The Last Word on Indie Bookstores

​I have written several separate blogs on my experiences with independent bookstores.  In total I have direct experience with five independent bookstores in two states.  Recently I just picked up by books from a Madison indie bookstore after a two year relationship and I want to summarize my experience in one blog.
Indie Bookstores have a special relationship with indie authors and bend over backward to support indie authors – THIS IS AN URBAN MYTH.
Our kids used to live in Omaha and loved an indie bookstore.  I met with the owner and gave them just 3 books on consignment, a signed agreement.  After a year I had no contact with the store.  I e-mailed them for an update on sales of my book.  I was told to e-mail the accountant.  The accountant took a month to respond.  No books were sold.  I was told in the future it would be my responsibility to contact the store on any sales, they would not report sales to me.  Ok, I just donated three books to that store.  End of relationship.
An indie bookstore in Madison offered the standard 60/40 consignment agreement (60% to author) but wanted to charge me $15 to shelf five copies of my book.  That reversed the deal to 40/60 (40% to author).  So I challenged them – are you kidding.  You know exactly the cost to shelf one book in your store?  The store easily has +2000 books.  They claimed they knew the cost and to have my book on their shelf I would have to pay the $15 in advance.  I told them I would never do that and I would also never buy a book at their store and tell as many people as I knew about their treatment of indie authors.
I spoke at a small Wisconsin town indie book store on Mother’s day.  The only customers were one guy who wandered in off the street and listened to me out of curiosity.  There were also two women who were having lunch who competed with me in volume when I began talking.  I was told there would be a special display for my book.  The special display was a small table with my book and three other books in front of the cash register.  The table was so low I didn’t even see it.  The manager agreed to pay to send my books back to me.
A well known and respected indie book store in Milwaukee had a reputation for being supportive of indie authors.  They often had at least indie authors present a week and had a special book shelf near the front door of indie authors.  Their support for indie authors was geographically limited.  Because I don’t live in Milwaukee I would have to send their reader a free copy of my book and they would decide if they would schedule an author event for me.  Since when did bookstores start screening book?  I never sent a book – it’s insulting.
I’ve had my first book at a Madison indie bookstore since January 2014 and my second book since February 2015.  I have had tremendous response to selling my books as a pair Two Books for $20.  I convinced the store owner to have a special sale on my books in April to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Rising.  I had two special 8 ½ x 11” advertising placards made that I delivered to the bookstore.  Last week I went to pick up my books.  Since January 2014 only ONE book was sold.  There were no books sold during the April special sale.  On top of that they lost one of my advertising placards.  I couldn’t believe it.  I told the poor guy working in the store the morning I picked up my books to let the owner know to find my advertising in the next two days and mail it to me or I would send an invoice for them to pay for it.  The next day I received an e-mail from the owner telling me they found the advertising and needed my mailing address.  My mailing address is on the consignment agreement – they didn’t need to pay for it.
So my advice to indie writers – forget indie bookstores.  Do you want to know where I sold books?  I sold 30 books in one month at a bar in Columbus Wisconsin!  Too bad the bar went belly up the next month – go figure.