Also, after 30 rounds of editing my book during the past 9 months, I can go another 30 rounds of editing to fine tune the message of my book. Even though writing is an ardous task, I am more encouraged. The book has to be worthwhile to read and has the message to uplift a downtrodden soul.

Herman Villanueva
Honolulu, Hawaii

But the biggest perk of all (IMHO) is that the Book Brothers actually read! They know their stock; I’ve heard people come in off the street, ask for a title or an author, and one of the two Book Brothers (they really are brothers…) can find it. And they bend over backwards to find obscure books for people, using the Internet to track things down, and then performing the customer service of ordering the book on the customer’s behalf.

Did I mention that they talk to their customers about books?

Or that they partner with local schools, helping teachers to stretch their tight book buying budgets?

Retailers of new books don’t seem to be able to compete with online book stores on price, necessarily, but at least they could stock their stores with people who actually enjoy reading, who have a basic feel for the stock, and who provide the kind of retailing experience that readers want. Have you profiled your customers lately? Who’s out there buying books? A good book on this topic is http://www.practicalpersonas.com/ You’ll learn how to create “personas” representing key customer segments. You could think of these as half a dozen “avatars” which helps staff to understand customers better. And make sure that at least two avatars represent the young.

Bend over backwards to be an appealing magnet to your clients! And once you figure out what they like, and you’ve got them coming, reinvent the experience a little.

Book Brothers has only been in town for two years, and have barely advertised, but word-of-mouth buzz is sending plenty of people to them. And those people aren’t just browsing, they’re buying.

Stop by Book Brothers if you’re ever in Chatham, and you’ll see what I mean!

You say that you observed a packed Apple Store, yet only “one in 12″ left with a bag. But compare that with other mall stores– or other retail stores in general.

Let’s say there were 500 customers moving through that particular Apple Store on that particular evening. One in 12 would be over 40 buying customers– probably substantially more than other retail stores. Plus, nearly all of them are buying high-end (read: higher priced) merchandise (i.e., a $1000+ iMac or a $100+ iPod), or support material for those they already bought (i.e., software).

Also, how many of them walked out with an computer or iPod they brought in to visit the customer/tech support with? What is so easy to forget– but crucial in today’s fickle retail world– is that Apple has created a culture of faithful users, and a lot of this is because of things like the Genius Bar tech support. What would an equivalent setup be in a retail book store? Maybe a Recommendations Bar, where very well-read people can take a look at the several titles you brought in and recommend other similar works…

Also, don’t underestimate the power of those numbers coming in to check their e-mail, either. They are doing so on Macs– and maybe they are using a Mac for the first time. Thus, the seeds are being sown for future purchase consideration, even if it takes another dozen visits to convince them.

In a recent post, Hyatt discussed learning how to conduct the book business from the retail model, specifically from Apple.
He had visited a mall where the only busy store was Apple. He stopped in and was impressed with the service—the knowledge and …

Love your blog.

After designing in the Christian retail industry and being a fan of Apple for many years I think there’s no ‘gee-wiz’ bang product in publishing that can generate the type of traffic Apple generates.

I think the Christian retail industry somtimes forget what makes this industry relevant: answers, community and soul building.

You really do find answers to life’s most perplexing question in Christian books. But as Michael pointed out – do the staff model spiritual care, wisdom and community?

We are living in a world where it’s so fast paced and so busy Christian retail SHOULD thrive.

In the U.S. we may have more ways to communicate but we’re more lonely than ever and lack community. Did you see the latest commercial for single Italian hot sandwhiches you can make? It’s a microwave sandwhich for single servings! We don’t even eat together!

Imagine a Christian store where it’s a haven, where you find community and word to refresh your soul.

The worse thing Christian retail stores can do is to hire cheap labor to man the cashier registers. You need spiritually minded and soul-caring ‘Barnabas’ at the stores. They must model community, and Christ – thereby making books relevant.

John Maxwell once said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

I don’t understand why acquisition editors don’t look first for the best story or content they can find, rather than looking for Famous Person to write a mediocre book and hope that the celeb status will bring in the readers.

If selling books is really all about word of mouth, which seems to be the going theory, then I believe it takes more than presentation to make an Apple-like book. Apples don’t just LOOK cool; they do cool things.

(And by the way, I’ve seen a similar scene to the one you described in the Apple Store in the Brea Mall.)

Becky