Friday: A Fine Day to Rustle Up Some Sales

Want to kick-up some sales today? You can do so with just a few clicks and pastes.

Just go to your POS database and run a report for folks who purchased Amor Towles’s Rules of Civility. If anybody on that list has yet to purchase A Gentleman in Moscow, send them a quick note:

“Hey Beth. I just heard Lynn Neary interview Amor Towles on NPR and I thought you might enjoy it. Have a listen and let me know if you want me to hold a copy for you. (It’s so good.)”

And then either include the link or the embed code:

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/492434255/492775695″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe>

Or maybe you’d rather send a note to Ian McEwan customers with this review by Siddhartha Mukherjee in today’s New York Times.

Or perhaps Ari Shapiro’s interview with Jonathan Safran Foer about Here I Am will prompt a sale.

<iframe src=”https://www.npr.org/player/embed/492848868/492857990″ width=”100%” height=”290″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” title=”NPR embedded audio player”></iframe>

These are just a few examples of the many pieces of ‘content’ available that your customers will find interesting. Especially if they’re established fans of these authors. And while all three would be completely shareable on social media, to take a few extra minutes to email customers directly offers a personal touch that bookstore patrons crave. It shows that you’re not handselling one book to everybody that walks through the door, no matter their reading tastes. Instead it reinforces the idea that books are personal, and there’s a reason they shop with you to begin with.

Beth Golay

Beth is a reader, writer, marketer and Books & Whatnot founder. Even though she knows better, she's a sucker for a good book cover and will positively swoon if a book is set in appropriate type. @BethGolay