I went to last night’s San Antonio Romance Author’s meeting (SARA) to hear one of my chaptermates speak. Jo-Ann Power is the owner of Power Promotions and the author of many books, most recently, Missing Member, a very funny who-dun-it about politics. Since she owns and operates a PR firm, Jo-Ann is an expert at book promotion. She presented some interesting statistics.
Wal-Mart sells 35% of all books sold. Of the rest, 17% are sold by independent booksellers affiliated with the American Booksellers Association (ABA), 14% by stores affiliated with the Christian Bookseller’s Association (CBA), 12% are sold at Target, my store of choice, 10% at Borders, 7% at Barnes & Nobel, and 5% are sold at all online stores combined.
I’m amazed the percentage of online booksellers isn’t higher. In the romance world, online booksellers get a lot of press. The promotion and sales of eBooks are always in the news. Jo-Ann reminded me there’s no substitute for holding a book in my hand.
It’s something to think about.
CRISPLY SPOKEN 