry that your experience at the Crowfoot Indigo was not the best, primarily due to the poor placement of your table. You deserved better!
Once I got home, I ordered a copy of, The Matter of a Memoir, to gift to a cousin who wants to write her memoir. I am hoping to come to one of your events this coming weekend in the hopes that you can sign the book for my cousin. I look forward to seeing you again! Sending best wishes that you will have lots of success at both events!
Sheila R-H