Make Friends With Your Independent Bookshop

by Catriona Troth

The 4^th January this year was a landmark day for me.  It was the day I was able to tweet that my two books were IN STOCK at my local independent bookshop.

It wasn’t something that happened overnight.  My connection with the bookshop began almost exactly two years ago, long before I published either of my books. At the time, the news was full of reports of independent bookshops closing down all over the country.  Chorleywood Bookshop, run by Sheryl Shurville and Morag Watson, had not long since won the southeast regional award for Independent Bookseller of the Year, and I wanted to find out how they managed to make their shop a success.

Sheryl Shurville and Morag Watson

The answer, I found, was an incredible amount of hard work and dedication, coupled with a whole range of imaginative ways of connecting with readers.  I wrote about it for the February 2012 edition of Words with Jam, and Sheryl and Morag were delighted with the coverage.

One thing stuck in my mind, though. When I asked them about stocking self-published books, they exchanged a look. “We do take books from self-published authors, on sale and return,” I was told.  “And some are very good.  But some are awful, just dreadful.  You could never promote them.  The look of some of the books… We try to be encouraging, but it’s hard.”

So when the first three Triskele books were published a few months later, I was relieved to find them take one look at J D Smith’s beautiful covers and immaculately formatted interiors and agree to take a few copies.  We had done no local promotion though, and a few weeks later, the books were returned, with only one sold. An early lesson learnt.

Come November, and I again used my connection with Words with Jam to get a press pass for the annual Chorleywood Literary Festival and write about the events. And that planted the seeds of an idea in my mind.

My first novel came out in June 2012 and was launch at Foyles, along with three other Triskele titles.  By then we knew that our set of books would be published in November and the question that kept buzzing in my mind was – could we launch them at the Chorleywood Lit Fest?

By then, I knew the format of the festival – spread out over a couple of weeks, with events on evenings and weekends.  And I knew that as well as attracted big names, they had held free events promoting new, upcoming writers.

So armed with that knowledge, I went to them with a pitch we had worked out between us – something that would combine a launch of our new titles with an interactive event aimed at those interested in self-publishing and author collectives. As it was to be a free event, and hence no ticket revenue, we offered to make a small contribution to the cost of running the events. And we would also manage the sale of our own books, so the bookshop wouldn’t have to order them or worry about any overstocks.

To my delight, Sheryl and Morag jumped at the idea and supported us every inch of the way. They went out of their way to be helpful, included us in their online and print publicity and managed the bookings for us.  In return, we followed them on Twitter, connected where we could with other authors attending, and made sure we promoted the other Lit Fest events.

Triskele titles selling well

As you can read elsewhere, our launch day was a resounding success.  We sold lots of books, made lots of friends, and generally had a brilliant time.  Importantly, the books had now been promoted locally.  So when people started asking me where they could buy the book, I made a point of directing them to the bookshop. It meant I made a little less per copy than I would selling them directly, but I knew that having Sheryl and Morag behind me promoting the book was by far the best way of reaching people I didn’t know personally.

The book sold well between the launch and Christmas. I had done what I needed, in terms of providing information to the ISBN agency, Nielsen, to ensure that the book was available through Gardners, which is the major supplier of books to independent bookshops in the UK.  But it wasn’t kept in stock by them. So by the time the shop had ordered it from Gardners and Gardners had ordered it from from my POD suppliers, Lightning Source, delivery could take a week or ten days – much slower than they were used to.

So after Christmas, they decided they were happy to hold a stock of both of my books, ordered directly from me. Hence my happy little tweet on the 4^th January.

So what is the lesson from all this? If you are an independent author, you need to build relationship with your local bookshop and library.  Don’t expect to be able to walk in as a complete stranger and ask them to stock your book.  Be a customer first.  If they organise events, attend them.  Follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook. You may not write for a magazine like Words with Jam, but you probably have a blog, or you can pitch something to your local paper.

Get to know them and let them get to know you.  And when you do approach them, be professional and business-like.

Believe me, it will pay off.

The Triskele Trail

Once upon a time, there were five writers.

They believed there was a third way of publishing, somewhere over the rainbow.

So they packed their books and set off to explore.

This is what happened on the journey.

The Triskele Trail is a true story.

About a writers' collective who made some mistakes and some smart decisions; who discovered opportunities, found friends and dodged predators in the independent publishing jungle.

Fourteen books later, here are the lessons we learned.

This is not a How-To book.

This is How-We-Did-It.

This is The Triskele Trail.

“It's the combined wisdom of a range of independently published writers that makes the difference: practical know-how, up-to-date details about the financials and processes of publishing platforms and services, as well as other been-there-done-that tips – all of which I found in The Triskele Trail” – Libby O, author of Charlotte Aimes

"Despite having published more than eighty books with traditional publishing houses I found the path through the jungle of independent and self-publishing peppered with booby traps for the unwary. I wish I’d had this book when I set out, it would have saved me a great deal of time, money and heartache.

