November 18, 2025 • 41 mins
“Independent bookstores are the heart of the industry. We move books through real conversations, not algorithms. That grassroots passion is irreplaceable.” - Alsace Walentine
In this episode, I chat with Alsace Walentine, co-owner of Tombolo Books, about how indie bookstores choose what goes on their shelves and what makes an author stand out. Alsace shares what really sells, the production mistakes that get books rejected, how to approach a bookseller the right way, and why community matters more than ever.
In this conversation, we dive into:
- How indie bookstores decide which books to stock
- What makes a book sell—from cover design to endorsements
- How indie authors can get discovered by bookstores
- The best (and worst) ways to pitch your book
- How consignment works
- Alsace’s five best tips for authors
Perfect for indie authors, book lovers, and anyone curious about the world behind the bookstore counter.
About our guest:
Alsace Walentine is the founder and co-owner of Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg, Florida. Tombolo Books is an independent bookstore dedicated to promoting the value and pleasure of reading throughout St. Petersburg by offering thoughtful inventory curation, extensive literary knowledge, and excellent customer service.
Links for Tombolo Books:
@tombolobooks: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Have a publishing question? Email me at mica@micamerrillrice.com
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Website: micamerrillrice.com
Instagram: @micamriceauthor
Facebook: @micamriceauthor
TikTok: @micamriceauthor
"Traditionally Self-Published" theme music is written by Landon Bailey and performed and produced by LNDÖ
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mica Merrill Rice (00:06):
What's up Plot Twisters and a warm welcome
to my Page Turners, theintrigued readers and listeners
who are just stepping into thestory.
Whatever titleyou fancy today, I am so happy
you're here with us.
You're listening toTraditionally Self-Published,
where we unravel the chaos ofself-publishing and help you
write your own success storylike a pro.
I'm your host, Mica MerrillRice, author with a passion for
(00:30):
learning and sharing the love.
I'm bringing you real talk withpublishing pros and indie
authors just like me who flippedthe script and built thriving
author careers on their ownterms and are doing it like a
pro.
So whether you're a first-timeauthor or you're a seasoned pro,
you're right where you need tobe.
Today's special guest is fromone of St.
(00:51):
Pete's most cherished indiebookstores, Tombolo Books, a
must-see gem when you come tovisit Florida.
If you want to know what kindsof books make it to the shelves
over the ones that sit in thebox, this episode is for you.
I'm joined today by AlsaceWalantine, founder and co-owner
of Tombow Books.
So today we're going to coverthe reality behind booksellers,
(01:14):
what they look for in a book,how authors can approach a
bookseller, and then we're goingto conclude with the Ink
Starter Lightning Round andAlsace's five best tips for
authors.
So welcome in, Alsace.
I'm so happy to have you today.
Alsace Walentine (01:29):
Thank you so much, Mica.
I don't get to spend much timetalking about this.
So this is exciting for me.
Mica Merrill Rice (01:34):
And exciting for us.
We love in we love our indiebookstores.
So this will be a greatconversation.
So let's start from thebeginning.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about Tom Below books and
how it came to be?
Alsace Walentine (01:46):
Sure.
So I was living in themountains of Asheville, North
Carolina for about 20 years,working at a really incredible
independent bookstore there.
And um I had been there forabout 16 years and was a manager
and was the events director.
And my partner was offered ajob in Florida.
(02:09):
And we had recently beenmarried and we owned a house,
and I loved my life up there.
But um I she moved down here.
I stayed up there.
Um I came down like once amonth for a weekend, and that's
when I fell in love with St.
Petersburg, Florida, andthought, oh, well, I've been
(02:30):
doing this thing for a longtime, and I think it's time to
take a leap and go to a sunnyplace and try to open a
bookstore.
So I did it.
Mica Merrill Rice (02:40):
Yes, and not just any bookstore.
It's a really it's such a greatlocation.
St.
Pete has so much history, and Ifeel like it's almost a
cornerstone there.
You you have to go and see it.
Alsace Walentine (02:51):
Thank you.
The history and the artscommunity here and the natural
beauty.
Um, there's a really strong GoLocal movement.
So those were all the thingsthat convinced me that it was
going to be successful.
And then I took a really longtime to write the business plan
and get it going, but um, that'swhat we did.
Mica Merrill Rice (03:11):
Well, good things came to those of us who
waited for sure.
All right.
So, what role do indiebookstores play in today's book
industry?
Alsace Walentine (03:21):
Um, so you know, when Amazon first came
about, it decimated the indiebookstore, um, indie bookstores
across the country.
It was a really, really sad andhard time for those of us
working at indie bookstores.
