May

4

2011

We Need More Dummies

Filed under: Booksellers, Marketing

Yipee!  My BFF and Crit Partner Jodi Moore went to visit her local bookstore to celebrate the birth of her first book baby.  So much fun.  But when Jodi got to the store, she couldn’t find WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN anywhere.  Her first thought was that the store was very busy and the staff hadn’t gotten a chance to get it on the table, but low and behold…

Her book was already sold out!!!!!!  The last copy was clutched in the arms of some lucky reader and on it’s way to the checkout.  Woo Hoo!!!!!

But this got me thinking…  It’s the bestest thing in the whole world that Dragon literally flew off the shelves, but what happens in the mean time?  An empty spot on a table isn’t going to sell a book.  Now I’m not telling book sellers how to do their jobs, but wouldn’t book dummies be a wonderful thing???  When that last copy disappears off the shelf, couldn’t there be a cardboard copy of the cover with an out of stock message on it? Wouldn’t it be great if it said something like…


This book is so darn popular, we can’t keep it in stock.  Bring this cover to the nearest customer representative and you get a 5% discount for ordering it in the store today!!!!



Then the book seller puts that cover right back on the shelf where it can sell another book that isn’t in stock and make all the other books green with envy that they haven’t been taken out of the store-yet.


Have you got any creative suggestions you’d like to share with your favorite bookseller?

Comments

5 Responses | TrackBack URL | Comments Feed

  1. That's an awesome suggestion! And congrats to your BFF! That book is hot! 😀

  2. Yay!!! Now how to make it happen… :o)

  3. First of all, congrats to Jodi!

    Second, that is a positively brilliant idea. The bookstores should love it, too — it's better than losing the sale entirely when the impatient customer goes elsewhere.

  4. Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely, tell the bookstores your fantastic idea! Knowing that a book is selling so quickly will encourage more people to buy it, and the stores can make more money upfront, even when the books aren't physically there. Sounds like a win-win solution.

  5. Now….I have to get the book stores to read my blog!!!! *grin*

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