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Post by Frank Creed on Sept 9, 2008 9:29:31 GMT -5
Letting bookstores know that people are interested in Christian and Biblical spec-fic is one way to promote the genre.
How?
Rebecca Miller has suggested a few ideas:
--print out a color copy(s) of each Latest in Spec issue and talk about it/ give it to the person at customer service or to the manager of the store. --special order books --tell the manager that you'd like to see more Christian spec-fic
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cyn
Full Member
Posts: 148
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Post by cyn on Sept 9, 2008 9:36:35 GMT -5
An idea I've nipped from Dr. Simon Morden . . .
Offer visitors to your book page this feature--A printable letter to take into the book store.
Dear Wonderful Bookseller person,
I would very much like to buy a copy of Simon Morden's rather excellent novella Another War, and I can't seem to find it in your otherwise well-stocked store.
Would it be possible for you to order it for me, and then let me know when it's arrived? The details are below.
Thanking you in advance.
Author: Simon Morden Book: Another War Publisher: Telos Publishing Ltd Format: Paperback pp: 131 Price: £7.99 ISBN: 1903889936 This makes it easier for all interested readers to request your book. I am going to set this up on the book review site.
c
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Post by Caprice on Sept 9, 2008 15:22:11 GMT -5
I wonder how bad it would be to have a separate letter just for CBA stores, and to word it thusly:
"I would like to buy a copy of Simon Morden's excellent novel, 'Another War', but I couldn't find it, nor much else in the way of speculative fiction outside the YA section...."
I mean, I could not, in good conscience, use anything that says "otherwise well-stocked store" and hand it to anyone working at my local Family Christian Store. They are ABYSSMALLY stocked with just the barest of romance and historical fiction. ::snorts:: "otherwise well-stocked store" my bupkis.
I know, I know, we have to be polite. But perhaps someone could come up with a way to say this that wouldn't be an outright LIE. The secondary goal of pointing out the absence of ANY spec-fic might be nice to have, but maybe that's pushing it.
Perhaps a silly question, but-- does anyone really DO this? Print out a letter and drive to a store they have already been told will not have the book, so that they can special order it and wait, plus probably pay more and then have to come pick it up? Yes, I'm an internet shopper and I'd go to BN.com first[/b], but I could see someone wanting to go to a store for instant gratification. But what is the advantage to a buyer when they KNOW the book won't be there? Just wondering.
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Post by debkinnard on Sept 9, 2008 16:35:52 GMT -5
Frank, how do you think printing out the latest Latest in Spec and taking it to the massive ACFW signing next week? Think it would raise Christian SF/F's profile a tad? If so, I'm willing to print off 10-15 copies on my own dime.
Advise, s'il vous plait?
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Post by Frank Creed on Sept 10, 2008 1:00:30 GMT -5
Excellent idea! I'll have to do that with my own newsletter for events as well! Cyn may print some goodies and drop them in the mail to you--would that be alright?
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Post by karinafabian on Nov 9, 2008 21:15:37 GMT -5
What if we created a e-mailing list of Christian bookstores (probably the independents rather than the chains)? We can each ask a certain number of stores (say 5 or 10) if they would "opt-in" and if they do, we post the e-mail address and contact. Then we need someone to make the mailing list.
We can send them the LGG catalog and perhaps even an occasional sell sheet when someone has a new book.
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cyn
Full Member
Posts: 148
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Post by cyn on Nov 10, 2008 10:34:45 GMT -5
Very good idea, Karina.
I am up for it. I like the idea of cooperative marketing and hoped help the guild members move towards this sort of concept.
Catalogue out to each store, good too. Kind of what I was looking down the road at doing.
Latest in Spec, unfortunately, comes out on no set schedule. Becky is a pretty busy woman, and since she is the brains behind the operation (and the one who collects and collates all the info -- I just do the formatting), I will need to think of some way to help her get LIS out on a regular basis.
c
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Post by karinafabian on Nov 13, 2008 9:28:52 GMT -5
OK Then:
Step 1: Who will volunteer to keep the list? It should be in some common format we can all use
Step 2: Everyone who wants to participate should post the following information on the forum:
Store name e-mail street address phone number Contact (optional) Special Requests like send review copy, etc. (optional)
EACH PERSON SHOULD CHECK WITH THE STORE MANAGERS TO SEE IF THEY ARE OK WITH BEING ON THIS LIST BEFORE ADDING THE NAME.
Step 3: Our volunteer collects the info and posts the updated file on a quarterly basis.
We can do this via the Yahoo! group by having folks fill in a database, too.
We will need each person agree not to use this list except for promoting their books. We might need some rules so that they don't get overly flooded with spam.
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