Overall, you know, there's justa passion to this really
(03:42):
personal movement.
Like what we do is not sellingproducts.
What we do is we haverelationships with authors and
relationships with ourcustomers.
And what we're selling isstories, you know, what we're
talking about is stories.
So it's a really deep, youknow, it's a deep thing for me
and for those of us in theindustry.
(04:04):
So I always had faith that itindie bookstores would survive,
and they have, and they've comeback tremendously since back
then.
There are so many little tinyones now, um, little pop-up
ones, um, niche bookstores.
Like there's there's just somany, and they're all unique.
(04:24):
Um, and that's the other thingI love about independent
bookstores.
So the role that they play, Ibelieve, in the greater industry
is um it's they just have a bitmore integrity than the big
chains or just the transactionalvenues for books.
(04:46):
And there's a grassrootspassion there and like a blood
that flows deep.
And I feel like it's the wordof mouth that happens about
stories and about authors thatyou you can't replicate with an
algorithm.
And so they they hold sort ofjust like the essential heart of
(05:07):
the industry, in my opinion.
Mica Merrill Rice (05:09):
Yeah, well, I agree wholeheartedly.
You coming into your store,it's a different feeling than
going anywhere else.
I mean, it's like, and I cansay this a lot about you know, a
lot of indie bookstores, butcoming into yours, I can ask any
one of, you know, any one ofthe employees there, hey, I
really feel like a romance, ormy mom likes this, and I really
(05:31):
want to get this for Christmas,but I have no idea where to
start.
They just are so knowledgeable.
Um, but beyond their knowledge,and they're very good at what
they do, it's about community.
And that you I think yourbookstore nails like I've never
seen before.
You're always doing thesespecial events and it brings
people in.
So that's fantastic.
(05:52):
And I hope that that continueson to the to the future.
All right, let's talk about therealities of bookselling, of
course.
All right, so how do you decidewhich books are gonna make it
to your shelves?
Alsace Walentine (06:06):
Good question.
Um, there's a lot that goesinto that.
Um, we review catalogs from thetraditional publishers, and you
know, there's just thousandsand thousands of titles being
published all of the time.
And we certainly can't carryall of them.
We can't even carry all of theones we would like to carry.
(06:28):
But what we do is a combinationof looking at the press that's
gonna come out about each book,whether it's a repeat author or
a debut author.
We think of our customer base,we think of individual people,
you know, like there's somebooks that I order and I only
(06:49):
order one because I can onlythink of one quirky customer who
I know they're gonna want it,you know, but but that's it out
of our thousands of customers.
And then if it sells reallyquickly, may or if I hear some
whispers, maybe I'll orderanother.
But from that to ordering inlike 35 copies of a brand new
book because I know it's gonnafly off the shelves, um, or
(07:14):
because our booksellers arereally passionate about it.
So maybe the marketing isn'tthere, but the grassroots love,
once again, is there, and sowe're gonna be talking about it.
Maybe it's only one of ourbooksellers is gonna talk about
it to everyone, and that passionis gonna sell the book.
But at the end of the day, rentis very expensive, and so you
(07:35):
know, if a book is um spacedout, it's you know, six inches
of space, it's gotta sell prettyquickly to be able to pay our
rent and to pay our cut ourbooksellers' health insurance
and to pay hopefully what is aliving wage.
So um it's a blend of takingsome risks on some titles that
(08:00):
will sell more slowly to asmaller number, balanced with
books that we can get behindculturally and the writing that
are gonna sell a lot.
So we'll pass on some maybereally popular things that
you're just gonna be able topick up at Walmart or what, you
(08:22):
know, like it's everywhere.
Because maybe that's gonna giveus another five inches where we
can feature some lesser knownauthors that we feel strongly
about.
So it's a balance, it's an art,and it's my job to do the
buying, and it's so much fun.
Mica Merrill Rice (08:37):
I can imagine that it must be like the
coolest job in the world.
Oh my goodness.
All right, okay, so let's talkabout you know what whether what
factors go into whether abook's gonna sell in the store.
So we're thinking about genre,cover, the demand, the author.
You spoke a little bit aboutthis.
Um, but what factors do youkind of weigh in when you're
(08:58):
thinking about what to put onthe shelves?
Alsace Walentine (09:02):
It is all of those things.
One of the first things I lookat when I'm looking at a book is
um which other authors haverecommended this particular
title because that's the writingcommunity.
They've already read the book,you know, before it's published.
And if I see a network of, oh,there's five authors on the back
(09:23):
of this book who we all loveand they're recommending this
new one.
Well, it's got a really goodchance of selling the cover
design that makes a difference,certainly, but it's not it's not
the main thing.
