Common Mistakes Authors Make When Approaching Independent Bookshops

Independent bookshops are not scaled-down chains. They are small businesses run by people who know their regulars by name, order books in ones and twos, and make decisions in the gaps between customers. That is good news for authors: a well-aimed email can land on a real person's desk. It is less good news for anyone sending the same pitch to forty shops. Most of the mistakes below come from treating an indie like a chain, or a favour like a transaction.

Mistake one: the blanket email

Booksellers can spot a mass mailing within two lines, and most delete it. If your email could have been sent to any shop in Britain, it gives the person reading it no reason to reply.

The fix is small. Put the shop's name in the subject line. Open with something specific: the sort of books they stock, an event they ran, the fact that you live two streets away. Then say what you're offering in plain terms, and stop.

A workable pitch email looks roughly like this:

• Subject line tying the book to the shop — not just the title.
• Three sentences on the book: what it is, who buys it, why this shop.
• The practical facts: title, ISBN, RRP, format, publication date, page count.
• The terms you're offering, including your position on returns.
• One clear ask — a reply, a short meeting, or a small first order.
• One attachment at most: a single-page sell sheet with the cover image.

No detailed plot summary. No paragraph about how long you've wanted to be a writer. No PDF of the whole manuscript, and nothing so large it bounces back.

Pricing and terms: where most approaches fall down

Trade discount

Indies buy at a trade discount and sell at the retail price. That margin is how they pay the rent. If you offer a smaller discount than a wholesaler would, you have made yourself the more expensive option. A figure in the region of a third off is standard in the trade, sometimes a little more for direct supply. Ask what they need rather than announcing what you will allow, because the answer tells you a great deal.

Price the book sensibly, too. An unusually high retail price combined with a thin discount is the quickest no in the business.

Sale or return

Many shops will only take a local author's title on sale or return, and that is fair enough. They still pay you once copies sell; if they don't, the stock comes back. Agree the terms in writing, even if it's a short email you both reply to confirming the details. Cover the following:

• How many copies, and how long they stay on the shelf before a review.
• The discount or split on each sale.
• Who pays postage on returns, and in what condition stock must come back.
• When you get paid — after each sale, or on a monthly or quarterly statement.
• Who to contact when something needs sorting.

Firm sale

If a shop offers to buy outright, take it, and make the invoice easy to process: your name and address, the ISBN, quantity, discount, and the amount due. Printed books are zero-rated for VAT in the UK, so that side of things is rarely complicated. If you're trading as a business or you're unsure about tax and invoicing, speak to an accountant rather than taking advice from a bookseller.

Make it easy to order

Tell them exactly how to get the book. If it's available through a wholesaler, say which one and give the ISBN; shops order from wholesalers every day and it costs them nothing extra. If you're supplying direct, say what your lead time is and how quickly you can deliver.

Do not turn up at the counter with a box of books and expect them to be taken. That puts staff in an awkward position, particularly if the shop has a policy against unsolicited stock. Email first and wait for a yes.

Check the basics before you approach anyone: ISBN and barcode printed on the cover, a spine that carries the title and your name legibly, and the retail price printed or stickered. A book that won't scan has to be typed in by hand, and every extra step is one more reason to say no.

Pitch an event as a package, not a favour

A signing with no audience is a chair in the corner. Shops host events because events sell books and bring people through the door, so pitch the whole thing.

Lead with the draw: how many people you can realistically bring, which local groups or networks you can reach, what you'll do to promote it yourself. Then the format — a reading, a short talk, a workshop, a conversation with another local writer — and how long you need. Offer two or three possible dates rather than one, and ask what the shop needs from you.

Be honest about numbers. An author who promises twenty and delivers four is remembered for it. If you don't have an audience yet, propose something small and low-risk: a Saturday morning signing, or a shared evening with two other local writers, and build from there.

The follow-up, and other quiet deal-breakers

Wait. A reply within ten working days is normal for a first email; chasing after two days is not. One polite follow-up is fine. Phone calls, messages on three platforms and a visit to the shop in the same week is not persistence, it's pressure.

Other things that sink an otherwise decent pitch:

• Sending stock without agreement and then invoicing for it.
• A cover image that's too low-resolution to use in a newsletter.
• No returns address, or no clear returns policy at all.
• Asking the shop to store stock for months on vague terms.
• Ignoring the shop's own social media while asking them to post about you.
• Turning a bookseller's counter into a debate about chain pricing or online giants.

A sensible first approach

Pick five shops, not fifty. Read their websites, follow them for a few weeks, and buy something from at least one of them. Then send a short email that names the shop, says what the book is, gives the facts and the terms, and asks one question.

If the answer is no, take it well and ask whether they'd like to hear about a future title. A shop that says no this time often says yes to the next book, and relationships in this trade are long ones. Then do the same thing at the next shop along the road.

Photo: Magnaduf / Pixabay