An Open Letter to Indie Bookstores
Dear store owner,
I know things are tough right now.
Being an Independent Bookseller was never easy, even in the good old days of
four or five years ago, when practically everyone purchased their reading
material the same way—by getting in their cars and driving to your store or to
one of the big chain bookstores. Oh, sure, some people ordered their books
online, but they were the strange ones, the shut-ins or those techno-nerds
everyone made fun of in high school who are now running the world.
Then came the revolution. Steady
yourself, because I’m going to say it out loud and I don’t want to catch you by
surprise. Are you ready? Okay, here we go: Ereaders. Are you alright? Because
you’re looking a little green around the gills. Let’s try it again. Ereaders.
Ereaders, ereaders, ereaders.
Okay, I’ll stop. Sorry about
that, I just couldn’t help myself.
Anyway, here came ereaders, and
their popularity gave rise to a new form of book-buying practically overnight:
Staying home and browsing online, where not only could the reader save time,
gas and money, she could begin reading her selection seconds after making it!
What started out as a fad, a
niche, a way for those techno-nerds to download their science manuals and their
Penthouse magazine subscriptions soon became a full-fledged trend, then almost
immediately an accepted practice, meaning now not only do you face competition
from the Barnes and Nobles of the world, you face even stiffer competition from
the Innerwebs. (Amazon. Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. Dammit, I did it again. Are you
sure you’re okay?)
I know, I know, it sucks to be
you. And I apologize for bringing up a sore subject.
But that’s the thing about
revolutions: They change the status quo forever—hopefully more for the good
than the bad—but always forever. If there’s one thing history has taught us,
it’s that the entities who are best able to adapt to changing circumstances are
the ones who survive and sometimes even—gasp!—thrive.
And here, at last, is the point
of this letter: Instead of whining about the digital publishing revolution and
the whole new class of true “Indie” authors epublishing has given rise to,
maybe it’s time for you to figure out a way to include some of the best of them
in your survival strategy.
It’s interesting that bookstores
which are so fiercely protective of their identity as “independent,” seem so
dismissive, as a whole, toward independent authors. Case in point: Me. After
selling my debut thriller to an “Indie” publisher, Medallion Press, I chose to
go a different route—StoneHouse Ink—with my followup thriller, The Lonely
Mile.
Stonehouse/StoneGate Ink is one
of the new breed of publishers sprouting up all over the place, like mushrooms in
the forest after a cleansing rain. They’re less traditional than traditional
publishing, but more traditional than self-publishing.
The Lonely Mile was released in July by StoneHouse as an ebook, and
sales have been steady ever since. And while I’m not in any danger of knocking
Connelly, Cornwell or Grisham off the Bestseller Lists in Mysteries and
Thrillers, the folks at StoneHouse saw enough promise in The Lonely Mile to convince them to release a paperback version of
the book in October.
Guess what I did when I found
out, store owner? I contacted virtually every Indie bookseller within about a
one hundred fifty mile radius of my home (Londonderry, New Hampshire), offering
a complimentary copy of The Lonely Mile to
each store owner or manager, for them to read to see if they might consider it
appropriate to carry in their stores.
I contacted exactly four dozen
Indie bookstores in the New England area. I wanted to support the Indies while
taking advantage of the opportunity to expand my readership at the same time. I
viewed it as a wonderful opportunity. Would you care to guess how many bothered
to respond?
No? I’m going to tell you anyway:
Two. Two!
I realize you’re busy. I realize The Lonely Mile may not be a book you
wish to carry. I don’t understand it—it’s a damned good book—but I accept it.
I’m a writer, I got used to rejection years ago; it quite literally does not
bother me. My career is progressing nicely, anyway.
But what I don’t understand is your
utter disinterest in even taking a few minutes to respond to someone inquiring
about you and your business! As a portion
of your business strategy, you might want to rethink that one. In fact, you
might want to rethink your entire strategy,
because the revolution is well under way, and things ain’t going back to the
way they used to be, regardless of how much you might like them to.
Think about partnering with Indie
authors, instead of dismissing them. Sure, there’s some putrid crap being
published by Indies, I’m not about to try to convince you otherwise. But
there’s some damned good stuff being written too, by some damned talented and
dedicated authors. Who knows, maybe there’s a way to engage some of those
people in a symbiotic relationship.
Or you could continue the way
you’re going, and when you’re out of business six months or a year or two years
down the road, your building can get taken over by an auto parts store or a
craft shop. I’m sure your town can always use another one of those.
Thanks for reading,
Allan Leverone