I mean, there's quite a fewbooks in the store right now
that I do not want to see thatcover, you know.
(09:43):
But it's just not for me, youknow, but it's for someone else,
and so it has a place.
Mica Merrill Rice (09:49):
I guess.
Alsace Walentine (09:50):
Um in terms so to answer your question, like,
are you talking generally whenI'm ordering books in, or are
you talking specificallyself-published books?
Mica Merrill Rice (10:02):
Yeah, anything.
Alsace Walentine (10:04):
The genre, of course.
I mean, um we have very strongum, we have a great book club
program, and that fuels a lot ofour genre purchases.
So we have a fantasy club, wehave a great sci-fi section, a
horror section, my favoritesection is fiction, um,
(10:25):
contemporary fiction.
We also have classics.
So depending on how much spaceeach section in our store has,
some of the sections are a lotsmaller.
And so I need for those booksto sell really quickly so that I
can feature new things all thetime.
Mica Merrill Rice (10:44):
Yeah, that makes sense.
So you've been around books along time.
And you mentioned that you likecontemporary fiction.
So for you, you are obviouslyyou're covering a lot of genres
in the store.
So is there what's the biggestdifference between what you know
will sell versus what youpersonally want to stock?
Like, you know, how how do youlook at it from that angle, I
(11:05):
guess?
Alsace Walentine (11:06):
I mean, again, it's a balance.
The books that I personally,you know, I like a couple weird
books that they're not foreveryone.
And I'm not gonna push it onpeople.
You know, that's the fun ofbookselling is getting to know
our customers and figuring outwhat we have that's really best
(11:28):
for them.
It's not about I really wanteveryone to read this weird
book, you know, because I wantpeople to enjoy what they
purchase and to come back.
Um so it's a balance.
I mean, pretty much everythingthat we have, I'm proud to have.
Mica Merrill Rice (11:47):
Yeah.
That's good.
Yeah, and I guess that wouldthat makes sense.
I mean, you would youdefinitely have to strike that
balance by between what you wantversus what you know other
readers would want.
And you're right, we all dohave these like varying um
opinions about what kinds ofbooks that we like and what
we're gonna be into.
So all right.
(12:07):
Well, about the shelf space.
I know that rent in St.
Pete is like astronomical,anywhere is really.
Um, and so you have limitedbookshelf space um indie
bookstores tend to be a littlebit smaller, and so you're a lot
more like conscientious aboutwhat you put on your shelves.
So, do you have like, allright, we're gonna dedicate this
(12:29):
much space to an indie authorand this much space to
traditional authors, or is itmore like you're just looking
for, you know, you think thatbook is gonna sell.
It doesn't matter if it'straditional or if it's an indie
published book.
Alsace Walentine (12:43):
Exactly.
It doesn't matter.
Um, if it's going to sell, wemake the space for it.
The store is always morphing,you know, certain sections will
will move a little bit dependingon what we have right then and
what we're backing right then.
So um, yeah, if it's gonnasell, we're gonna carry it.
(13:03):
I mean, if it's gonna sell andwe're gonna love it, we're gonna
carry it.
Mica Merrill Rice (13:07):
Awesome.
All right, let's let's talkabout what you look for from any
author.
Um, but let's put our indieauthor uh lens on because I'm
sure that you get approached alot by a lot of indie authors in
your store.
So, what is the best way for anindie author to get discovered
by an indie bookstore?
Alsace Walentine (13:28):
I read over that question, and really I've
got a little stack here of booksthat are some of our most
successful indie books.
And many of these people wealready knew before they came in
with their book pitch, eitherbecause they were regular
(13:50):
customers, or they came to allof our events, um, or one of
them writes for the localnewspaper.
So we already knew she had thisplatform, she had this
following.
Um I do think that that's theanswer for us to already know
(14:12):
about you because you havealready done some massive kind
of networking that is somehowalso related to your work as a
writer.
Um one of the people whosebooks we have here is she uh
hosted um a storytelling eventfor years in St.
(14:37):
Pete.
So she had this huge followingbefore she approached us with
her book.
And so we knew that she wasdeeply involved in the work of
storytelling, first of all.
Secondly, she's alreadypractically running a business.
Thirdly, she's got thisfollowing of all these people.
Uh her name's already been inthe newspaper because of this
(15:01):
recurring event.
So that shows us there is adeep platform already beyond
like an Instagram, you know.
And so that's really that Iwould say that's a hard thing to
do and a really long process,but that's the best way.
Mica Merrill Rice (15:19):
Yeah.
And it goes back to what I wassaying earlier.
