With TT week quickly approaching (an event that will see 30,000 sweaty-arsed bikers descend onto the rock for the annual motorbike ‘death race’) I was keen to get some more exposure into the different book outlets on the Island.
Feng Shui Assassin is steadily selling (about 1 a week) in one shop - so my dur-brained maths reckons that with another couple of shops that figure should, um, increase. Fortunately, none of the bigger retailers (Waterstones and WH Smiths) will accept anyone ‘off the street’ - and will only carry your order if delivered through a wholesaler.
The local wholesaler has agreed to distribute the book on confirmed orders only - so swallowing the glut of emotions (shame, embarrassment, etc) I popped into a couple of shops - and after a bit of chasing - got to see the local book-buyers and confirmed some orders. Yay! So Feng Shui will be on the shelves for TT week - and I’ll pop in to sign the lot so that I can get the ‘local author’ sticker in place.
The wholesaler - distribution method is quite a bargain. Fifty percent of the sticker price of the book - but for that they deal with the book stores and the general flow of the book in and out of the shop. Marketing is still up to the author - which is fine, and as sales grow I’ll pitch it into a few of the other bookstores around the island.
This is all well and good - but I’m still Island bound. It’ll be more problematic getting a distributor on the mainland - as well as trying to get confirmed sales in bookstores - but hey-ho, one step at a time 
Good luck with TT sales, dude - cool that you got some orders in from the shops.
Cheers
JQ
John Quirk
May 28th, 2009