Peschel Press Newsletter for May 2023

Hello again! Another month has flown by and here is the Peschel Press newsletter for May 2023. We’ve been busy with events and have two more coming up if you want to see us in person.

First, important news: Amazon is raising the price to print books in its Kindle Direct Publishing program. That means we’ll make less money on the books they sell, and we’ll make less on the books we sell at shows.

Which means we’ll have to raise the price of our books as well.

This is not good news.

The only saving grace is that the price increase won’t take effect until June 20. So if you’ve been thinking about buying something from us, you have time to get it at the current rate.

If you’re buying direct from us at a show, it’ll still be $15. But at some point we’ll have to raise it to $16 as well.

Because the cost of living has increased everywhere else.

It’s not something we want to do, but there it is. Sometimes, running a business means making touch decisions.

Let’s move on to more pleasant news.

Festival Season

On Saturday, 20 May 2023, we’ll be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in Boher Park, Gaithersburg, Md. The festival is free and so is parking. You’ll find authors galore, loads of kids’ activities, food trucks, all sorts of programs, and plenty to see and do.

You can find us somewhere in Tent B, one of the two giant, long, white circus tents with the other exhibiting authors. We should be easy to find: Look for the sea of blue.

That’s another reason for choosing a brand color for everything from clothes to signs to covers. It makes it easier for people to find you.

On Saturday, 10 June 2023, you’ll find our canopy on Benjamin Franklin Highway (the main street running through the town, also known as US 422) in Annville, Pa. We’ll be part of Old Annville Days.

This will be our first time participating in this long-running celebration of Annville. It’s free to attend but the hours are short: 9am until 2 p.m. so if you’re attending, don’t wait until the last minute. The vendors must break down at 2 p.m. because the state police remove the roadblocks at 3 p.m..

After that, we’re going to formally launch Agatha Christie, She Watched! Yes, we are finally — after 33 books — going to have an actual book launch. And, because AC,SW is such a big book, we’re going to have two book launches; one at Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookstore and one at Cupboard Maker Books.

Although I’ve been to a book launch before and Bill has attended several, it’s all new to us. This is us! Not someone else. It’s so exciting and I have to think about catering because surely people will appreciate snacks while perusing books. I have to find out.

I’ll also be presenting an amusing program on 13 Poirots and 7 Miss Marples, lavishly illustrated with film clips from the movies. I even cover the evolution of Poirot, as related by Agatha Christie in her memoir and shown onscreen in the 2004 documentary about her.

Anyway, here’s the dates.

On Sunday, 16 July 2023 at 2 p.m., we’ll be at the Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop in Mechanicsburg, Pa. I’ll do my program with Bill’s able assistance and we’ll have stacks of AC,SW on hand.

Then, on Sunday, 6 August 2023 at 2 p.m., I’ll repeat the program for Cupboard Maker Books.

Why, you may ask, am I hosting two book launches at two bookstores that are within 20 minutes of each other?

This was a business decision and something you — assuming you’re an aspiring writer — should think about.

We’ve got a great relationship with Deb Beamer of MMBS and Michelle Haring at Cupboard Maker. They’re great stores with knowledgeable owners and staff. They care about books. They do lots of programs.

They also — and this is important — like each other and they cater to different markets. I spoke to both of them. Each knows what programs I do with the other. They’re not in direct competition and I’m not keeping secrets.

Deb operates a mystery bookstore, one of the few mystery-specific stores in the U.S. If you want a mystery, new or used, of any kind, start with Deb. She does mail-order and online orders so you don’t have to live nearby to patronize her stop. Her market is mysteries, from the coziest of cozies to thrillers to espionage to police procedurals. She carries some genre-adjacent titles in her shop but if you want contemporary romance or nonfiction about the movies, you won’t find it at Deb’s.

AC,SW fits into her market because it’s Agatha Christie-related. Her customers like and read Agatha’s novels, so a big, coffee-table book about Agatha film adaptations is a good fit.

Michelle operates a general interest bookstore (150,000 books), primarily used but with a sizeable selection of new books. She’s a big romance fan (she was named RWA’s bookstore of the year in 2019), but reads widely. If it’s genre, from romance to horror and anything in between, she’s got it. She does carry mysteries but not to the extent that Deb does.

She’s also got an excellent selection of nonfiction, including books about movies. AC,SW works for her because of the many movie and TV fans who patronize her store. For those fans, my book is something they’ve never seen before.

Overall, they have different customers and not just because they’re not located side by side. Their focus is different, they run different programs, and so they attract different readers.

By launching in both bookstores, I reap the blessings of being in front of two different readerships.

I would not do this if Deb and Michelle didn’t both agree to host me.

I could not do this if I didn’t have a good relationship with both bookstore owners.

Making Friends with Your Booksellers

I’ve been writing for months about direct sales. A very important piece is your relationship with your local bookstore, if you’re fortunate enough to have one.

Never forget this: Your local bookshop doesn’t have to carry your books. A specialized bookshop like Deb’s won’t carry your books if you’re a bad fit. She’s not going to sell game warden memoirs. A more general bookshop like Michelle’s won’t carry your books if she doesn’t think she’s going to sell them (something that Deb also considers).

Are you a local author? Your local bookshop doesn’t have to carry your books for that reason, either, any more than your local library does. There are plenty of local authors in every part of the country. You are not special. You are one of an enormous crowd.

Michelle told me once that she routinely fields requests from local authors (indie and trad-pub) to carry her books. Two or three hopefuls parade in every week. I’d expect that every bookshop in the country sees the same parade.

Why should she stock your book?

She might do it, if she knows you. That is, do you support your local bookshop? Do you shop there? Attend programs? If you’ve got a signing, do you make sure to publicize it, drawing more attention to her store? Or, are you a total stranger who’s never showed up before and acts all entitled when you walk in for the very first time because, oh, my God! You’ve got a book.

Look around that bookstore you’re standing in. Michelle, Deb, or any other bookshop owner doesn’t need your book to fill their shelves. They’ve got plenty.

If you want your local bookshop to support you, you’ve got to support them. Don’t be a stranger! Shop there. If they don’t carry a title, have them order it for you. Follow them on social media. Attend programs that interest you. If you order books through bookshop.org, you can choose their bookshop. This kicks a few dollars into their coffers, improving their cashflow, and doesn’t cost you anything extra.

An extra that I do is hand out information about Deb’s and Michelle’s stores everywhere I go. We list them on our website and catalog as places to buy our books. I hand out their fliers whenever I hand out one of my catalogs. I make sure people know they exist, bringing potential new customers to their stores.

If you’re not a stranger, then when you’ve got a book to sell, your local bookstore is far more likely to take a chance and stock your book. If they like it and like you, the owner might even hand-sell your book, improving sales for both of you.

When you visit, always be polite. Bookstore owners, like librarians, talk among themselves. If you’re difficult and unpleasant, word will get around.

Never forget: bookstores don’t have to carry your book. They’ve got plenty to choose from.

So mark your calendar for our upcoming events, especially our book launch for AC, SW at Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop and Cupboard Maker Books. They’ll appreciate it and so will we.

That’s it for the Peschel Press Newsletter for May 2023. See you next month!