Turn every point of friction into a sales opportunity, through the ju-jitsu of marketing!!!

That’s what the tagline for this post would be if I were the kind of arsehole who wrote stuff like that.

Anyway, what happened is this:

I self-published a book via Draft2Digital, which the dashboard told me had been made available in epub and PoD format via the usual slew of platforms, including Gardners (the main wholesaler used by bookshops in the UK).

Great, I thought. My mum went into her local bookshop to order a copy, and was told there was no trace of the paperback in Gardners catalogue. Only via North American distributors, or the ebook.

So I contacted Gardners, who said it should be in there as they could find it in their PoD list, and their ‘data team’ would look into it.

I then got in touch with the bookshop to let them know, sent them an epub copy in case they were interested, and received a courteous reply.

Today, the paperback is now listed by Gardners, so I contacted the bookshop again to let them know, and ask for feedback as to whether the ordering process functioned properly.

In short - an annoyance and disappointment (book not available as it should be) turned into an opportunity to talk a little about my book to an independent bookseller, hopefully make them remember it (if only out of the hassle it caused!), and send them a complimentary copy.

All potentially more useful than if the listing had gone smoothly, my mum had popped in to order it, it arrived, and was collected without them seeing it as more than just a unit of product.

Marketing ju-jitsu, see? Or some such bollocks.

What’s that? Could I provide a link to the retailers stocking the book? Why of course, my fine people!