How To Get Barnes & Noble To Sell Your Book
”Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.” This is a scripture I found very inspiring and related to what I’m about to disclose in a short time.
Few weeks back, I came across a post on a Facebook author’s group, an author whose name you’re about to know came out to say, ”she had an amazing first book signing at Barnes & Noble! And had a sold out.”
I found this to be worthy of commendation and this led me to inquire from her what wisdom she had implored to achieve her first book signing success with a great establishment as Barnes and noble.
Without wasting much of time allow me to introduce to you Andrea Delucia, the author of
”How Do I Deal With My Emotions.”
Andrea is a trauma-informed mentor and nervous system specialist. With a deep understanding of the impact of trauma on individuals. She is dedicated to guiding and supporting others on their healing journeys.
As an author, she has written the best-selling book titled ”How Do I Deal with My Emotions,” which provides practical tools and insights for navigating and processing emotions effectively.
In this interview session, Andrea shared how she courageously fought her way into Barnes and Noble with no huge social followers and got her book sold out.
Let’s dive in…
Could you share your experience of getting your books into Barnes & Noble?
I wrote my book as a self-published author, with no expectations. I began as a KDP author on Amazon, but I aimed to broaden my audience. Sharing my message on trauma and informed living was my mission. I viewed affiliating with Barnes and Noble as a strategic move. The experience of getting into Barnes and Noble was challenging, not as straightforward as I anticipated. Though I had conducted signings in local bookstores, Barnes and Noble presented unique requirements for scheduling a signing.
Also, I was up against COVID at the time, and Barnes and Noble had discontinued all their signings. So I had to wait to determine if they were even going to bring back in-person signings. The experience was definitely not a linear process. There was a lot of back and forth, reaching out, and phone tag, but finally, we were able to get things done…
What initial steps did you take to approach Barnes & Noble for selling your books?
So one of the initial steps I took was introducing myself. I actually went in person, returning to the old ways. Forget email or phone calls.
I visited the Barnes and Noble locations where I wanted my book signing and simply said, “Hey.” I introduced myself, my book, and talked about my mission and why the book was important to me. We had a conversation; they asked questions and looked at my book information.
There were obstacles I’ll discuss later, along with strategies to overcome them that I share in a program I teach called Discovered. But really, it’s about getting in front of them. Making those personalized connections was my biggest approach…
Were there any specific strategies or techniques you used to grab the attention of Barnes & Noble decision-makers?
Absolutely, there were. And, again, I have a program that I really worked hard on cultivating so I could teach people these specific strategies. It’s called Discovered, and I’d love to have people contact me if they want information about the program.
But a couple of specific strategies that I can share with you here are, as I said, one was getting in front of them. You know, if you email, you’re going to play email tag. People are busy, life is crazy, and people are selfish. And I don’t mean that in a mean way, but they want to know what’s in it for them.
So Barnes and Noble, from my experience, wants it to be a good business decision for them too. So when you get in front of them, they get to see your personality, your book, and how you communicate, which is really important to those decision-makers. Another strategy is you’ve got to keep following up.
You can’t wait for them to call or follow up with you. They’re busy, have so many books, and signings, and are doing so many different things. It’s your job to follow up.
So I had to follow up multiple times with different Barnes and Noble to get my tour going. It wasn’t just a one-and-done thing. There were follow-up calls, emails, and even follow-up visits.
You can’t be afraid to be the squeaky wheel. Don’t think you’re annoying anybody. It doesn’t matter. You’re doing this for you and your book. Remember your why and your mission.
So get yourself out there, talk about it, get in front of them, and keep following up. Don’t give up if they say no. Don’t give up if you don’t hear a response.
Because nine times out of ten, you won’t hear a response. It’s up to you to stay persistent.
How did you pitch your book to Barnes & Noble, and what elements did you emphasize?
In short, I didn’t really pitch my book. Actually, I did want to pitch it, but it felt difficult. I had to work on a bit of a pitch when I first started doing signings, but I don’t like the word “pitch”; I just had a conversation.
I spoke about the book in a way that would be relatable for people. I wanted to touch people’s lives, and I knew that pitching like a business pitch wasn’t for me. I had a conversation; I’d just talk to them like they were my friends, like how I would talk about my book to a friend.
And if you want a little strategy or a tip, use some of the points in your bio or the back of your book. What is your book about? Take some key points, but then add your own charisma and personality.
