Category Archives: Book buying habits

Greatest Hits from the 2024 Flathead River Writers Conference Part 2

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Late Breaking News: This morning, I’m being interviewed by radio station KGEZ (Kalispell, Montana). To listen live, visit KGEZ.com and click at the top left side of the home page.  Pacific 8:10 a.m., Mountain 9:10 a.m., Central 10:10 a.m., Eastern 11:10 a.m.

Or you can listen later by scrolling down KGEZ’s home page to “In Case You Missed It.” 

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Two weeks ago, I wrote about the inspiring Flathead River Writers Conference.  If you missed Part 1, here’s the link.

Today features more highlights from the other excellent speakers.

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Maggie Doherty

Freelance writer Maggie Neal Doherty is a future thinker who knows how to take the initiative. When she realized the local newspaper had no female reporters, she pitched them with her qualifications and scored a regular op-ed column. She also initiated a new book review section at a time when many publications are cutting back on book reviews.

She specializes in finding unusual niches like “Duct Tape Diaries,” a publication by a major raft manufacturer that features articles about river rafting. With two small children, she came up with the quirky angle of waste disposal during family raft trips: “How I Got My Kids to Poop in a Bucket.”

Questions Maggie asks before querying editors:

  • What is the story? It’s not just the topic of the article but a compelling reason behind it.
  • Why is it important now?
  • Why are you the person to write it?

If the topic is “evergreen” (useable at any time), why is the story timely now?

Editors want to know you can deliver the story, meet deadlines, and write within the required word count.

Maggie’s strategy has resulted in credits in The Guardian, Washington Post, High Country News, LA Times, and more.

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Keir Graff

Chicago-based Keir Graff had an enviable former career where he “got paid to read” as the senior editor of Booklist, the primary source for libraries when deciding which books to buy. Now he cowrites middle-grade mysteries with James Patterson, as well as adult and children’s fiction under his own name and with a coauthor under the name “Linda Keir.”

Keir revealed the secrets of a working writer, sharing the hard truth that few authors can survive on book sales alone. He cautions that “writing a book is like buying a lottery ticket that takes a year to fill out.”

He compares writing-related work to an investment portfolio. If you have only one income source and it dries up, you’re out of luck. If you diversify into related fields, like ghostwriting, editing, coaching, teaching, speaking appearances, etc., those other income sources take up the slack if book sales drop. Using a strategy of wearing many hats, Keir has forged a successful career.

While Keir gave straight talk about the challenges, he also offered encouraging, actionable tips to make a living as a writer, including:

  • Be the best writer you can be.
  • Leverage your expertise. Give talks about your areas of expertise, knowledge of a place, specialized abilities, etc.
  • Price yourself accordingly. Start low then increase fees as your experience and reputation expand. Ask clients and speaking venues, “What is your budget?”
  • Ask for help, advice, and introductions. Always be gracious if the answer is no.
  • In addition to writing, do five things every day. “Things” can be querying, promotion, outreach, networking, following up on queries, building platform, etc.
  • Set a goal. Once you achieve that goal, set a new one. Keep setting and achieving goals.

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Zoe Howard

Zoe Howard is an associate literary agent with the Howland Agency and a literary publicist with Pine State Publicity. She walked us through DIY publicity angles for launching a book. She shared sample  questionnaires used by PR firms.

About the author:

  • Who are you?
  • Where are you from? If you moved, why?
  • How do you describe yourself to people?
  • What is your day job/work?
  • What gives you the ability to write this book at this time?
  • What interview questions would you like to be asked?

About the book being publicized:

  • What are one-word topics about this work?
  • What themes are you striving for?
  • What inspired this work?
  • What timely topics intersect with this work?
  • What research did you do?
  • How do you talk about the work with different people, e.g. friends, colleagues, your mom?
  • Who helped this book along the way?

What does publicity look like:

  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Awards
  • Essays/excerpts
  • Momentum

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Joanna MacKenzie

“Keep readers hungry but give them cookies,” advises literary agent Joanna MacKenzie of the Nelson Agency. IOW, make readers eager to find out what happens next but give them snacks in the form of hints that will pay off during the journey.