You're a community leader, andthat is that community.
You're looking for the same,uh, the same things that you
have as a bookstore is sort ofthe same, you know, traits that
you're looking for in theauthors.
And that's that's a great wayto go about it.
It makes it easier, you know,if you know that I'm sure.
(15:39):
All right.
So what makes an indie bookstand out to you as a
bookseller?
So think about a cover or maybethe the back matter or whatever
it is, what makes it just likepop to you?
And you're like, all right, Ihave to have this.
Alsace Walentine (15:55):
Yeah, the first thing is the cover.
I mean, that's the firstimpression, right?
So the product, the actualproduction of it.
Um it's it's like fairly,fairly easy.
There's so many programs outthere where you can print a
book, but they're not all,they're not equal.
Um and you can get it donewithout a professional designer.
(16:22):
But I want to see somethingthat's gonna blend in with these
books that the big fivepublishers have published.
I don't want people to go, oh,that does that belong here?
You know, I want it to looklike it belongs on the shelf in
the production value of the bookitself right off the bat.
And it's little stuff that youwouldn't know unless you've
(16:45):
worked in the industry for along time or unless you are a
professional designer, just likethe margins, excuse me, the
font size, like it really jumpsout at us if the font size is
just like four points too big,it looks odd or or too small,
you know.
Um, and sometimes folks don'tput the name on the spine or
(17:10):
they put it on the spine upsidedown.
Just little mistakes like that,they really jump out at us and
then they jump out on the shelf.
So they're gonna be noticed bythe customer.
And it's just again, you got topay the rent with this book.
So if no one picks it upbecause it looks funny, yeah,
that's kind of a deal breakerright off the bat,
(17:31):
unfortunately.
Yes, you know, well, contentmight be wonderful, but if you
can't pass that first test forthe for the consumer, there's
nothing I can do about it.
Mica Merrill Rice (17:43):
Yeah, and it makes sense really.
I mean, you're not just lookingfor what the details of the
book, but you're also lookingfor because a lot of people will
come into a bookstore and lookjust for the cover.
So I get it.
If it doesn't stand out, it'snot gonna get picked up.
Um, and I don't think there aremany readers.
I don't know, you know, I don'tknow the statistic, but I don't
(18:04):
think there are many readersthat just pick up a book and
they don't they disregard thecover altogether.
Alsace Walentine (18:09):
So um definitely even little even
little things like the style ofthe font.
I mean, there are books aboutfont and certain ones are just
dated, and you cannot be usingthem anymore.
It's it's it's not something weconsciously think about, but we
see it when it's not quiteright.
Mica Merrill Rice (18:31):
Yeah.
What is it?
Is it supposed to be Times NewRoman?
That's what I do all mine in.
I don't even know what the fontthey all look the same.
Alsace Walentine (18:39):
I mean, I do like Times New Roman personally
for myself, but that I don'tthink many books are published
in that anymore.
Mica Merrill Rice (18:45):
Yeah.
I have an auto formatter, soI'm hope I hope that it puts it
in the in the right way, butthat's good.
All right.
So thinking about again, coverdesign, pricing, and formatting.
So you're going to buy,purchase a book.
Um, how important is coverdesign pricing and formatting?
I think you touched on it alittle bit.
Does one maybe weigh more thanthe other, or do they all kind
(19:08):
of have to weigh the same interms of like what you're
looking for and how it'll end upon your shelf?
Alsace Walentine (19:14):
Pricing is fairly important.
I mean, if you if mostpaperbacks these days are going
for XYZ and yours is twice asmuch, that's uh going to be
offensive to my customer at theregister when I say, oh, that's
twice as much as everyone, youknow, when I tell them the
total.
So, and that's a another easymistake to make.
(19:38):
So that that does have animpact.
Formatting, yeah, formatting isreally important.
If you just open a book andyour eyes don't immediately go
to the words because the spacingis too odd, it's not a
pleasurable reading experience.
It's just psychology, you know.
(19:59):
I mean, so those are definitelyagain, those are some deal
breakers that can be solved justby having a professional editor
or layout graphic design.
And really studying, I mean, ifyou're gonna do it on your own,
(20:21):
you really just have to putyourself through this the
education.
Mica Merrill Rice (20:26):
Yep.
Well, that's kind of how thisall came to be in the first
place.
It was, it's just not uh it'syou can't just publish a book.
You have to like do theresearch, you have to get out
there.
Um, and there are plenty ofresources to do it.
So um getting this this chanceto talk to you is gonna help.
Um, and it makes us thinkthrough like all these things
(20:48):
that maybe we don't think about.
Like I wouldn't have consideredthe font.