This is the ultimate jungle guidebook written by people who have actually cut their own path through the undergrowth. They have weathered all the set-backs, fallen into all the traps and climbed back out again, emerging into the light, bruised but triumphant, with a thriving small business and a number of handsome books. The lessons they have to teach are priceless for anyone hoping to follow them.

Modern publishing is an industry filled with dreamers, fantasists and the plain deluded. This book is a clear, calm, factual guide from people who truly know what they are talking about." –Andrew Crofts, author, ghostwriter and publisher of Secrets of the Italian Gardner


For one week, The Triskele Trail is on promotion: grab it while it's hot!

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Triskele at Chorleywood LitFest

“The greatest little litfest you’d never heard of – until now”

Chorleywood LitFest  

6 - 21 November

Featuring Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bill Bryson, Terry Wogan, David Suchet, Douglas Hurd, Kate Adie, Hadley Freeman and ...

Triskele Books! 

Saturday November 16 sees three firsts: 

 

The Human Library

Participants can borrow one of the Triskele authors to discuss any aspect of indie publishing

The Rise of the Author Collective

The panel discuss lessons learned on the self-publishing journey and the benefits of working together

The Launch

And the launch of the next three new releases from the Triskele Books collective:

· Wolfsangel - Liza Perrat

· Overlord - JD Smith

· Ghost Town - Catriona Troth

All events are free but to book your place: here's more information
And for maps, directions and the right Tube line: Where's Chorleywood?

Lightning Source - From the Horse's Mouth II

David Taylor, President of Lightning Source UK talks to JJ Marsh.

In the second part of our interview, David explains his vision of how Lightning Source intends to make the ideal partner for independent authors.

As a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors and writers’ collective Triskele Books, I welcome the chance to talk to someone from the industry angle. All of us at Triskele have used Lightning Source for our print material, and I’m know we’re not the only ones. Why is your service so attractive to small independent publishers?

Lightning Source works with the smallest to the largest of publishers. One key advantage that differentiates our organisation from book printing outfits is the pairing of high-quality single copy book manufacturing with global market access and distribution to readers worldwide.

I’m guessing Lightning Source has seen a remarkable increase in smaller or self-publishers in recent years?

We've seen a steady increase in the number of small and self-publishers using our services. Our access to market and innovative technology have created an inventory-free business model that enables publishers to avoid the risk and high capital investment of traditional publishing models. To put things into perspective, in the U.K. alone, we’ve grown our library of titles from 1,100 titles in 1998 to over 6 million today.

What other services do you offer in addition to Print-on-Demand?

Ingram Content Group, of which Lightning Source is a part, offers a full-suite of comprehensive physical and digital content distribution services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, educators and students. We provide books, music and media content to over 38,000 retailers, libraries, schools, and distribution partners in 195 countries. Tens of thousands of publishers use Ingram’s fully integrated physical and digital solutions and programs including Lightning Source, CoreSource®, MyiLibrary® and VitalSource Bookshelf®, to realize the full business potential of books.

While researching with colleagues, compliments for Lightning Source seems to highlight speed, quality, distribution reach and customer service. Have you needed to change your infrastructure to deal with a different kind of consumer – the indie author? 

We are pleased to hear about the compliments. Ingram took great care when developing our Lightning Source business. Our operation has been completely scalable from the very beginning - we can print, dispatch, and sell one book at a time, and our single copy capabilities give us the flexibility to work with small independent publishers to large multinational organisations.

Lots of satisfied clients from what I hear, but some disgruntlement too. I appreciate you can’t deal with every issue, so I wanted to raise just a few points such as complexity of interface, cost of revisions, lack of facility to offset set-up costs against earnings and the difficulty of making a group order (ie, separate publishers, one delivery). Do you envisage any adjustments being made to these various processes in the future?

We value all customer feedback and continually work to develop our products and services to meet the changing needs of the publishers we work with. In July, we launched IngramSparkSM, a new Publish On Demand platform that offers a new, simple path to publishing. The easy-to-use online publishing tool provides independent publishers with simple, cost-effective access to Ingram's global distribution network for print titles and e-book content. The new platform will give publishers the tools to manage their print books and e-books in one location.

What do you see as Lightning Source’s USP? What do you think is your edge over the competition?

The pairing of our high-quality single copy book manufacturing with our worldwide access to the market we provide to publishers is unmatched in the book industry. Placing titles with Lightning Source gives publishers a unique global distribution model that allows a book to be printed when it is sold. There is no need to print a book beforehand.

What are the latest developments in terms of international distribution? Can you talk a little about Global Connect?

A substantial number of our publishers use Ingram's worldwide distribution network to grow their reach and expand sales internationally - Ingram distributes to more than 195 countries around the world. In addition, our Global Connect program enables publishers to get titles to new markets through arrangements with leading distributors and book manufacturing locations. Our Lightning Source customers are currently distributing content locally in Brazil and Germany.

Colour – I understand there will be more than one new function available for publishers who need to use photographs, illustrations, images, etc. Could you give us a brief overview?

