You just have to love independent book sellers. They are so dedicated to books and authors, especially local ones. I can’t get enough of chatting with Staunton’s Bookstack owner, Suzi Armstrong. Very knowledgable and so supportive. I think she’s sold about 100 of the Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook, which is incredible from a small independent bookstore. (She jokes that this book has kept her store afloat this fall.) She’s a smart business person and takes advantage of all the free publiicty available and uses her publicity “budget” wisely. And it pays off. She has called me several times over the past few months to come back to her store and sign her stock of the books. I oblige, willingly. And I’ve learned so much from her about the business and about my book. She says she is hearing from her customers that it’s priced right—$24.95 is a great price for a full-color hardback cookbook. She has also noted that many customers who buy this book come back for more. They are saying things like “This book is so much more than a cookbook!”
That it is. It is a condensed version of Mrs. Rowe’s biography, with a lot of local history and flavor.
Yesterday, I stopped by the big chain bookstore in the area—Books-A-Million. Plenty of Paula Deen and Rachel Ray cookbooks were on display. I asked about my book. They said they can’t keep it in stock. It sells so fast. But it seems like they may only be getting one at a time. I wonder why that is.
