Distribution Progress

Those who visit www.battleforthesolarsystem.com will be aware by now that I have been enjoying some great success in getting branches of Waterstone's to stock THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS.

In case you're not aware, I recently decided that it would be both an interesting experiment and experience in finding out whether Waterstone's support local and/or self published authors. So, I ventured into a few branches and asked. To my surprise, they said yes, and promptly ordered in a batch.

Wow. I half expected a shake of the head and then to be frogmarched from the premises. The fact that the staff and the stores are so very accommodating is very warming indeed. There were, of course, a few requisites - They would prefer that I come back into the store when they were in stock, and sign the copies. Fair enough, that's not exactly asking a lot (and it makes sense too - signed copies of books are more attractive to buyers and those who are just browsing the shelves).

As of today, HOTK is now available in 4 different branches of Waterstone's. I will be contacting another branch on Monday (they told me I'd have to call back, since the person in charge was not available on weekends), to see if they will stock it too.

All in all, I was very impressed with how nicely I was treated in the store.

Were there any bad experiences? Yes, but not with branches of Waterstone's. I approached a few other major bookstores, to find out if they would be interested, and they tended to um and er about it a bit. Fair enough, but one of them flat out refused. The manager was actually quite rude, both to me and about those who would be my potential customers (won't repeat it here). So, it's not all rainbows. I will approach them again at a later day and see if they are more willing to entertain me then.

Something else that I was happy to see was how the online stores compete against one another, all to the benefit of the customer. HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS carries an RRP of £9.95, but both Amazon and the Book Depository have begun slashing prices, in a bid to... out bid one another. This, of course, is a common practice, but when The Book Depository is slashing £1 off the price and selling it for £8.95, with Free Delivery World Wide (so, European and American readers can get a good deal too), I can only smile as the price becomes increasingly more attractive.

Here's to hoping that the year continues to bring good things for my first novel.