Booksellers Address Best Practices for Increasing Genre Sales

At Winter Institute 8, Towne Book Center & Cafe’s [1] Kit Little, Boswell Book Company’s [2] Jason Kennedy, and Mysteryscape’s [3] Cheri LeBlond discussed their stores’ best practices for promoting sales of romance, science fiction, and mystery titles with booksellers interested in increasing their genre sales. The discussion was moderated by ABA Content Officer Dan Cullen, who explained that while some in the indie channel can be dismissive of genre titles, “the reality is that these sales can very positively impact the bottom line.”

Little, the marketing director of 22-year-old Towne Book Center in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, stressed the importance of crossover appeal, and said that she capitalizes on it by using heavily curated endcaps.

“I don’t underestimate our customers. I know that they’re just as versatile as I am,” Little said, pointing to one Towne Center endcap sign that read “Get freaky with this fiendishly delightful series.”  The display featured The Hobbit alongside several other first titles in series that Tolkein fans were likely to enjoy, and it included paranormal romance, science fiction, and fantasy. In a similar vein, Little often suggests The Brotherhood of the Back Dagger as “Twilight for grownups.”

“Find a good book and see how it ties into something really popular,” she said.

Another successful Towne Center endcap signage message was, “In romance novels, heroines always win,” and it worked well for customers looking for a strong female character, or a positive, uplifting story.

Towne Book Center also displays a collection of “cheap thrills” — mystery and crime fiction titles that are $5.99 or less.

Little has also implemented an informal personal shopper program. She or another staff member will call certain customers after receiving a shipment of their favorite series or genre. It’s effective to have staff members that are passionate about a particular genre place the phone calls, because “they’d be happy to do it” and are enthusiastic, Little said.

“There are romance writers all over the place,” said Little, whose store has been “adopted” by a romance writers group. The group blogs from the bookstore and will often arrange author appearances at the store.

Milwaukee’s Boswell Book Company has had a lot of success with science fiction and fantasy, said store buyer Jason Kennedy. The store’s layout [4]features category sections broken down into subsections, which “really helps with browsing, and we’ve been able to bring in more diverse authors,” he explained. Boswell Book Company also hosts a science fiction club, which has been very successful.

Cheri LeBlond, co-owner of Mysteryscape, which opened in Overland Park, Kansas, less than a year ago, sells new and used crime fiction, thrillers, suspense, action and adventure, and young adult. “If it has a good guy and a bad guy in it, we probably have it,” she said.

LeBlond stressed the importance of knowing one’s customers, especially when creating displays, and she pointed to the results of a 2010 study by Sisters in Crime and Bowker [5] that found half of all fiction readers read crime fiction. Additionally, most mystery readers were found to be women over the age of 45, and their purchasing decisions are influenced by titles seen in bookstores, family and friends’ recommendations, book covers, and bestseller lists.

“When you court a mystery reader, you’re going to see them slide into other genres,” said LeBlond. “Our customers are prolific readers. They come to the counter with a stack of books, they have addictive personalities, and they love a good series and good characters, so much so that they enter a period of grief when they complete one.”

Mysteryscape’s inventory is also separated into subgenres. As an example, she noted that within the historical mystery genre there are many medieval titles, so the store has a section specifically for medieval titles.

“Don’t be afraid to get specific with mysteries,” LeBlond said, mentioning Daniel Pink’s comments during his Wi8 plenary talk about the concept of extreme curation [6].

LeBlond said Mysterscape keeps the first title in a series in stock at all times as well as the most recent titles. Shelf-talkers are used to let people know where the series starts, where it ends, and what it’s about. A “little secret,” she said, is the website Stop, You’re Killing Me [7], which allows users to search by title, author, or character.

Mysteryscape takes a multimedia approach, said LeBlond, since many mystery lovers are “obsessed not only with books.” The store is organizing a chamber theater production, and customers were invited to audition for roles. Mysteryscape also hopes to start a movie club, by partnering with the local theater to sell discount tickets to customers.

Working with local authors is also helpful, since they often can suggest series or popular titles, and Mysteryscape hosts monthly meetings of a local chapter of Sisters in Crime. The group has brought many professionals to the store, including a forgery expert, defense attorneys, and a forensic odontologist, who studies dental records and identifies perpetrators and victims by bite marks.

Mysteryscape runs six book clubs, each split into subgenres, and has a permanent display of all book club titles. “We sell more books off those shelves than we do to our book club members,” said LeBlond.

All three panelists often look to their customers for suggestions when it comes to knowing what to stock next.

The science fiction club at Boswell Book Company ultimately influenced the bookstore’s inventory, said Kennedy. “I got so many ideas about what I should be carrying from members in that group. They’d come up with authors I had never looked into before.”

Little often asks why customers liked a particular title and then looks for books with a common thread. Like many bookstores, Towne Book Center sold hundreds of copies of 50 Shades of Gray, which the store now uses as “a spring board” to get customers interested in lesser-known romance titles with strong female characters, or even crossing genres into paranormal romance.

Little also suggested posting clipboards in each section of the store and inviting customers to write down their favorite titles, or which title they want to read next.

LeBlond reinforced the power of crossover appeal with genre titles. “Customers come in with their own stereotypes of what crime fiction means,” she said. “There are a lot of literary titles, there’s really something for everyone. And it’s important to keep in mind that genres are coming together more now. It’s coming to a point where niche bookstores have a lot of appeal across genres.”