Joanna gave a shout out to TKZ alumnus Larry Brooks and his book Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves.

She offered a rare peek inside an agent’s head with 16 questions she asks when considering a manuscript.

  1. Is the writing good?
  2. Is there a market?
  3. Am I excited to turn the page?
  4. Am I confused?
  5. Is the premise unique?
  6. Is this the right point of view for the story/scene?
  7. Do I care about the character?
  8. Are there meaningful internalizations? Is there too much “show” and not enough “tell”? (Note: Refreshing to hear an agent break from conventional wisdom)
  9. Are there both internal and external arcs?
  10. Is there a sense of place?
  11. Is there a compelling conflict?
  12. Is the dialogue trying too hard to be realistic?
  13. Is it plausible?
  14. Is there a beginning, middle, and end?
  15. Does every scene move the plot and character forward?
  16. How much work are we going to have to do?

Digging into characters, Joanna says, “If the antagonist has time to lean, they have time to be mean. If they’re not doing anything, put them to work making life more difficult for the hero. Make sure every scene includes a shift in who has the upper hand.”

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The criteria I often use for measuring a conference’s success is the level of interaction among attendees. Sometimes introverted writers are shy about talking with strangers or even admitting they write.

Not at this conference! Conversations were friendly and lively. People freely shared stories about their projects, struggles, successes, interests, and personal lives.

Old friendships were rekindled and new ones made. Business cards and emails were exchanged.

Exhilarating, energizing, and exhausting. You can’t ask for better than that.

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TKZers: In your experience, what makes a successful conference? Want to give a shout out to your favorite?

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Today is election day. Remember to vote.

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For readers who like to hold a physical book in their hands, Debbie Burke’s new thriller Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is now in paperback as well as ebook! Sales link. 

Cover by Brian Hoffman

Grand Opening!

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

In 1988, when we moved to Flathead County, Montana, the population was 57K. There were more than 10 bookstores within a 25-mile radius of Kalispell. Except for Waldenbooks in the mall, all were independently owned. They happily coexisted, each with its own quirky personality, specialties, and customer base.

Fast forward a few years when a behemoth named Borders came to Kalispell. Readers loved the huge selection, the cafe, and ample parking lot, unlike downtown where parking has been a problem since horse and buggy days. My critique group met at Borders in cozy nooks with comfy chairs.

But, there was a downside: one by one, the neat, quirky, little indie bookstores went out of business.

Fast forward a few more years and an even bigger behemoth named Amazon took over domination of the book market.

What goes around, comes around.

Where Borders had once put mom-and-pop bookstores out of business, now Amazon gobbled up Borders. In 2011, 400 Borders stores closed, including the one in Kalispell.

Meanwhile the county’s population swelled. As of 2023, it’s 114K folks. For years, a handful of used bookstores and one small indie that had survived were the only brick-and-mortar options. Browsing thumbnails onscreen just isn’t the same as wandering the aisles and spotting something that strikes your fancy. Readers were living in a literary desert.

Then, on January 31, 2024, a new Barnes & Noble opened in Kalispell.

A week before opening, B&N CEO James Daunt said in a press release:

“The positive feedback we have received since announcing this new Barnes & Noble has been astounding. It has been a long time since Borders had their bookstore just across the parking lot and it is a particular pleasure to bring a major new bookstore back to U.S. 93.”

If Mr. Daunt had any doubts about this new location, opening day quickly erased them.

It was a mob scene. Vehicles circled the jammed parking lot like vultures waiting for someone to pull out. Hundreds of long-famished book lovers roamed through the store. I don’t remember this much excitement about a retail store opening since 1993 when Costco arrived.

One of the most frequent comments as customers walked through B&N’s doors: “It’s wonderful to smell new books.”

The arrangement is an attractive, intriguing labyrinth. Walls of books divide the space into discrete sections: fiction, new releases, mystery-thriller, sweet or spicy romance, westerns, nonfiction, history, religion, self-help, children’s and YA, Manga, graphic novels, and more.

