Tips for asking bookstores to stock the book.
We’ve had quite a few successes getting bookstores to stock Timeless Products. We’ve
put together this Tip Sheet to help you ask a bookstore to stock the book.
Decide which bookstores to approach. Here are some ideas of the type of stores to
approach:
Your favourite bookstore.
Independent bookstores with a large selection of Spiritual and Yogic books.
Bookstores with a strong community connection.
We’ve found that sales to the chain bookstores are not feasible for Timeless – it
usually ends up costing us more than we make.
Yoga studios that sell books
Determine who is best to talk with.
The book buyer is usually the best person to talk to.
If the book buyer is not available, the people on the floor may be able to help you.
Some book buyers talk to sales people about the books people have been asking for.
This is especially helpful if you are going to be purchasing a copy of the book.
Some bookstore will have a ‘policy’ of buying from local authors or small publishers.
Talk with the owner if there is already a relationship with Swami Radha, ashram, etc
Decide on your approach.
We’ve tried many different approaches and found what works and what doesn’t. Here’s
our list from least effective to most effective:
Email the store. Most bookstores do not even open promotional emails.
Phone the buyer. They’ll likely be doing other things while talking to you and forget
the conversation as soon as they hang up the phone. The exception to this is if
you’re calling to make an appointment (and always call to make an appointment)
Visit the store. Find out ahead of time who the buyer is and make an appointment
to see her or him. At the appointed time, flawlessly deliver you pre-practiced sales
pitch. If the book buyer accidentally misses the meeting (they are busy people) talk
to friendly sales people: tell them about the book and ask when is a good time to
catch who you’re looking for.
Purchase the book. This is simply the most effective and easiest way. Simply go
into the store and ask them to get a copy of the book for you. At the same time tell
them about the book and what’s going on in your community (Author Visit, Book
Club, Promo in Class).
Get several people to purchase the book. We said purchasing the book was the
most effective way – here’s the exception to the rule. Order three or four copies at
once (for gifts, for your book club, etc), or get someone to go in a couple of days
later and purchase the book too. The more people that buy the book, the more
interested the bookstore becomes.
One buyer has told us “I often buy one or two books on speck if the person I speak
to is warm, friendly and enthusiastic about the book they want me to carry.”
Prepare for the conversation.
Read over and understand everything that is on the Title Information Sheet (it’s
contained in the book kit).
Know what you’ll be doing in your community to promote the book. Will you be
promoting it in classes? Will Swami Radhananda be visiting? Will you have a book
club?
Get an idea of how many people will purchase the book from the store. Ask your
fellow Yoginis and Yogis, to purchase from the bookstore. The more people that buy
the book at one store, the more likely the store is to stock it and talk it up.
Practice your sales pitch on a friend. Keep it to 5 minutes or less. Yes you’ve got to
keep your love for Swami Radhananda and the Ashram to 5 minutes or less. We
can’t stress how important this is.
Do the Light. Put yourself, the book and the book buyer in the Light.
Have the conversation.
tell what the book is about
tell who the book appeals to (Yoga, Spiritual, Memoir)
how many people in your town or city you know that will buy the book
promotion plan for the book in your city – tour, press releases, ads, book clubs, etc
overall promotion plan – web site, tour (12 cities, 3 continents), reviews by spiritual
leaders
take a sales sheet with you
if the book buyer isn’t willing to order the book based on the first conversation, offer
to come back with a complementary copy
If the buyer is interested in stocking the book, tell them how to order, the details will
be on the Sales Sheet you print off from radhananda.org.
Follow up.
Go back into the store a couple of weeks later. This might be to pick up your copy of
the book, ask if the book has arrived, or to deliver a complementary copy.