Niche Appeal: Catering to the Weird - video

We're glad you liked the video Monique. If you search on Seth's name here on the ALC you'll find other clips from him. He's full of great insights!

Hi Fred - that's a great question. Brick & mortar strores are still somewhat reluctant to put indie author books on their shelves, but we are seeing that change all the time. A good tip is to start with local indie bookstores. They are often more willing to work with local authors (indie or otherwise) because those stores really focus on building community connections. See if they'll take the books on consignment or if you can host a reading at the store and when it's a success, they may be more willing to carry your book. If you reach out to the big retailers, try to stick with those in your region first. I met an author recently who had great success getting her indie book on local B&N shelves. She worked hard to generate a ton of publicity in the region (she got a write up in a regional publication, got on the local morning show, etc) and then leveraged that into a placement on her local B&N shelf. She created a relationship with the manager there and he offered to put in a word with other B&N stores within an hour or so of her town.... and they ended up carrying her book too. Also, consider focusing on stores other than a book store. A local Hallmark store or wedding store or toy store might be willing to sell your book if it reaches their target audience, for instance.

Great! I love it, writing for the weird! Perfect, thank you!

Sound advice. However, you still have to break into that niche. I am going to run out of close friends and a smattering of total strangers. The missing link in the market seems to me to be the distributors. How do you get them to put you on the shelves. I am finding the Christian book stores distributors like Ingram and Spring Arbor almost impossibe to break into.

Great advice and so relevant to what I am trying to do, so many thanks Seth.