On one table, a sign announces “Banned Books.” Many titles had been required reading when I was in school.

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl;

Of Mice and Men;

The Great Gatsby;

For Whom the Bell Tolls;

To Kill a Mockingbird;

Catcher in the Rye;

Fahrenheit 451;

  1. 1984.

Also there are more recent titles like:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings;

The Hunger Games;

The Handmaid’s Tale;

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest;

The Color Purple.

One large wall displays books about Montana, from hiking guides to history to Glacier National Park to bison, wolves, and grizzlies to mining and logging to pioneer memoirs.

Each new cubby in the maze features more products: games, gifts, cards, beautiful bound journals, vinyl records, turntables, magazines.

 

Especially encouraging are expansive sections devoted to young readers, covering the range from picture books to YA novels.

A reader’s oasis appeared in what was once a literary wasteland. On opening day, people waited in line for up to 45 minutes to pay for their armloads of purchases.

 

There’s an old saying that you can’t throw a typewriter in Montana without hitting a writer. Dozens live in my immediate area, hundreds within a tankful of gas. And no one is more excited about the new B&N than we authors are.

Local authors Dr. Betty Kuffel, Barbara Schiffman, Debbie Burke, Jess Owen Kara

The manager, Daniel, put out the welcome mat for us, hosting book signings not only for traditionally published authors but also indie-pubbed authors on consignment.

My slot was at noon on the Sunday after opening day. A few days before, I brought in two boxes of books. By that weekend, crowds were still large, but not quite as overwhelming.

The signing table was set up just inside the front entrance. Daniel had stacks of my books ready, along with stickers that read “Signed Edition.” I waved at him across the store, but he barely had time to nod because he was so busy ringing up sales with two other cashiers.

Families streamed through the door with toddlers to college-age kids, adult mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, grandparents and grandchildren. The interest among young readers was heartening.

I must have talked with more than 100 people. All were excited about books and reading.

Some chats were brief: “I’ve missed Borders. Glad this new store is here.”

Others lasted much longer: “You wrote all these books? Wow. What are they about?”

“Which book should I start with in your series?”

“My fifth-grade students are learning to write stories. Would you come and talk to them?”

“I want to be a writer. Can you give me advice?”

“I like to support local authors.”

And they did support this local author. I sold 17 books on consignment.

I also learned insights into B&N’s book ordering process. They can’t order or stock books that don’t show up in their computer system. As mentioned in this post, they don’t order from Amazon KDP Print-on-Demand (POD).

However, there’s a workaround for Create Space POD books:

Amazon/CreateSpace authors have the ability to choose the extended distribution option for their titles.  By choosing this option, their books automatically become available through Lightning Source.

Lightning Source is Ingram Book Company’s print-on-demand division, and they make CreateSpace titles (as well as other POD titles) available to Barnes & Noble and other retailers.

Barnes & Noble will only sell CreateSpace titles through BN.com and customer orders, not through in-store stocking and replenishment.

 

That’s how Daniel was able to order and stock Instrument of the Devil and Crowded Hearts – A Novella, but not the rest of my titles. Those sales he handled through consignment.

Another alternative is to upload directly to BN.com. However, there’s a catch: for a store to order them, books need to be returnable. But, according to a knowledgeable author with many self-pubbed books, BN.com POD books are not returnable. Huh?

Confused? Me, too.

My conclusion is that the best option for me as a self-pubbed author is to upload to Draft2Digital and Ingram Spark (I’m in that process now). That makes ordering clear and direct.

Because CEO Daunt gives individual local managers autonomy and latitude for ordering, I’m hopeful Daniel will keep my books in stock once they’re available on D2D and Ingram Spark.

What happens to our little locally-owned shops now?

I’m not about to turn my back on the Book Shelf and Bad Rock Books (with three friendly resident cats!). They’ve supported me for years. When I spoke with Stephanie, the Book Shelf owner, she was excited about B&N’s opening: “There are never enough bookstores!”