Talk about the book, how it’s changed people’s lives, and the kind of testimonials you’ve gotten from it. If you haven’t received any testimonials, have a family member read it and give you feedback, then use their words to talk to Barnes and Noble because that’s what they want to hear.
They want relatable, real people at their book signings. They don’t want robots; they want people they can approach and have a conversation with, and be open with. That’s what makes a successful book signing. That’s what makes a book signing a success. That’s what makes a book a big deal.
Did you face any challenges during the process of getting your books into Barnes & Noble, and how did you overcome them?
I absolutely faced challenges. Of course, I had objections. There are certain things that Barnes & Noble wants that an indie author may not already have or know. That’s where the educational piece comes in.
So that’s why my program, Discovered, is so good for this because I give you pretty much every objection they can throw at you so we can workshop through it, and you don’t have to struggle to find the answers or overcome the challenges alone.
So one of the ways that I overcame them is by listening. Listening is key here. You want to listen to what they’re saying to you. What are the obstacles, and what are the objections? And then if you can, take what they say as feedback, don’t take it personally.
They are not saying they don’t like you or your book, but just again, it has to be a good business decision for Barnes & Noble. So from a business standpoint, we have to understand that. I know it can be difficult not to take things personally.
So, I think just listening is key to overcoming the challenges because once you know the objection or you know the challenge that’s in front of you, you’re able to come up with a solution.
Can you elaborate on the negotiation process with Barnes & Noble, such as pricing, distribution, and marketing agreements?
So I can’t elaborate on all negotiation tactics with Barnes and Noble because every Barnes and Noble might be different in different locations, and states, and might have different negotiation processes. What I can say is that you will have a couple of options. Some Barnes and Noble locations will give you one option where they will buy your book.
If your book sells, you will get a commissionable amount, and they will also get a commissionable amount. I can’t exactly state what that commissionable amount is. I think that’s a personal thing. People may not want to disclose that, and every Barnes and Noble might be different.
You also might sign an agreement where they get some amount, and you get some amount. I have experienced different Barnes and Noble doing this differently. Again, I cover this in my program, ‘’Discovered,’’ but the marketing agreement, the distribution, I will say it’s important to have a distributor.
Is it a complete deal-breaker? I can’t speak to that. I can only speak to what I’ve experienced. And yes, it is a good idea to have a distributor so Barnes and Noble can buy your book through the distributor because just to give you a little tip, Amazon is one of their biggest competitors. So they’re not going to want to buy your book from Amazon. It’s really important for a KDP self-published author to know.
Did Barnes and Noble carry out any special marketing promotion that got your book sold out or it was just a personal effort?
So that’s a great question. And I would say it’s twofold. Barnes and Noble, the ones that I’ve worked with thus far — I have two more coming up. I’m on a Barnes and Noble tour right now. So the ones that I’ve worked with so far, were fantastic. It was definitely a professional and personal effort, meaning that I had to do a lot of the legwork myself.
I had to get promotional materials, pay for some marketing stuff, and do social media, and things like that. But Barnes and Noble was wonderful. They also did social media and tagged me in it.
They also have a website and put me as a new author book signing on the website, and they sent me a link to the site so I could share it on my social media. They had signs made for me.
One Barnes and Noble even got me balloons and set up this beautiful little section of the store, then put me right into the front. So I was the first person someone would meet and greet when they walked through the door. It really made it easy for me to be visible and talk to people.
I think that’s the best thing that Barnes and Noble can do for you — make you visible. If they try to put you in a corner of the store, people are going to walk right by you. So having some sort of backdrop, creating some sort of visual piece for you is going to support you in selling your books…
How important was having a strong author brand or presence in securing a deal with Barnes & Noble?
That is also a great question, and I’m going to say not really a big deal, honestly. Many authors are brand new babies, and brand new authors like myself. Indie authors don’t have a lot of education around being an author or what to do or how to have that strong author presence.
We’re kind of learning as we go, being a self-published author. I had just gotten my bestseller before getting my book signing tour, but I honestly think it’s really about you and how you show up.
It’s not about how long you’ve had a book how popular your book is or how many sales you’ve had in the past. It’s really about how strong of a presence you have going into the signings.
You know, showing them I’m a good business deal, and I’m a good business decision here. So I’m going to show up very powerfully for you. I’m going to sell my books. I’m going to have a conversation with people, and I’m going to put on a great event.
I think that’s what they look for more than anything else. And, again, I can’t speak for every Barnes and Noble. You do have to have a brand. You do have to have some presence. They need some reference to go back to make sure that you are legitimate, but you don’t have to be in the millions of followers or even millions of books sold before they’ll even look at you.
