Getting Your Book into the Hands of the Reader-
 A Morning with Sue Grimshaw
 by Alice Brilmayer

 Sue Grimshaw is the buyer for romance at Waldenbooks, which is part
 of the Borders Group, Inc. BGI accounts for 30% of all romance
 sales, and Waldenbooks accounts for 20%. Sue spends two days a week
 analyzing sales trends and two days a week meeting with sales reps
 from various publishing houses. They order books four months in
 advance of the pub date. She and her staff make suggestions for
 stronger covers and give feedback on manuscripts.

 Details of the book: Waldenbooks needs to know whether the book is
 returnable or not. It's helpful to have a recap of other books by
 this author. What other author is she like? Is the book part of a
 series? A reissue? Is this a new author? Waldenbooks is committed
 to discovering debut authors.

 Publisher's expectations: What promotion is the publisher
 planning? ARCs, advertising, shelf-talkers? Waldenbooks charges
 for store placement and other in-store promotion.

 Marketing: Waldenbooks does a lot of its own marketing. Their in-
 store bi-monthly magazine, The Romantic Reader, is distributed to
 700 stores. They put out an electronic newsletter. Their website,
 waldenbooks.com, has links to special coupon savings, letters from
 authors, and excerpts. They print a "Romance new releases" shopping
 list that customers can use to make purchases. Publishers can supply
 shelf-talkers, which can create 20% additional sales within the
 first two weeks. Publishers can also design samplers, which could
 include excerpts, author interviews, character interviews, and
 coupons.

 Store Placement: Publishers can buy placement in stores. For books
 with eight or more copies per store, publishers can have the book
 put in the front of store during first two weeks after its release.
 Waldenbooks also has Plexiglas displays at the entrance to the
 stores. In July, all stores will have special Plexiglas displays for
 series books. There are sections for "new releases" and "best
 sellers." The romance section has end caps and feature bays. Each
 shelf holds 6 - 8 titles. Debut authors go here as well as "life of
 book" titles (titles that have been on sale for four or more weeks
 with good sales).

 Romance Experts: Waldenbooks has a team of romance experts, and most
 stores have a designated expert or book seller. Sue introduced
 Ellen Higuchi, the romance expert at Valley Fair Plaza in Santa
 Clara. Ellen says that 10% of her store's sales are romance. She
 maintains the section and has noticed that sales have increased.
 Authors send bookmarks or excerpts, which are put into bags with
 book purchases. They have "staff-pick" and "customer-pick" signs.
 They list readers' group recommendations and reader's quotes. They
 hand-sell books and have a new and future releases list. She hosts a
 Romance Reader's Group, which meets monthly for informal discussion.

 What can you do to help your book?
 .In store signings. (Not formal. Just go into the store and
 sign the stock.)
 . Warehouse signings. (Go into the warehouse and sign the
 stock.)
 . Shelf-talkers. (If your publisher won't pay for them, you
 might consider paying for the placement yourself.)
 . E-mail her about your new book. (If you need the e-mail
 address, ask Alice privately.)
 . Send mailings to their romance experts. Send ARC's. Word
 of mouth/hand selling can increase sales 5 - 10%.
 . Visit on-line romance chat sites.

 Waldenbooks likes to see a sell-through 40 - 50% in first four
 weeks.
 In 8 - 12 weeks, they hope for a sell-through of 70%.





 The following ran in the June 2004 Issue of Heart of the Bay Newletter of
the San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America.
 Please credit Alice Brilmayer.