I just do whatever the autoformat have I considered looking
at other books to see if that'sactually right.
No.
So even I've learned somethingnew today, so I really
appreciate that.
Alsace Walentine (21:01):
And the font is listed in the back of most of
the books.
It says whatever the font nameis at the very back of the book
and the fine print back there onpretty much every book I've
ever looked at.
Um but yeah, I think I thinkyou need to treat it as a small
business.
And I don't envy authors tryingto do this because you do all
(21:22):
the hard work of creating it andwriting it, and then you're
only halfway done.
Because there's so much more ifyou're gonna be doing it on
your own, there's so much more.
Mica Merrill Rice (21:34):
Oh, do we know?
We talked about therelationship between Tom Below
and the authors.
So if an author were to come toyou and say, I want to have my
book on your store, and maybe wedon't have that relationship,
but I've been a customer or ofTom Below's for a while, and
maybe we don't recognize eachother.
(21:54):
So are there other things thatyou may consider uh when an
author approaches you and you'renot really sure who they are
yet?
Do you look at some of themarketing they've already done?
Do you look at their socialplatforms?
Do those factors drive in?
Or is it really at that pointjust the book?
You look at it and nothingelse?
Alsace Walentine (22:12):
I we we will look at the other uh their
platform, whatever else theyhave going on.
One the thing I was going tomention is the local
significance of the book.
So we had a man approach us whoI did not know, um, but I knew
of his grandfather.
(22:33):
So he wrote a book about hisgrandfather, Dr.
Basha Jordan.
Elder Jordan Sr.
is the grandfather, the authoris Dr.
Basha Jordan.
And so I didn't know the manwho wrote the book, but I had
heard this name Jordan becauseum he was a civil rights leader
(22:55):
in St.
Petersburg and lived right downthe road from where the
bookstore is.
So there's this, there's ahistorical local significance
for us.
So we immediately wanted tofind out more because we wanted
to educate ourselves about thislocal history that wasn't
actually very well known.
So that was something importantto our bookstore, to our
(23:20):
personal culture.
And somehow this author knewthat about us.
So he approached us veryintelligently and we went for it
and we had a great event.
Yeah.
So what, you know, what is thebookstore concerned with?
What is the bookstorepassionate about?
What role does that bookstoreplay in the community?
And is that a really good fitfor you?
(23:42):
Is it worth your time, youknow, to go pitch to that store?
Or are you gonna find a betterfit at another store in the next
town over?
Maybe I don't know.
Mica Merrill Rice (23:51):
Yeah.
Oh, that's good to know.
That's a pretty cool story,too.
Um, about the the historythere.
All right.
So um we're gonna get a littlebit technical.
So this is really going intolike maybe we put our book on um
Ingram and we want to get itinto your store.
There's a couple of selectionsthat we can make when we're
we're considering this.
When it comes to purchasingfrom a wholesaler like Ingram
(24:14):
Spark, do bookstoresautomatically refuse a book if
maybe there's not that 55%discount, or if the book is set
in uh, you know, maybe you buyIngram and that's all you buy,
or are there other distributorsthat you may consider?
And if it's marked as noreturn, is that something you're
like, I don't think so?
(24:34):
You know, what are those liketechnical details when you go
and you buy from thesewholesaling sites that you look
for?
Alsace Walentine (24:40):
That's a good question.
And again, this is gonna differfor different indie stores.
So before approaching, you wantto find out what that
particular indie store does.
And a lot of them have itlisted on their website.
We have a page on our website,the book stock request tab, and
there's all this informationthere.
So mostly, yes, we need for ourbookstore, we need the book to
(25:07):
be carried at Ingram.
It does need to be returnable,it does need to be a certain
discount.
You say 55%.
That's the percentage that theauthor sees, I suppose.
Because on our side of it, wedon't see what you see, we see
our side of it.
They see the wholesaler side,and it has to be a 40% minimum
(25:32):
because that's the businessmodel.
We can't take on material thatwe can't return because we can't
afford to stay in business ifwe did.
Mica Merrill Rice (25:40):
Yeah.
Alsace Walentine (25:41):
And we need to retain 40% and we need to pay
out 60%, is the standard for ourbusiness.
The other thing is there arethese handful of books that I
brought in are not with Ingram.
So we do consider an author ifthey have their own, if they're
(26:08):
calling it their own publishingcompany and they are their own
LLC or whatever it is, andthey're gonna handle everything.
And the book looks to us like abook that you would get from
one of the big five publishers,and we feel like they've got the
marketing in place and they'vedone all the research and it
blends in perfectly and we likeit, then we will set up a direct
(26:32):
account, and that basicallyworks like consignment.
