Authors
Would you like to have your book carried in The Boerne Bookshop or participate in an event at the store?
The Boerne Bookshop maintains a well-curated inventory with an eclectic mix of quality options for the reading enjoyment and home libraries of our customers. This reputation is important to us, our customers and the authors who allow us to carry their books. We are delighted to consider welcoming your work as part of our store, and we look forward to a mutually prosperous endeavor. Please continue reading to learn how to stock your book here or join an Author Alley weekend signing, and to discover what we have found brings success to the author/bookshop relationship.
We love carrying books from local authors and people we meet that have a meaningful message that will benefit our community. Unfortunately, we cannot carry everything or place every book on the prime displays of our store. What we can do is offer to carry books we think will sell and stock them for a reasonable time.
Stocking Your Book At The Boerne Bookshop
The Boerne Bookshop customers trust us to provide a well-curated inventory with quality options for their reading enjoyment and home libraries. While we wish we had the space to carry everyone's book, that's just not the case. We are happy to look at your book to determine if it would be a good fit for our store so long as it meets all our criteria.
We will evaluate a complimentary copy of any author’s book for quality and appropriateness in our store.
Books we accept will be stocked in the store for 1 year. If a book sells, we will reorder more from the author (we pay 50% of cover price) or Ingram as the author prefers. We do not sell on consignment. Any book that does not sell within 1 year will be put on the Clearance Cart and will not be reordered.
Authors are the source of all the wonderful content in our store. As such, they carry the burden of creating a product that appeals to customers and gives them a meaningful experience. To that end books should have a professional appearance in editing and design. This includes the title and author on the spine (if possible), and an ISBN. Book pricing is left to the author but should align with comparable titles. It is also important that authors promote their books as available at The Boerne Bookshop on social media, to friends, family, and fans. While we carry books, marketing is very important and must be led by the author. In addition to the professional appearance as described above, here’s a few additional specifics we require to consider your book:
Create a great product for our customers.
Email the following information to our Author Coordinator at contact@theboernebookshop.com with the subject line Adding My Book to The BBS:
Provide us with your author name, real name, email address, & contact phone number.
Let us know if you are a Kendall County or Texas resident.
Let us know where we should reorder the book from after it sells.
Provide us with a complimentary copy to review and sell (not ARCs). You may hand-deliver or mail these to us at ATTN: Author Coordinator, The Boerne Bookshop, 153 S. Main St. #120, Boerne, TX 78006
Market your book so it sells and we can continue to carry it.
These are YOUR books - help us, help you.
The Process. Please read carefully.
Participating in an Author Event at The Boerne Bookshop
The Boerne Bookshop offers unique opportunities for authors to participate in a book event. For all events, we provide signing and selling space, book processing and sales as needed, and marketing support. While we enjoy hosting authors and seek to have a variety of events, authors need to understand that they are responsible for the success of their event. Please plan to take an active part in preparing for and running your event. Help us help you.
After we have established an event date, please determine which store newsletter your event will be advertised in and make sure we receive all the below listed content in time to be included with our marketing. You should be prepared to be proactive in your marketing and ensure we receive this information in a timely manner. Due dates for issues are:
Jan/Feb-Dec 1
Mar/Apr-Feb 1
May/Jun-Apr 1
Jul/Aug-Jun 1
Sep/Oct-Aug 1
Nov/Dec-Oct 1
For example, if you are scheduled for the August Author Alley, we must have all your information by June 1st.
We encourage authors to have their own Point-of-Sale (POS) method and to manage their own sales at events. That way you, the author, receive 100% of the proceeds. However, if you prefer, we will handle sales for you and pay you 75% of the proceeds after the event closes.
Author Events at The Boerne Bookshop
Author Alley: If you’re looking for a fun and novel way to promote your book, join our new book fair! The Boerne Bookshop hosts a multi-author mini-book fair in the Richter Studio from 12pm - 3pm of the second Saturday of each month. This coincides with the City of Boerne Market Days and the Second Saturday Author Signing hosted by the Patrick Heath Boerne Public Library. You do not have to have your book carried at The Boerne Bookshop to take part in the Author Alley. A table and chairs are provided but you should consider bringing a tablecloth and be properly prepared for the weather. We highly suggest you bring your own POS capability. If necessary, we can provide POS inside the store for 25%, but it is somewhat more challenging and requires you to trust your customers (check with us for details). We can host 6 authors per month. We do our best to accommodate everyone, but these tables are in high demand and we cannot guarantee placement, so sign up early. Complete the Author Alley Application below to get on the calendar now. Submitting this form DOES NOT get your book into The Boerne Bookshop. Complete this form ONLY to be part of Author Alley.
Readings: We offer an additional event option to those authors whose books we carry. Once we have agreed to stock your book and if you express interest, we can begin a Reading Event discussion. Our Readings are held during quieter store hours, as we do not have the footprint space for a designated reading area. We hold Readings for adult and children's books only on Sunday afternoons. During these events, the author reads from their work, takes questions from the audience, and chats with readers. These events are typically better for authors that already have a strong following or that have a book comparable to current popular titles. These events will also require a much greater marketing effort on the part of the author to build attendance. We cannot promise an audience, so we recommend that only authors who know they have a fan base willing to participate plan a Reading.
If you are an author whose book is stocked at The Boerne Bookshop and you are interested in doing a Reading, please email our Author Coordinator at contact@theboernebookshop.com with a preferred date in mind and let’s start the conversation.