Existing stores cater to different niches than B&N. At this point, the area’s population is large enough to sustain all of them.

When many retailers are closing stores because of the shift to online, readers prove they still love to sniff the aroma of new books and wander aisles in search of serendipitous finds. How’s this for an intriguing title? It begged me to pick it up.

Barnes & Noble, welcome to the neighborhood! 

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TKZers: Which physical bookstores do you visit? What’s your favorite way to buy books–online, in a bricks-and-mortar store, or both?

 

 

Poll results: Why you bought your last book, and where you bought it

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By Kathryn Lilley

So last week I ran a (very unscientific) poll about book-buying habits, and here are the results:

Poll #1: When you purchased a book recently, what was the MOST important criteria for you?

More than 50% of the voters said they’d most recently purchased a book by an author they’d previously read, and liked.

“Tried and true” seems to be the guideline for people buying hardcover books. They don’t want to spend $26 dollars on someone they’ve never read before, and who can blame them?

This result would suggest good news for established writers, not so good for debut authors. In the comments, however, people indicated that they sampled new authors from libraries and second-hand vendors, opening the door to future sales of books by those writers.

Poll #2: “The last time I purchased a book, I bought it from…”

A majority of people (30%) purchased their last book from Amazon. Not a promising result for bricks-and-mortar bookstores, or for authors’ or publishers’ profit margins.

I’m going to leave the polls up there, add new ones, and report back from time to time with updated results. I’m undertaking this polling because I’m frustrated by the dearth of hard data about consumers’ book buying habits. (And if that data exists, someone please point me to it!) I’m tired of the standard answer of “nobody knows anything.”

This week’s conclusions

Debut authors can’t count on robust hard cover sales. If a publisher wants to get a debut author’s career rolling, I suggest they include free e-books of debut authors with books by similar, established bestselling authors, to get the reading public familiar with the new writer. After a limited free e-book distribution, the publisher can charge for the next book and future versions of the debut novel. This approach would mean that publishers would have to look for writers to support over the long haul, not just a one-book wonder.

Don’t feel too envious of “established” writers, though. If you think that life is easy once you hit the NYT list, check out this post by bestselling author Lynn Viehl. She actually posts her royalty statements and gives a good insight into the tough career that is known as authordom. It’s an exhausting climb, even for those standing (at least momentarily) on the peak.

My other conclusion of the week is that Amazon is eating everyone’s lunch.

But then, we all already knew that. Didn’t we?

Buy my soap–it’s rounder

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By Kathryn Lilley

Publishers could learn a lot about market research by studying soap makers.

Consumer brand-makers have long studied every nuance of customers‘ shopping habits; they understand what makes a shopper reach for a particular product–why they reach for Dove soap, for example, as opposed to a nearly identical brand. Size, shelf placement, branding, color combinations, labels, price points–it’s all been studied, calibrated, and expertly wielded to part you from your money the next time you’re in the grocery store.

But in the publishing world, consumer marketing research seems to be woefully lacking. What makes a book-shopper shell out $25 for a hardcover book by an unknown author? Does anyone really know? Damned if most people in the publishing business seem to.

Authors don’t know, either. We’re always told, “Just write a good book, and readers will come.” I have visions of writers building ball parks in Iowa corn fields, waiting for Shoeless Joe to arrive for a book signing.

I’ve decided to run an unscientific poll to learn exactly why people bought their most recently purchased book. Is the conventional “superstar” theory correct, and did you buy a book by a major author? Or did you hear about a book or author from a review? From a blog? Did you wander the shelves and get drawn like a moth to a compelling cover and jacket copy? Or were a couple of factors involved?

Visit my poll, vote, and let me know how you made the decision to purchase your most recent book. Let me know how the poll can be refined or tweaked, and if there are any other polls you think would be worthwhile.

I’d also be interested to hear if anyone is aware of any hard core data about reader buying habits. Right now I get the sense that writers and publishers are simply wandering the corn fields. And we’re going to be stuck out there for a long, long time.