Our high-quality book manufacturing process is perfectly suited for photographs, illustrations, line art and images. Publishers that work with Lightning Source have the option to print both black and white and colour interior books. Recently, premium colour book manufacturing capabilities in our U.S. plant have been duplicated in the U.K., and our new standard colour option has just launched in July giving publishers cost-effective local colour options.

· Premium colour is available from the U.K. with two day shipping to anywhere in Europe. The rich depth of colour makes it ideal for highly illustrative publications.

· Standard colour is also available. Standard colour provides publishers with high quality colour at a very low price.

There has been some concern about piracy of material printed with Lightning Source. What’s your take?

We work with more than 35,000 publishers, and we manufacture content on their behalf. That said, piracy isn’t a new issue. In fact, the majority of pirated copies are from print books being photocopied and distributed, and, for those who can’t or don’t want to pay for books, they’ve always been available for free from libraries. For publishers, the key is to continue to make books not only an engaging experience but also an affordable and easy-to-access experience. We need to make it easy for consumers to find and purchase books legally, and we are delighted to work with publishers to do just that.

What do you see as the major changes likely to happen in the publishing industry? Where do you see Lightning Source fits in?

It has become a somewhat tired phrase to say that the publishing industry is undergoing huge change: but it is absolutely true. We expect to see publishers moving even more content to an on demand model. The old model of printing for inventory is becoming an absurdity that is increasingly difficult to defend. The physical book is not going to disappear, but its mode of production and distribution, for the vast majority of titles, is inexorably moving to one that requires single copy print on demand allied to a global distribution network that can deliver a book to anyone within 24 hours.
Increasing automation allied with the new high speed inkjet printing technologies that are now coming on stream will spur this development as digitally printed books take up more and more of the market. Print runs will continue to shrink as publishers strive to free up capital that was previously locked up in inventory.

E-books will continue to exert downward pressure on print runs but, with very few exceptions, they will not replace the printed book. We expect the print book and the e-book to coexist as publishers offer a choice to consumers about how they wish to consume content.

We expect the explosion in self- publishing to continue and to move out from its homeland in North America and Europe to the BRIC regions. We see new publishing models continuing to appear as creative talents engage with the capabilities that these news global/digital models allow. In short, we think publishing is in a good place. Never before have publishers had so many fantastic tools at their disposal to make their content available to individuals who want to read it. Never before has it been so easy for content to be discoverable.

As the print on demand arm of Ingram Content Group, Lightning Source is set to play a huge role in allowing publishers to make their content available on an increasingly global basis.
provide greater choice in the market. 

Triskele's Launch Party

In the immortal words of Russ Abbott, I love a party with an atmosphere. And this one had it in abundance.


Foyles Bookshop, London, Saturday 1 June


Triskele Books and Words with JAM collaborated to throw an enormous great launch party!

Jane Dixon-Smith

Words with JAM editor Jane Dixon-Smith launched An Earthless Melting Pot, the anthology of winning stories from the Bigger Short Story Competition. Judges included Jane Fallon, Ben Myers and Zoe Fairbairns.

The cover was a talking point in itself. 

Ruby Cowling

Ruby Cowling, winner of the 2,500 section, read her touchingly beautiful Abhra, The Cloud.

Ken Elkes

 Ken Elkes read his bittersweet 250 word story Busy Lizzy, and Zoe Fairbairns (who judged the Flash Fiction section of the competition) couldn't wait to shake Ken by the hand!

The Triskele Authors

 Triskele launch authors chose to talk about their books in a series of brief interviews with Liza Perrat, whose book Spirit of Lost Angels was published in the first wave of Triskele releases.

Gillian Hamer explained her fascination for Anglesey and why her third book, Complicit, is set on the wild North Wales coast. Jane Dixon-Smith confessed her love for all things historical as the driver behind her retelling of the Tristan and Iseult legend. Jill Marsh talked about Tread Softly, her crime novel set in the Basque Country, and her research into Spanish wines. Catriona Troth discussed her novella Gift of the Raven, and how she identified with the main character's quest for his heritage.

Annemarie Neary and Polly Courtney with JJ Marsh

All four authors reiterated their satisfaction at going the independent publication route, a fact which delighted one of the guests in particular. Polly Courtney famously dropped her publishers, Harper Collins, after their marketing her as chicklit, and became a self-publisher. She is a huge champion of independence and creative control. Indie authors were well represented by members of The Alliance of Independent Authors, such as Helena Halme and Lorna Fergusson.

But as we're fond of saying, there is no Them and Us. Traditionally published authors also turned up to support us and join in the fun, such as Guy Saville and Annemarie Neary.

Both Triskele Books and Words with JAM grew from writers who had met online. Thus Saturday was one of those occasions when people who'd 'known' each other for years, actually met for the first time.

 

The corks popped, the nibbles were nibbled and the chat flowed.It was over all too quickly and as we sat in stunned silence among the debris, we looked at each other, blinked, smiled and said, 'We did it!'.