Mica Merrill Rice (26:35):
I have a question on later on about
consignment, because that'sactually new to me that we're
gonna talk about, because thatis definitely another way to get
books into a bookstore.
Now we're gonna move intoapproaching the bookstore
itself.
All right.
So if an indie author wants topitch you their book, what's the
best way to do it?
And I want you to think aboutlike time of day, maybe time of
(26:59):
week.
Do you probably don't want usin there on like a Saturday or
something like that?
Alsace Walentine (27:03):
So um, so for our store, the best way to do it
is to use our online form.
And he says at the bottom ofour page on the website, please
don't do a cold call.
Don't walk into the store withyour book.
Because the folks working theregisters, working the sales
(27:24):
floor are the booksellers, notthe buyers.
And they don't have influenceover the buying necessarily.
But more importantly, they havea job that they have to be
doing right then, and that's notit.
So the best way is to fill outthe form and give us all the
information we need in this veryorderly way, not to do it in
(27:47):
November, December.
In fact, we take the form offthe website then because we're
too busy.
We can't be considering newmaterial then.
Yep.
And just, you know, the bestway is to read through that
form, figure out what all thequestions are, figure out your
answers ahead of time.
If you're not ready to do it,don't do it yet.
Yeah.
And then fill it out fully sothat we have everything we need
(28:09):
for when we review.
Mica Merrill Rice (28:11):
Makes sense.
Um, and that's important too.
You you brought you made methink of something else, um,
because there are obviouslythere are many indie bookstores,
and I think every single one ofthem probably might uh does it
a little bit differently.
So I think for our listenersand those considering indie
bookstores, it's important, soimportant to do your research
(28:32):
and make sure that you'relooking at some of those things.
Like I went to your website, Ilooked at your instructions, I
had been into your bookstore,you know, it was all of these
things before I came andapproached Tombelo through the
form.
Um, but I think that there aredifferent bookstores that do it
differently.
I've known, I know some thatflat out just don't have the
(28:52):
space.
And they're like, we're notdoing we don't do indie books,
you know, indie authors, wedon't do indie books.
Some of them want you to comein, but it depends on the time
of day.
So that's that's important tonote as well.
But um, very good to know aboutwhy yours is set up the way it
is.
All right, you've seen a lot,you've been in the book industry
for so many years.
(29:12):
What is the worst way you'veseen an author approach a
bookstore?
Alsace Walentine (29:19):
Oh gosh, during an event.
Sleep, please.
We're working so hard during anevent, and it's hard, you know,
we're performing and likemaking sure everything's perfect
for the author and for everysingle audience member, and it's
not the right time.
(29:39):
We seem like we're totallyready to talk about anything,
but we're super not right then.
It's working really hard.
Um, yeah, that's that'sprobably unfortunately not the
time.
Mica Merrill Rice (29:55):
Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
I would would have neverthought that that actually
happens, but I'm sure you'veseen plenty in your time.
Alsace Walentine (30:02):
And I don't hold it against anyone because
people are just chatting andhaving a good time.
And then they're like, oh, bythe way.
And it's like, ah, I can'tconsider this right now.
Mica Merrill Rice (30:12):
Oh my goodness.
All right.
For Tombleau, um, we talkedabout you have a form and it's
very specific and ask a bunch ofquestions.
Um, for your store, do you alsoask for a physical copy to be
brought in?
Do you ask for the manuscript?
Like, do you read all of that,or do you just take the form and
whatever blurb we put on there?
(30:33):
And that is sort of how youdetermine what if you're going
to move forward with thatparticular author.
Alsace Walentine (30:39):
We examine the form and everything should be
on there.
I can't think of any time thatwe looked at a form, had all the
information, accepted a book,and then the book didn't look
correct.
Um, because I think the formasked like for the website.
So like we get uh an image ofthe book.
(31:01):
So the form shows us what weneed.
Mica Merrill Rice (31:05):
Perfect.
All right, and then let's goback to consignment because I
know um you mentioned itearlier.
This is new to me, butconsignment is what with a
bookstore.
Alsace Walentine (31:19):
It is basically like borrowing the
book from you, selling as manyas we can sell, and then on a
regular schedule, paying out forwhat has sold and either
reordering or returning,depending on how quickly the
book sold at that point.
So if they if we didn't sell asingle one during the first
(31:42):
month of it being in our store,that tells us that your
marketing didn't work out theway you thought it was going to,
and we can't be paying the renton that.
And we usually give it, Ithink, a little bit more time,
but that's not a good sign atthat point.
Yeah, unfortunately.
Mica Merrill Rice (32:01):
Yeah.
