Hello, it’s Cat here, children’s specialist at The Children’s Bookshop.  Vanessa’s (unwisely?) let me loose on the blog.  Oops!

I love being a bookseller but I never expected unsolicited approaches to stock self-published books to become the bane of my life and I feel inclined to issue some suggestions based on my own experiences. Vanessa has blogged about self publishing previously here: http://www.stateofindependents.co.uk/2010/03/self-published-authors-before-you-send-me-your-book-bear-this-in-mind/

But as it has become the one aspect of my working life I look forward to the least I really do feel the need to add in my tuppenceworth. I love reading new titles and taking a chance on something that, in my gut, feels like a winner. However, you are guaranteed to put me right off if you call in on a busy Saturday and expect me to drop everything (including a queue of customers buying literally piles of books) just to race upstairs and give you back the self published copy of your book you are hoping I will sell. Stomping off in a huff when I don’t will not endear me either. You see I’m not only interested in whether you’ve written something good I can sell but also whether you have the potential to win over children at book events – a vital ingredient in the birth of a successful book. If you can’t be pleasant and patient with me then how on earth are you going to cope with a hall full of children? Top tip number one – be nice to booksellers. You may have the next Carnegie Medal winner but if you are unpleasant about it I’ll refuse it on principle.

Children’s Bookselling was only ever meant to be a stop gap job but I’ve discovered something very magical about it. I’m good at it. Really good in fact. That’s not a boast, that’s an affirmation that comes from grateful customers over the years and the money I’ve made for book shops. Finally I have a reason for my ability to speed read too! I like to sell honestly and with passion so naturally I read the stock. If I don’t enjoy a book I will tell you but I will also have researched it to find out what others think and acknowledge that tastes can be very, very different. Alas there are books that should never, ever see a bookshop shelf regardless of taste differences.

Books of course come in all shapes and sizes. Some are brilliantly written or illustrated and others not so. Some make you think the author should sack their editor and yet despite some dodgy writing, you can as a seller understand what a publishing house sees in terms of marketing when they take certain books on. With children’s books, whilst I think it is important that they read as much well written prose as possible, there’s no harm in reading the occasional badly put together story as long as there is some level of enchantment that has their imagination soaring with possibilities. A well balanced book diet never hurt anyone and good booksellers really do get the balance right. So I like to think I have an open mind when it comes to book marketing and selling. However, if even your front cover gives me the heebeegeebees then all the open minds in the world will not put your book on my shelves.

It initially surprised me as a bookseller the important, yet somewhat unappreciated part I would come to play in making the difference between a book doing well or not. So when the first author approached me to ask if I would consider stocking their book I was taken aback. Thankfully, as I worked for a chain at that point all I had to do was send them to Head Office and the decision was taken out of my hands! Then Head Office started encouraging “local buying”. This was great for the most part because of course you want to support your local community. Then word got out and the authors started descending. I now have a lot more experience in handling requests to sell books and I’m sad to say that 9.9 times out of ten, if you approach me and utter the dreaded words “self published” I will likely turn you down.

Two types of authors generally approach me for help. The first have a publishing house behind them but realise that to get word out faster and more effectively they have to do some leg work. Developing relationships with booksellers, schools and communities can make a vast difference to a books success. I like when authors realise this. The second type of author is the self published author. There are two things I do straight away. I check the book font. If it’s published in Comic Sans I don’t want it. No discussions. It has to be the most unpleasant font known to man. Secondly, I’ll ask why the author is self published. It tells me a lot about where our relationship is likely to go. If you answer, “I’m scared of rejection” then you’re in the wrong career. Recycle your book and move on. Another response is “I got tired of rejection letters.” So do many writers but at what point do you give up and accept you’ve not written the next best seller? The response I dread the most is “I just wrote it for – insert family members here- and everyone said I should sell it” *deep sigh*.

So here goes. My top tips for writers considering self publishing:

1. Don’t self publish!
2. Printers who dabble in “publishing” generally don’t understand good design, they’re just happy to take your money. Having designed for three years, and consequently worked with printers I know this. I really do.
3. You may appreciate your friend/family member illustrating your book but if they don’t understand white space and using pictures to promote context then hire a trained illustrator. Please.
4. Print your book in a standard picture book or paperback size. We have to try and promote your weirdly shaped book on our bookshelves. I know one author who should be published and there is interest from publishing houses but for his insistence on the size of his books.
5. Don’t use clip art. Ever.
6. Never, ever, ever, ever use Comic Sans font. It should be renamed Fugly Font.
7. Don’t just call in or write and tell us you’ve written a book and can we stock it. Give us a copy to consider.
8. Never think you have the next bestseller because your family and friends tell you so. They love you and therefore have the best intentions but best intentions don’t make your book a work of art or a stroke of genius. Ask some booksellers and publishers what they think before you go spending money on printing.
9. Don’t tell the journalist who is writing a local interest piece on you that I’m stocking your book when I’ve said no.
10. Feel the fear and do it any way. Send your manuscript off. If it’s meant to be published it will be. Ask for feedback if you get rejection letters and work through any suggestions you get. Successful writers create their books for readers not for themselves.
11. Be nice to booksellers. We are the unsung heroes of the book world and our contribution to making or breaking a book should never be underestimated.

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