And that’s a great thing about this. It’s really just utilizing and capitalizing on what you have now. It’s also upon yourself to ask for certain things too. I definitely asked, will there be signage? What should I bring? I wanted to know. They were very helpful in supporting me with that.
Did you collaborate with any other parties, such as literary agents or publishers, to facilitate the placement of your books in Barnes & Noble?
That is an easy answer, and that is no. There were no collaborations. I had nobody else there, no other marketing dollars that went behind it.
I do not have any publishers, just a distributor. But at that time, distributors don’t do any legwork for you at all. It’s just a place where they can get your book.
It all just came from me. It was me showing up, doing my follow-up, making sure that I was determined, making sure that I was the one that kept the conversation going and was relevant to them. It had nothing to do with anything else.
Now, yes, there are situations with bigger box stores like Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Target, things like that, where a marketer or a PR firm or even your publisher will do a lot of that leg work for you, get those initial things going, get you in those stores. I would love to have that.
Maybe in the future, I have a second book that I’m writing now that might be something that I think about doing, but I actually love being self-published because everything is on my terms.
Looking back, what key lessons did you learn from your experience of getting your books into Barnes & Noble, and what advice would you give to aspiring authors aiming to do the same?
I mean, I learned a lot from doing this. I’d say my number one lesson was I can have a successful signing without a big following.
I was nervous to go into Barnes and Noble and look like a fool without selling a single book. I will say, tell your family and friends to come and support you. There is no shame in the game. Ask people that you already know, like, and trust to come and support you, buy your book, even get conversations started with you, and show that you’re approachable.
This is one of my biggest lessons I was nervous to have friends and family come, but then I was so grateful they did because it opened up people love to see that you have a family or that your partner came or your spouse came or your mom showed up.
It just made it more of a personable experience. People told me afterwards and are still talking about my signings to this day, like, wow. You had such a fun signing. I love that your family was there for you. I loved they were so supportive.
It just made such a warm, loving environment. You took a store like this for a family reunion type of thing. And, of course, there are boundaries, and we’ll get to that later. And I’m gonna do a whole thing in my program, Discovered, on how to set up your signings. So it’s professional, but warm and loving and, like, supportive.
But, yeah, I would say my lesson is, you know, just keep it real. You don’t have to be anyone you’re not. Don’t fake it till you make it. Be honest. Where are you really right now in your book journey?
If you’re new and you’re a beginner and it’s your first time, it’s okay to say, I’m new. I’m a beginner. It’s my first time, and I don’t know a lot. They’re not gonna hold that against you. If anything, that type of vulnerability will open up more education, and more conversations.
I’ve learned that I can connect with other authors now. We can support each other. We can do dual events. I mean, it’s just been, such a fun experience, and that’s why I wanted to share with people how they could do this for themselves. And because I want so many more authors to do this.
So my advice is just to be yourself and don’t let anyone tell you, you’re not ready. You’re not there. You don’t have the following. It doesn’t matter.
Let Barnes and Noble tell you. Will there be noes? It’s never a guarantee. So, yes, there can be noes. And there were a couple of noes for me.
But here’s the thing. Don’t attach yourself to the no. Don’t attach your quality of work or even who you are or your value to the no. Go and start with smaller signings. Go to a different bookstore.
Go to a local bookstore. Start to build up your name, and then you can go to Barnes and Noble and say, Hey listen I’ve been doing book signings for a little while now, but I really would love to get my book into your store. Love to do a signing.
What can we do to make this happen? And I’m telling you, you’ll get such great feedback. Even if it’s a no at the time, it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in the future. So that’s just my last piece of advice.
Let’s wrap up
From this convo about getting book signings at Barnes and Noble, you’ll agree that it’s all about staying true to yourself and making those personal connections.
The author’s journey shows that even without a big following, you can still make it happen with determination and support from family and friends. Being real, staying persistent, and not letting a ‘no’ get you down are the keys here. It’s inspiring stuff for anyone chasing their dreams in the writing world.
In addition, if you’re keen to dive deeper into building your author brand, I recently interviewed a book brand-building strategist. Check out the article for some valuable insights here. It’s inspiring stuff for anyone chasing their writing dreams!
Finally, for more information on getting signed with Barnes and Noble or to connect with Andrea, check out her social media profile here or sign up for her Free Master’s Class here. Wishing you the best on your author’s journey!