When you do take onconsignment, you are still
looking for the author to havethat LLC and like have their
small business so you canactually do an account.
So it's not like somebodybringing in a bunch of books
that maybe they ordered off ofAmazon and now they're trying to
give it to you as consignment,right?
Exactly.
Alsace Walentine (32:20):
So there's there's really a small handful
of books that we carry in thestore that the authors do not
have them on Ingram, and sowe're not ordering them that
way.
We're ordering it directly fromthe author.
And these are consignment andthese all sell steadily.
But if they didn't, we wouldhave to drop it at that point.
(32:41):
And it's for us, it's a 60-40split.
So we pay the author 60% of thecover price, and we retain 40%.
Mica Merrill Rice (32:50):
Awesome.
All right, and then beyondshelving the books, what are
some other ways that authors canpartner with you?
And I know you mentioned likeyou've had some um authors come
in and they were doingstorytelling with you, or um, do
you have and maybe you havesome that run some of the the
book clubs that you have, butwhat are other things that you
would you know consider forhaving an author maybe get into
(33:13):
the bookstore and help supportuh Tombelo?
Alsace Walentine (33:17):
That's a that's a good question.
I don't have a great answer forthat, although I know there's a
bookstore in um in Tampa thathas an annual like indie author
festival where you pay to have atable at it.
And it's like a one-day-longevent.
(33:39):
So yeah, all differentbookstores do different things.
We have had some local authorsoccasionally read at our story
time.
Yes, we have had some localauthors uh co-host book clubs.
I don't have like a regularthing right now, though, that
that happens.
Mica Merrill Rice (34:00):
Yeah.
So it's more just coming andsaying, Hey, do you have
anything that I can help with,or maybe I can do this?
And what would you think aboutthat?
So it's more maybe just askingthe questions, like how else can
I get involved to support you?
Alsace Walentine (34:13):
So I mean, yeah, participating in the
community, you know, like comingto book clubs as a reader, you
know, like not not as a justyeah, just being part of the
network if you're if you'renaturally called to do that
here.
Yeah, that's all.
Mica Merrill Rice (34:29):
For sure.
All right, we've made it.
We've got to the lightninground.
So I'm gonna ask you a seriesof questions, and you're just
gonna give me whatever answer.
Maybe you pulled the team onthis one, maybe this is from you
personally.
So, what we're gonna start withwhat is one book you always
recommend to a customer?
Alsace Walentine (34:49):
It's by a former bookseller named Danny
Kane, and it's called How toResist Amazon and Why?
It's just a little book that wealways carry, and I love it,
and it just helps liberatepeople from that consumer trap.
Mica Merrill Rice (35:06):
All right.
What is the most underratedgenre in your store?
Poetry.
I think so too.
It doesn't get enough love,right?
It doesn't.
No, not at all.
I uh I just picked up like aMary Oliver book, and there's
like this whole, you know,section in the bookstore that I
went to for poetry, and it justthere were too many books there.
I'm like, why is nobody overhere?
(35:26):
I know.
I love it.
I mean, it's it's sort of thefoundation of it all.
Yes, for sure.
All right, team preference.
Do the booksellers preferhardcover or paperback?
Alsace Walentine (35:39):
That's a tough split.
Um I, you know, like we collectbooks, so hardcover, but we
also fall asleep with books, sopaperback because it can be very
jarring to have that hardcoverfall on your face.
Yes, it is.
Mica Merrill Rice (35:57):
All right.
What is the strangest questionthat you or any of the other
booksellers have everencountered?
Alsace Walentine (36:04):
Oh, I'm sure there's something way stranger
than this.
But right after we opened,someone was in the store and
asked if they could borrow thisbook.
Like they thought it was alibrary.
And I thought, wow, if alibrary looked like this and was
this like boisterous andcolorful, I mean, I love
(36:26):
libraries, but our store doesnot look like a library.
It's much too loud for that.
But they thought it was alibrary.
Mica Merrill Rice (36:34):
That would be a pretty cool library, I'm not
gonna lie.
Right.
All right.
Any indie books that surprisedyou in the best way?
Alsace Walentine (36:42):
Yes, there's this super cute children's book
called Pete.
That um, oh, you can't see itbecause it's audio only, but um,
it surprised me in the best waybecause the courtyard outside
our bookstore is in the bookwithout them saying what it is.
(37:03):
We just recognize the littletables and the trees out there.
And so eventually I asked theauthor if that was the courtyard
outside, and he said yes.
Mica Merrill Rice (37:12):
Oh my gosh, that is so cool.
