Hand Selling

Current Project: Waiting for the meeting tonight!
Status: Impatient

Authors often acknowledge small booksellers for "handselling" their book. I never really understood this concept until recently. Here is a good discussion of handselling that better explains the process from a book seller perspective. Now, here is my insight: We are ALL capable of handselling books. In bookseller lingo, handselling is when a bookstore blogs about, adds reviews, decides to place promiently, features in a newsletter, or otherwise promotes a book independent of efforts by the author/publishing house. However, often marketing by the author does play a role in catching the bookseller's attention. Librarians handsell when they recomend, blog about, place on lists, feature in newsletter, give promient shelf space and otherwise promote works.

I have seen this happen with my mother time and time again. She spys new fiction coming in, reads it, shares it with other librians. It ends up getting a promient shelf space on "New Fiction" instead of joining the rows and maybe gets a newsletter blurb.

A certain amount of synergy goes into bookstore and library handselling. Someone sees your postcard on the same day that she sees a review in publisher's weekly in the same week that she sees a guest blog and suddenly feels like everyone ELSE is talking about this book and gets inspired enough to read a copy.

Now, how do those of us who lack a bookstore or a library handsell books? There's always the subversive method. (On rare occasions, I like to discretely rearrange shelves at Big Box stores. Key word: discrete. I'm not replacing any of the NYT slots or anything obvious. If you want to try this method, you could get a stack of "local author" stickers and add them to copies. I have seen this occasionally at CostCo and know that some authors do this themselves (not my doing:))). There's the amazon/goodreads/insert book review site here method whereby you make a habit of giving favorable reviews to books you enjoyed. There's the blogging about books you loved avenue. There's talking up books that you like method. And then there's the the next step: Talking up books that you think OTHERS will like.

This is where we all have the power to be handsellers. It's not simply sharing what we love. It's matching up readers to books and acknowledging that not everyone will like what we like. Recently, I've been on a bit of a bad-luck run with my reading. I keep reading books that have a lot of great buzz, but that just don't do it for me. However, I've been determined to find readers for these books. I want them to be loved.

I've also been trying to more actively handsell the books of our chapter members, remembering to throw them in when someone mentions X author that they like. Just this morning, someone mentioned that they wished that Susan Wiggs would return to historicals. I suggested Paty's books. She wrote down her name and said that this was perfect timing as she had an amazon gift card to use. Handselling. I have a friend who usually reads Vampire and Sci Fi, but who likes a good action movie. I loaned her a copy of Eli's Stolen Fury. She's eager to see her paranormal series now. Handselling. I told my mother about Chris York's new mystery series, and I'll remind her when the launch date nears. She'll add it to the order list for the library. Handselling.

Returning to synergy, this is why even when it feels like promo isn't working, it actually IS. You create enough buzz for a reader to pick up your book. You snare the right reader, and they get you more readers. And then, as fast you can holler Amway, you've got an army of rabid fans.

In this economy, I think it is worth it to remember our value as readers and as advocates for our fellow writers. If YOU want to sell, you should think about selling OTHERS.

Now, allow me to introduce you to a few books you may love:

• The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig. Who will love it: Readers who like historical books, but who dislike regency novels. Chick lit readers who are wary of historicals but would like something smarter than the average contemporary. Literary fiction readers who would like a little more romance. Readers who wish Meg Cabot or Sophie Kinsella would write historicals and/or smarter heroines.
• The Vampire Next Door. Who will love it: Readers who like their vampires light and silly. Readers who love French heroes. Readers who wish that vampire didn't always = erotica or lots of explict sex. Readers who like Rachel Gibson or Carly Phillips and wish that they would write vampire novels (Please no).
• The Mighty Queens of Freeville, Amy Dickinson. Who will love it: Any one who loved Gilmore Girls. Women moving on after a divorce. Daughters of single mothers.
• The Gourmet Girl Mystery series. Who will love it: Chick lit fans who also like cozy mysteries. Girls who crush on celebrity chefs. Readers who like to cook. Graduate school drop-outs.

Now, you return the favor. I need to end my streak of perfectly nice books that don't float my boat. It's painful giving yet another book the "It's not you, it's me" speech about why I can't commit to the rest of their series or why it isn't landing on my keeper shelf. Handsell me some books. Published authors, how has handselling helped you?