Lesson 33

Writing Class 101 by Rick Kurtis
 Consignment sales. Lesson 33
 Welcome back. I hope your week proved prosperous. Today I want to share a thought that someone else had given me.
I have talked a few times about relying on other people to sell your books. They post your book on websites, and place your book in a biannual catalog for over 30,000 stores. Big deal. I have also mentioned that when bookstores purchase from the catalogues, they must buy fifty copies of each book. That rolls into a hefty price if they don’t sell. No wonder why they are going out of business competing with .99 cent e-books.

I was told this thought and it sounded good to me, but it would also cost me. I think it could be a win-win, especially if you have more than one book. I have 60 plus. Here we go.
Buy your own books at the cheapest price. If you did the book yourself, great. Maybe you can find a print on demand that will process your book at a low price. Whatever you can find as the cheapest price, and whatever you can afford.
Type and make a sticker to place on the inside of the cover, or add this statement to the inside of your book before print. On this sticker you place a short thank you for selecting your book along with your website and any other books that you have on the market. You could ask just for fun for them to post a picture on social media of them holding up your book, or politely ask to post a review on Amazon. It’s worth a shot.
Now you need to canvas. Get out there and go from store to store and ask the owner or manager if you can place ten books on their counter for sale where you split the profit. Let’s say you price your book at ten dollars. $4.50 for each book to be printed and mailed, hopefully you can get it cheaper. That leaves $5.50 to split. You get $2.75 plus $4.50 back. They get $2.75. Ten books, they get $27.50, you get $72.50.
Now if we could only sell our book like hotcakes at $100 each, selling 100 copies a day, in each store. LOL
Be honest and keep the split even, 50/50. If you want to give them more, that’s up to you, as long as you get your book cost back plus a small profit. Remember, you have to buy them all up front and store them hoping for sales. If not, you’re stuck, and unless you come up with book signings, or other marketing, giveaways, free prize gifts, contest winner gift, or savers, and goodwill, church raffles, children’s hospitals if they are for kids, or old folks homes. They might buy a book from your web to give to a grandchild. Donate/never destroy. Am I squeezing in too much? Back to class.
The concept is; your book is out there and available to people. A bookstore or library doesn’t have to browse through a catalog and skim over your book. They don’t have to buy fifty copies in a one crack lump sum. They don’t have to come up with the money up front. There is no upfront cost to them and they might make more on each sale than going through a bookstore catalog. Post a pic of you and the book and the store. The store does not have to even be a book store. Also other stores don’t even get to view a catalog or have access to it, but they might have a small shelf space to display your book and to make a small profit from each sale.
What happens if it doesn’t sell? This is the good thing for both you and the seller. The seller had no upfront cost, so they really don’t care. They have lost nothing. You go back to the store and pick them back up with a sincere thank you handshake. If they have sold, you can supply more. Collect your money from the first ten and supply another ten.
Make up a simple contract agreement in the event that a book is stolen, torn, or damaged while in the store. Make sure they understand that they are responsible for your book while in their store. Again, it’s only ten books at a time, placed on a three month contract for sales.
These locations don’t have to be bookstores or libraries. They can be all over. The trick is selling yourself to a proprietor. Make sure they have room for a small display and give them your card and phone number on the back of the display so they can order more. Don’t count on them to always call, but drop back by periodically to check.
After three months the contract comes to an end, and you go from there. When ten books are sold, you split the profit and decide on ten more. If after three months they don’t want to continue and you sold only five books, again, take the books back, collect your five sale profit with a sincere handshake and thank you.
Try hair salons, your dentist, Walmart, Costco, mom-and-pop stores, small businesses, big businesses, churches, independent book stores, hospital gift shops, anywhere they sell products, toys, books, and other knickknacks. What’s in it for the seller? Total profit without any upfront cost.
Your sales pitch could be, “You sure have a lot of stuff here. I bet all the stuff cost you a lot of money just to try and sell. How would you like to make a profit without any upfront cost? All I ask in return is just a small counter or shelf to display my product, and if it sells we split the profit.”
The nice thing is that if someone buys your book no-matter from where, you have your info inside the book for your other books and your website. Hopefully they will also share with other book-lovers. This won’t make you rich, but it gets you known and out there.
You could also do this over the Internet in other states. Look up websites to small businesses around the country and send them an email about your idea. If and when they respond, send them a contract agreement. When you get the contract back, you can ship the books directly to them. If you need the sticker on the inside, you can send that also and ask them if they would put them in for you. Have them post a picture of your display on social media.
If they sell, they pay first before more books are sent. Naturally, you’re not going to go to a different state and pick them up after three months, or when they no longer want to have your books in the store. Have the store owner pay you for the sales that were made and have them send a pic of the remaining books to show proof. Give them an email handshake by letting them keep the books to put on sale and to keep all the profit. You could also ask them to give them away, or donate them to goodwill or a worthy cause. Never say, Destroy Them. Say please and show sincere gratitude, so when it ends up in goodwill, that person will see your website, other books, and your social connections. Who knows, you might get picked up by a news company, or even Oprah.
Yes, this is my thought process. Now if I can only follow through. Maybe you can, and will. I wish you the best of luck. Until next week,
 
Happy Writing from rickkurtisbooks.com

Update: I haven't done this yet, but I have placed my books with stickers into the community mailbox libraries. You know, those little houses around town for sharing books. I have returned to them and noticed that they were gone. People took them home to read, and hopefully shared a pic on their social media when finished.