I think the issue is more complicated than you make it out to be in this post. Yes, I use covers to help make a decision on whether or not to buy a book by an unknown author (but the Othmer section of the entry was really a joke.) They were going to put a picture of fried chicken leg on a book with serious aspirations. Is that my fault as the buyer that they were going to put a completely unsellable cover on a book? Yes, I use previous sales numbers to guide my choices. I am in the business of selling books. And authors like baseball players tend to perform in predictably statistical patterns over the course of their careers. No, I can’t judge 99.9 % of the books by the quality of the writing. How could I possibly even have the time to read a page of them?

The real problem is the sheer number of books being published. On the week that this appointment took place, I met with three different reps. Each rep (2 RH reps and a commissioned rep) had hundreds of books that they were selling me. I had to go through at least 2,000 titles in those three days. That was one of the major points of the blog. Why can’t the publishers do a better job of focusing these lists? In a course of a season I will wade through more than 10,000 titles. How can anyone make an informed decision on every one of them or even half of them?

As far as judging books by the quality of their writing. To a large degree, I use the publishers as the screen. If it’s a Knopf book I know there is a very good chance it will be well written. I approach it much differently than I would a book from say, Ballantine, which is a much more commercial publisher. That said, plenty of well written books fail. If there is no marketing, if the author doesn’t push his own book, if the cover looks awful.

What I’m really looking for is the book that will resonate with my audience. We have had amazing success featuring eclectic titles (including self published books) on our recommended cases throughout the years. If you have ever visited the store, I’m sure that you would agree that it is a much different selection than what you’d see at the chain stores or other major independents.

Anyway, we embrace self published books at the Boulder Book Store. In fact, we are having a local author night next week where three self published authors will be signing their books.

Check out my post on local author Robert Dresner, who is self published. http://kashsbookcorner.blogspot.com/2009/02/self-published-man.html

Winning the Spur didn’t hurt, of course, but even with that, I still work on establishing relationships. This is not the only book I’ll want them to sell for me, and they may not all win awards.

I was laughed out of one store – the guy actually laughed at me. Otherwise I’ve had pretty good results. Indie bookstores almost always offer to take at least one or two on consignment. It’s always good to follow up and you must always present yourself well – not wearing a suit presentation, rather friendly and affable and professional. I offer a nice glossy A4 promo poster if they’re interested in putting that up somewhere. You’ll have to resign yourself to everything going out on consignment, but that’s part of the game.

Once the espresso book machine thing takes off, we’ll all be on an even footing, just like with Amazon. Time and perseverance will see a change in the face of publishing very soon.