Lou, Lou, skip to my...uh-oh.
Up until recently, I was unaware that sometimes the reason I can't find certain books in certain stores is because those stores have just sort of decided not to carry them. This process is called 'skipping.' Books can be skipped because the store doesn't have room on the shelf for another new author, because their historical-romances-with-sharks section just isn't that big, because your last book didn't perform well enough, or because they don't like your cover. (I suspect this last is unlikely, but I'm not a book-buyer, so who knows?)
Now, this practice is absolutely not always malicious or cruel or even ill-intended. The economy is hitting everyone pretty hard right now. My favorite independant bookstores are being forced to make some very tough choices, and most of us -- myself sadly included -- will probably reply to 'we don't have that' with 'I'll just go elsewhere for this one,' rather than waiting for the special order.* So either they buy one of absolutely everything to avoid 'skipping,' or they only buy what they know is going to sell, and maybe lose a few sales as people don't go there for the other books. Bit by bit, the lack of disposable income nudges the bookstores towards whatever is currently 'mainstream.' No malice. Just money.
(*I did this just last week, when Other Change of Hobbit didn't have the new Kelley Armstrong. In my defense, I really needed the book to read during my flight to Ohio. That's still money that they didn't get from me, and would have had they either had the book in-stock, or had I been willing to wait.)
There's a fascinating post on being skipped and what it means here, which is really what got me thinking about the topic. I mean, no one wants to be skipped. The idea of being skipped has given me something entirely shiny and new to worry about, along with 'will my cover be awesome?,' 'will my reviews be good?,' and 'will the zombies come before my book comes out?' Now we have 'oh dear stars, will my book be skipped?'
The answer is, at the end of things, no, yes, and maybe. Will every store stock my book? Nope. Will most stores stock my book? Everything going well, yes. Will some stores order my book after the initial sales figures start coming back? Almost certainly.
There are some additional issues to be considered, and it's important to remember that threats of boycott and such have a nasty tendency to result in stores getting sour grapes and saying 'well, fine, I just won't stock any giant shark books at all, then,' which does no one any good.
It's a big topic. It has a lot of factors. It's a little daunting. But we shall be okay! Because our strength is as the strength of ten, and also, we have cookies.
Now, this practice is absolutely not always malicious or cruel or even ill-intended. The economy is hitting everyone pretty hard right now. My favorite independant bookstores are being forced to make some very tough choices, and most of us -- myself sadly included -- will probably reply to 'we don't have that' with 'I'll just go elsewhere for this one,' rather than waiting for the special order.* So either they buy one of absolutely everything to avoid 'skipping,' or they only buy what they know is going to sell, and maybe lose a few sales as people don't go there for the other books. Bit by bit, the lack of disposable income nudges the bookstores towards whatever is currently 'mainstream.' No malice. Just money.
(*I did this just last week, when Other Change of Hobbit didn't have the new Kelley Armstrong. In my defense, I really needed the book to read during my flight to Ohio. That's still money that they didn't get from me, and would have had they either had the book in-stock, or had I been willing to wait.)
There's a fascinating post on being skipped and what it means here, which is really what got me thinking about the topic. I mean, no one wants to be skipped. The idea of being skipped has given me something entirely shiny and new to worry about, along with 'will my cover be awesome?,' 'will my reviews be good?,' and 'will the zombies come before my book comes out?' Now we have 'oh dear stars, will my book be skipped?'
The answer is, at the end of things, no, yes, and maybe. Will every store stock my book? Nope. Will most stores stock my book? Everything going well, yes. Will some stores order my book after the initial sales figures start coming back? Almost certainly.
There are some additional issues to be considered, and it's important to remember that threats of boycott and such have a nasty tendency to result in stores getting sour grapes and saying 'well, fine, I just won't stock any giant shark books at all, then,' which does no one any good.
It's a big topic. It has a lot of factors. It's a little daunting. But we shall be okay! Because our strength is as the strength of ten, and also, we have cookies.