Today's Very Annoying Development In My Little Book Publishing World

Last time I talked about showing our children's Book - "Birthday Snow'' - to book buyers in place like Barnes & Noble and Borders Express in the recent mini-book tour. And the good news was they liked it.

Unfortunately, I just got the bad news. The publicist was doing followup calls regarding the book tour and asked the buyers about "Birthday Snow.'' They said they'd buy it except it's listed in their data base as "Non-refundable.''

That's just not fair. In the book store business returns are an ugly reality. A lot of stores send books back that don't sell and the wholesaler subtracts that from any profits there might be. If a book store can't get rid of it if it doesn't sell they can't afford to buy it. That's the law in chain store book land and most everywhere else. A buyer or manager could get fired for it. So standard operating procedure in the book trade is all books going out from wholesalers are returnable no questions asked.

So why is "Birthday Snow" book listed as "Non-refundable.'' I don't have a clue. Partners/West, a wholesaler that handles our books, says it isn't them. They said it looks like it's a chain store corporate decision problem. They don't have a clue, either.

I emailed a distributor that handles our books. They sell to Ingram. Which is a very important channel for us. They haven't got back to me. So a chain bookstore wants to buy our children's picture book but they can't. Great.

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

While On The Novel Book Tour I Tried To Get Feedback On Our Children's Books

One of our many crazy hopes about the new novel was it would be popular enough to get bookstore people to look at the children's books we had with us on tour stashed away in the computer case.

Turned out it was pretty easy to get bookstore people to critique them. In some places it was impossible because they were too busy just running the store or the people really weren't the right folks to bother with. And that Harry Potter thing was going on (By the way the Harry Potter press run for just the U.S. was 12 million printed. And that Grants Pass store I talked about earlier had a Harry Potter party that crammed 500 people into their little space.).

One of our books, "Birthday Snow,'' got consistently good reviews and three book buyers said they would give it a try. It's easier now because stores can buy "Birthday Snow'' from Ingram which I didn't realize was such a big thing. You say that to a book buyer and it's instant credibility.

Of course you make about a penny on the book going through Ingram but that's show business.

Michael LaLumiere
www.staggerleebooks.com

What Worked, What Didn't, Part II

I often think of the world like this: Dentist visits are never as bad as I imagine they will be and little, no-problem procedures by surgeons are always way worse.

I don't know what that means exactly but here's how it relates to my recent book tour. I had lots of positive media (relatively speaking) and as a newbie I thought that meant a a lot of people would show up at the book signings. Of course that didn't happen.

We sent postcards to places like Barnes and Noble and Borders with a note saying we were doing X media in that area. Did it as an afterthought and assumed it would get lost in the mail. Wrong. From those postcards chain stores got the books in bookstores without hardly any prompting. Who knew.

One other thing. I did four In-Studio interviews (three TV and one radio). Each time the interviewer clutched a three-page question and answers sheet we sent prior to the interview. They worked off it at each break. One was even willing to say "on a Monday morning it's great you did our job for us.''

This is a must do.

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

There Are Mixed Feelings About Book Signings

The Waldenbooks store manager said corporate really prefers that he not have book signings at his store. And as a unknown author I can tell you I'd rather not do them because I know there aren't going to be lines going out the door waiting for me to sign books.

So who likes them. Publicists like them. Any publicity is good publicity to them. They don't have to sit at the table trying to look inconspicuous (thank God for wireless networks). The marketing people at bookstores like them because they're on the same side of the fence as the publicists.

The bookstore manager wanted me to do a signing of the Crater Lake book because in the dead of summer he'll do anything to create some interest. I don't think that's a compliment.

I think some beginning authors get excited about doing a book signing because it makes them feel like - finally - someone is going to pay attention. But really book signings are all about getting a store manager to see your book, like the book and put it in his store for sale. Everything else is not as important. So by combining media and signings I got books into bookstores. Ultimately, that's all i can hope for. Then it's up to the book to make it happen.

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

What I Learned On My First Book Tour

Actually I learned several things.

But the most staggering was just how big the Harry Potter book is. All the bookstore staffs were in a constant state of flux preparing for the release. (I was glad I got my books in the stores beforehand as maybe more people will see it now.)

Here's the scale of it. Grants Pass, Oregon, is a small town situated on I-5 above Medford. They have one bookstore - a nice independent place in a strip mall. They've PRESOLD 400 Harry Potter books. They expect to sell a thousand. With Fred Meyer and others in town the book store owner estimated that 4,000 books will be sold in the area - right away. In Grants Pass, Oregon.

It's the biggest thing to ever hit bookstores - Everywhere.

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

Ok I Take That Back About Roseburg

Hello there.

Today I'm at The Book Barn in Bend. This place has grown quite a bit since last time I was here. And the "Beautiful'' people are here, too. It's the first place I got to see my book in the window of a Barnes and Noble as well as an independent book story. A small victory.

Ok I was whining about Roseburg the other day.

But just before I signed the remaining books and headed for I-5 a mom and her three kids stopped at the table. The mom pointed to her 14-year-old daughter and said she was trying to be a writer.

That was nice. Don't meet many 14-year-old writers. She told me the problems she was having with her writing. And I got to give her a pep talk and some tricks of the trade. And that it's always going to be hard but if she can get to the end of a play or book or whatever that she'd feel much better about it. Mom was happy.

I was happy.

And Roseburg no longer seemed to be a mistake on the book tour.

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

Sitting At A Card Table In Roseburg, Oregon

My sister was saying how exciting it was to have a brother on a book tour.

Well she wasn't sitting here with me at a card table in a little mall in Roseburg, Oregon. Thankfully my spouse, Gail, is with me. And even more thankfully my laptop is able to hook into a local wireless network. Whew.

