Long-time readers of this newsletter know that Sunbury Press has had a program for many years to sell directly to the local and independent bookstores. This arrangement bypasses the middle-man distributorships and leads to more revenue for the publisher and higher royalties for our authors.

We have recently refreshed our list of independent bookstores around the country and find that it has increased to over 1200 potential customers! Imagine if we could sell just one book to each -- or ten or 100 for that matter. Sales would be on the upswing!

We will be ramping up our interactions with this list through email campaigns. This will be geared towards our typical 40% discount / net 30 / returnable arrangement with them. We want to focus on this as we turn away (for a while) from Barnes and Noble.

Any author who wants a copy of the list of bookstores in your area, just reach out. We're happy to send it if you intend to do outreach yourself. Independent bookstores are usually better outlets to have book signings / readings.

MEDIA LISTS

Some of you have been very proactive in contacting media. As you know, we have unlimited access to the Cision publicity platform and have been adjusting how we use it. Rather than pitching book review opportunities to media types (which has resulted in mailing lots of free copies with limited results), we would prefer to request author interviews. Building this earned media can have a tremendous impact on your book sales. We're finding a simpler, more direct message has been more effective that our sell-sheet style pitches. The best time to pitch is when something is happening in the news that relates to your book.

If you are interested in a targeted media list to work on yourself, I would be more than happy to share. Just let me know what parameters you are looking for -- region / metro areas / areas of interest. You might start with media in your immediate vicinity to try to build relationships -- or seek specific media interested in your content. There are over three million personalities in the database!