“I went to buy a copy of your book today and I could not find it! They were sold out!” a friend called to tell me.
“I wish.” I said.
The reality is very few book stores are carrying my book. That’s okay, it’s just not exactly what I expected. You go to a book store to by books, so it seems odd that you can’t buy my book at the store, right? Well, thanks to a little thing called our recession, a lot of bookstores have cut back significantly on their inventory. Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc are not carrying nearly as many books as they were even just this time last year. So…if you’re a first time author it can be challenging to get your book on the shelf of a brick and mortar store in addition to an e-store like amazon.com. Thankfully, my publisher is the one who contacts stores about carrying my book, but any time I pass a bookstore I go in and give them my little song and dance about being a local author and would they please order a few copies of my book. Most have obliged.
Last week, I went back to one of those stores to see if the 5 copes they ordered had arrived. Instead of A Year of Blind Dates, I found 5 copies of Think Big by Dr. Ben Carson. Oops! You’re welcome, Ben!
I talked to the management and they corrected the problem. The other night when I made my second attempt at finding my book I was overjoyed to see this (and of course had to document the moment):
It felt great to see my book on a shelf and not being delivered in a puffy envelope. I know all authors would agree that it never gets old seeing your work in print. And equally exciting to see it in a store. Even though I lived this moment and yes I know that’s me and my frizzy hair pointing at my book, I still hardly believe this is my life right now. Thanks, God. You really are so good to me.
So if you want, next time you’re at a book store ask the quirky emo teen who works there to order a few copies of books by your favorite authors. Might I suggest one about 20 blind dates…
A) I’ve already made a vow to turn the cover of your book so it’s facing OUT anytime I happen to see it, and B) Because the picture is kind of dark, your hair doesn’t look frizzy at all; just beautiful as usual.
My dad went to Southeast Christian Church’s bookstore in Louisville, KY and he was glad to report that they had your book on the shelves!!!!
I recently found a book on the shelves at B & N published by my first boyfriend. It was a trip to see his name in print (in the military history section).