Risk reward in pre-ordering books.

I think Pegasus Books is in a unique situation. We really don't have people coming in seeking the latest bestseller. I see other bookstores getting large numbers of the big books and selling them right away. Whenever I see their "new releases" wall, it's full of books I don't carry even a single copy of. 

Meanwhile, shunted off to one side in those stores is a shelf of slightly older books, and that's the shelf that looks like my store. 

These are proven sellers. Almost all of them are books I've sold more than once. 

I've always said, we order about 20% new releases and 80% backlist books, whereas most other stores seem to do the opposite. 

What am I missing and how can I change it? Should I even try to change it?

I had a customer come in who'd been referred to us by Dudleys for a SF book. Sure enough, we had it in stock. 

"I didn't think you were a bookstore," he said. 

"Yeah, a lot of the locals just don't see us that way," I start to say.

"I've never been the Bend before," he says. "I saw your store walking by, but didn't think you'd have what I wanted."

"But all I have in the windows is books!" I say. 

"Yeah, but it doesn't feel like a bookstore," he says. 

Like I said, I don't know if there is anything I can do to change that perception, except by taking away from the 35% of the store that isn't books. I mean, I could do that, but I've learned over the years to never let go of viable product lines because someday you will probably need them.

Games, toys, and cards are all viable parts of my business, but even more importantly, I can't deny the pop culture slant of our store. Yeah, you go into Dudleys expecting "literature." Now, I may have the exact same books, but that's not the impression I apparentlygive.

On the plus side of this, I'm not having to outlay a large part of my budget on hardcover books that may or may not sell. I know that almost all the books I'm ordering will sell. I'm so sure of it, that we forgo the option of returning unsold books in order to get a higher upfront profit margin.

The other advantage to this is that I can order books more or less on the day they are released. I can tailor my budget to what's happening that moment in my store.

The downside of this is when a new bestseller sells out in advance. This means those stores that ordered bestsellers weeks or months in advance will get them and I won't.

This is relatively rare, but is starting to happen more often. I believe that books like the "Fourth Wing" selling out for weeks is being done on purpose to drive up demand.

Hey, guess what. I played that game for most of my career--sports cards, comics, games, toys: ordering in quantity in advance in order to make sure I have a supply. I still have to play that game with Pokemon and Magic (though this is fading), but I quit playing that game with everything else.

It's gambling, in hopes of a big payoff.

So when a competitor tells me they sold 80 copies of "Black Flame," (the sequel to the "Fourth Wing), while I can't seem to get a single copy from my wholesaler, I console myself with the knowledge that I'm not gambling on books but ordering proven titles in small enough quantities that I can turn a reasonable profit without a unreasonable risk. 

If I'm going to sell large quantities of new bestsellers then I'll have to change the store and wait--or rather hope--that people will come around. 

Ordering larger quantities in advance makes it very hard to control the cash flow. It's very hard to predict months in advance how well business will be on the day a product arrives. 

Ordering this week's books this week make it all very easy to manage. So I may be missing some large sales, but the lack of risk is worth it. 

It's the little things in traveling that wear you down.

We were mostly prepared for the big things on our trip to Australia. 

The amazing scenery, the animals(!), the architecture, the oceans, the vegetation (!), the people--they were all great. I probably should be talking about those first, instead of the small annoyances, but there you go...

Other big things: I fairly easily translated the distance and monetary differences. Since I used a credit card for everything, I never needed any cash. I suspect this is true everywhere in the world, now. (I tried to pay for everything--the trip was my idea.) 

I found a dollar coin on the ground, (or rather, Wes did, and I grabbed it out of his hand.) So I have a souvenir. I was standing in a grocery store line and almost asked a lady if I could touch her plastic money, But then I realized how that would sound and shut my mouth in time.

The time difference, we adjusted. I won't say easily, but it was unavoidable, so we dealt with it. The driving on the other side of the road, well...more on that later.

The planes and airports were an ordeal, but expected.

The Australians were more reserved than I expected, but once approached, they were almost always nice and helpful. Weirdly, I felt like I was the extrovert, which is not my normal disposition. 

I had to leave the US without my full tranquilizer prescription, but it proved not to be a problem. It appears that my agoraphobia is all but gone. I was immersed in crowds in the cities and airports and restaurants, and I could look around in total calm. I had one incident in a coffee shop where I felt the walls closing in and everyone staring, but I resorted to the "five senses" method of coping, and it worked! The tranquilizers are such a small dose, and I take them so seldom, that they are more a panacea than anything. I'll probably always have some with me, but they are there as backup nowadays. 

Linda is a wonderful traveling companion. The only time there was strain is when we were lost, and even then, we learned to cope. We were with each other for every hour of every day, for thirty days, but she's funny, and supportive, and kind, and interesting. We had each other's backs. We seemed to cuddle a lot, which I think is something we should continue in our daily routine!

GPS is a lifesaver, let me tell you. Even if it did constantly send us on unintended detours. We actually made it out of Sydney and down to Wes and Ev's place without GPS, but not having it the rest of the trip is unimaginable. 

Wes and Ev were incredibly gracious and helpful. Took us to see the animals, especially the penguins. Really were the solid center of the whole trip.

There were some through-lines from the US to Australia. Motels are mostly the same, except not having coffee in the lobbies. McDonald's were in every town (they call it Macca's) and I could grab my computer and get the wifi going. A bit of the routine, even if it is America at it's most colonizing mode. 

 

Anyway, back to the reason for this post: The stress of the trip came from the small things. I know there are exceptions to everything I say here; but these are what we struggled with:

No ice for drinks. You bought ice with the drink or bought a big bag of it. They don't have the little stations in every store and gas station to fill a cup with ice and soda like the US has.

Small portions (especially of coffee!), but maybe that was good thing. I'd just order two lattes, instead of one, and ask for extra sweetener. Couldn't find any of the creamer we like. Also, no powdered lemonade or kool-aid. Since I live on the stuff, this proved to be a big deal for me. Their lemonade is some kind of carbonated something. I hated it. (Hey, lemonade is water and lemon juice with sweetener, am I right?) I drank way more soda than usual because I didn't have my usual thermos of lemonade.

Extra switches to get the lights going and having the wrong adapters and not enough computer cords. Stupidly, I didn't make my phone international, just Linda's, which was a HUGE mistake.

A rental car that was clunky and hard to drive, despite our asking for a small sedan (more on that later...)

The price gouging at all the intersections between tourism and normality. I suspect this is true all over the world, not just Australia. In the US, too.

Narrow roads, confusing street patterns. This was somewhat compensated by the fact that, once you're out of the big cities, the traffic is sparse by US standards. Sydney was a trial by fire--had to get out without GPS and driving a strange car on the wrong side of the road.

Most of the little things people take for granted. For example, the listing of plane flights on the electronic bulletin board flashed by so fast and we were in such a hurry, that we couldn't get the info. Then, with a flash of "duh" I realized that they were listed by time. Once I knew that, it was easy. Constant small learnings can wear you out. 

I handled the left handed driving for 30 days, until 15 minutes. Hurrying to the airport, I hit some barrier in the road and blew out a front tire. Some guys walking by came to our rescue and put on the spare (I would have gotten it done...in about three times the time.) Left a bad taste in my mouth. Damn

But we mostly handled it just fine. If we ever did it again, we'd know what to do. (Like that is ever going to happen.)