Suppose to be here for THREE HOURS. I don't mind Roseburg. I really like Southern Oregon. All the trees and rivers and stuff.

But it's agonizing to be on display and no one stopping by to talk about the book. I assumed this was how it would be. Dead of summer. Spread-out ranching and lumber towns. Who exactly is the target market?

This is why authors and book store owners don't like book signings. Unless it's a famous author, well, you know what I'm getting at.

Publicists and marketing managers like book signings. They don't have to sit at the card table and any bit of publicity is good to them.

I do have to grudgingly admit that the real value is the media coverage. Getting the book mentioned in the newspapers and radio, etc. Unfortunately, the book signings come with that. And I like meeting the book store folks. They all like books so much. That's refreshing. But, MAN, it's a serious price to pay.

While I was waiting to go to the signing I stopped at a used book store. I was asking the owner about his book business and he told me the best advice he got about the business. "Don't get emotionally attached to the books. It's a business.''

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

ps. Somebody just stopped by to talk about the book. Alas, they were elderly and the price point was too high for them.

When Something Shows Up In Print It's Always A Surprise To Someone

See my notes below this story that appeared in the Bend Bulletin last week - ML

Book an ode to Crater Lake
By Jim Witty / The Bulletin
Published: June 27. 2007 5:00AM PST

There’s something nefarious going on behind the scenes at Crater Lake National Park.
That’s the gist of Michael LaLumiere’s new novel, “Why is Crater Lake so Blue?” is scheduled for release Sunday.

It’s a novel, but author LaLumiere writes what he knows; he served as a summer maintenance worker at Crater Lake National Park for four years during the 1970s.

“Blue” features Sam Hunter, a student and seasonal worker under Park Service employ. By midsummer, Crater Lake is forced to close to visitors — the first time a national park has ever closed — because of an antiquated sewer system. Greed and secrecy come into play as managers hide and pass the buck.

It’s a complex story, but also an ode to Crater Lake.

“At about 5:30 the sun broke through and shot beams of light down onto the blue lake,” LaLumiere writes. “Crater Lake is seriously blue. I sat on the rock wall, wondering if I’d ever seen such a rich blue in nature. Shasta Lake, across the border in California, had some blue, but mostly it had the emerald green tint that all mountain lakes seem to have. I thought snowmelt caused that color, but Crater Lake obviously got its water from snowmelt. I could see green at the edges of an island close to the side of the lake where I sat. In the middle of the island was a volcanic cone. So the incredible blue must have to do with the extreme depth of the lake.”

LaLumiere is a graduate of the University of Oregon and was a newspaper editor for nearly 20 years. He’s now retired and lives in Arizona with his wife, Gail.

This is the second story that's appeared about the new novel "Why Is Crater Lake So Blue?''
Some interesting things of note for all you self-publishers out there.

First of all, the story ran before any of the local stores had books. When the store manager at the local Barnes & Noble was asked today if he had sold any of the books he said, "No, not very many.'' The reason, he just got them in. People had been asking for them after the story ran but he didn't have them. GREAT!! Trying to get the book released, advertising in, newspapers writing about it, wholesaler distributing the book - ALL AT THE SAME TIME. It's very painful to actually get most of it done correctly except for the most important part - the customer can't buy the damn book.

Right this minute at Powells.com and Amazon.com the book is listed with the book cover photo. It looks great. Can you buy the book? NO! They both had a few, sold them, then it was back ordered. And what makes it worse is the websites don't say that. They make stuff up. Amazon says you can order the book and it takes 4 to 6 weeks to be delivered. BS!!! They'll have books Friday. Nobody knows why their computer insists on putting up that message when they're out of books but damn it!!! And Powells just leaves you an error message saying the book can't be found in their data base despite the listing on their website. They have 10 backordered with Ingram. More Great!!!

How about the excerpt they chose to run. My wife looked at me and said, "Why on Earth did they pick that passage with all the other descriptions that are much better?'' Well the answer is easy. They must have wanted me to look bad.

Turns out that excerpt is taken from the first edition ARC. There is a fact error in there where the origin of the Lake's water came from. A Park Service guy - very early on - corrected me and told me that very little of the lake's water comes from snow melt, blah, blah, etc. So I changed it as I wanted my descriptions to be accurate. So what excerpt did they run. Great!

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

OK, Here's Something I Would Have Never Expected

Hey there. So today is the day my novel - Why Is Crater Lake So Blue? - is officially released, although that really doesn't mean anything in this weird, small-publishing world.

Amazon has been selling copies and I know a couple bookstores in the Northwest have put some copies out. There's even one copy in the Burnside store of Powell's Books - the biggest independent book store in the world - in Portland, Oregon.

Wholesalers are really in charge (a loose term) of how your book is distributed - or not - to the resellers. For example, if you check out Border's website right now you'd find my book in the database but it wouldn't include the cover photo and would be calling it a paperback rather than what it is - a hardback. At B&N, no photo, wrong ISBN number, no description. At Powells, no image. That's so sad to an expectant author but in the long run it's just exasperation rather than a huge problem. I think.

And at Amazon this morning they say the book hasn't been released yet despite the fact that they sold books last week. What it means is they ran out of books and they don't know where to get new ones.

All this is due to something happening on the other side of the country. The NY wholesaler who distributes the book to the giant wholesaler - Ingram - doesn't have the final paperwork settled on. Thus all this database stuff is in disarray. At least that's what I think is happening.

I won't know for sure until I start calling people Monday morning. Sheesh. And then the book tour starts Saturday in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Can't wait to find out what will go wrong there.

So you want to write books?

Michael LaLumiere
http://www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com/