News From A Well Known Independent Bookstore
January 28, 2008
Why do I feel like a pusher?
So about 5 or 6 months ago I wandered into A Different Light here in San Francisco and handed them a copy of J.L. Langley ~ The Tin Star. The manager was not even there but about a month later I stop by and the manager had installed a nice front window display which I showed you here. Well I just stopped by yesterday and there is still a full table display of J.L. Langley ~ The Tin Star. I went up and talked to the manager this time and handed him a copy of J.L. Langley ~ The Broken H signed by Ms Langley saying thank you.
Why did the Gay Bookstore Manager have no clue that book was available to order?
The man’s face lit up and he leaned across the counter and begged me to give Ms Langley his card and he wants to do a full on signing there at the store. Turns out she is one of his best sellers. So now to get her to San Francisco… Anyone want to help me make this a big event showing how ePubs are paving the way for far more diverse story telling and they love the Gay bucks $660 billion (2006) in disposable income? And we are computer literate thanks to online porn!
Now if only a couple of ePubs had this really cute lady writing these books that are selling like hot cakes from a trend setting Gay Bookstore right smack dab in the middle of Gay Mecca otherwise known as Castro Street.
Maybe if you publish Gay Romance you might want make an effort to market to Gay Bookstores and keep them informed.
Did you know there are two major Independent Gay Bookstore chains I can list off the top of my head? A Different Light and Lambda Rising… That’s East Coast to West Coast, Gay literary coverage, in easy peasy marketing terms. Did you know almost everyone carries this little newspaper from San Francisco called The Bay Area Reporter and literally everyone nation wide reads this thing since there are so few Gay Newspapers?
Just because you are online does not mean to stop mailing new books in print catalogs.
Hey, maybe even get your authors to stop by.
Just sayin…
I’m feeling like the m/m book fairy myself lately.I had thoughts about walking into the tiny but New Yorker filled local bookstore in the hills of Connecticut and saying “Josh Lanyon? JL Langley? They would both do so well there.
Hey and we totally encourage that. Truthfully, people who know the local independent stories and have an interest probably know how to get the word out better than any promo we’re doing. (How much stuff do you think bookstores toss when it looks like marketing? I know I would.)
Treva, I’m going to go snoop when I get back to CT next week. I don’t usually shop there because the romance section is laughable (and they are snickering at me, I know it). It never occured to me to see if they had a Gay and Lesbian section.