And that's like that is thebest part because it's like you
and then Black Crow Coffee nextdoor, and it's just a great like
little place to sit and parkand read a book um after you've
got uh purchased it.
All right, what is yourfavorite part about being a
bookseller?
Alsace Walentine (37:30):
Oh, meeting people, talking to people.
I'm naturally an introvert andI like my routine.
So this is where I just, youknow, I love it.
I love um introducing people tobooks and helping them find
that book that's really gonnachange their day or their year
(37:51):
or their life.
Mica Merrill Rice (37:52):
Very good.
And what is your what are yourfive best tips for authors?
So we've got through all ofthis.
You are in the industry, youknow what it takes to be on a
shelf.
What are your five best tipsthat you're gonna give indie
authors today?
Okay.
Alsace Walentine (38:08):
Um, I did ask some of my booksellers to help
me with this one.
And tip number one, uh, makesure to be familiar with the
bookstore that you'reapproaching.
And that you are also familiarto them.
Number two, um treat your booklike a small business.
(38:30):
Do a marketing plan, do a wholebusiness plan about the life of
the book after you wrote thebook.
You did the hardest part, nowyou have to do this whole other
business.
Make good publishing choicesabout how it's produced.
So important.
Research the bookstore'sprocess for how they handle
(38:52):
things so that you know and youdon't have to ask them, do the
research first.
And oh, and don't start doingthis on your pub date.
Do all of this research aheadof time.
Mica Merrill Rice (39:05):
I feel scene, Elsa's.
Oh, that is great.
There are great tips for me.
Alsace Walentine (39:14):
It makes me sad when people have put so much
work into a beautiful book andthen they're not ready for the
next part, which is why I wantedto do this podcast because I
really want to help get storiesout there.
And um, and there are morestories inside everyone.
So it's okay if it didn't goright the first time around, you
(39:36):
know.
For sure.
There's there are more bookscoming.
Mica Merrill Rice (39:41):
That is true.
All right, I'll say where canlisteners find your store online
and in person?
Alsace Walentine (39:48):
So we are open every day at 2153 First Avenue
South in St.
Pete and online attombelobooks.com, and we ship
all over the country.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:01):
Awesome.
And then do you have anyspecial upcoming events or
programs that you want to share?
Alsace Walentine (40:07):
We do.
We have lots.
There's so much going on allthe time.
We have like 11 book clubs andmany author events, but we have
our six-year anniversary.
We're gonna have a is at thebeginning of December, and we're
going to have um our annualnight market, and it's you know
during the holidays.
So we bring in local vendors,um, and it's a lot of fun.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:31):
Awesome.
And then any final advice youwant to share with the indie
author world before we uh saygoodbye for the day.
Alsace Walentine (40:38):
Just keep writing and keep having faith in
your stories.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:43):
Great.
Also, this has been a pleasure.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, for answering all of
our questions.
This is going to be a lot ofhelp for a lot of people.
And I just want to tell you howmuch I appreciate you and the
entire Tombelow Books staffthere.
Alsace Walentine (40:59):
Thank you, Mika.
It was really fun, and I lookforward to hearing your future
episodes.
Thank you.
Mica Merrill Rice (41:11):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Traditionally Self-Published.
If this episode helped you,subscribe, leave a review, and
share with your author andreader friends a like.
And be sure to check the firstepisode where I share a bit
about how this all can be andwhy building a helpful community
is so important.
Until next time, be bold, writesmart, and then you can't get a
(41:44):
little bit of a little bit of alittle bit of a little bit.
What's up Plot Twisters and a warm welcome
to my Page Turners, theintrigued readers and listeners
who are just stepping into thestory.
Whatever titleyou fancy today, I am so happy
you're here with us.
You're listening toTraditionally Self-Published,
where we unravel the chaos ofself-publishing and help you
write your own success storylike a pro.
I'm your host, Mica MerrillRice, author with a passion for
(00:30):
learning and sharing the love.
I'm bringing you real talk withpublishing pros and indie
authors just like me who flippedthe script and built thriving
author careers on their ownterms and are doing it like a
pro.
So whether you're a first-timeauthor or you're a seasoned pro,
you're right where you need tobe.
Today's special guest is fromone of St.
(00:51):
Pete's most cherished indiebookstores, Tombolo Books, a
must-see gem when you come tovisit Florida.
If you want to know what kindsof books make it to the shelves
over the ones that sit in thebox, this episode is for you.
I'm joined today by AlsaceWalantine, founder and co-owner
of Tombow Books.
So today we're going to coverthe reality behind booksellers,
(01:14):
what they look for in a book,how authors can approach a
bookseller, and then we're goingto conclude with the Ink
Starter Lightning Round andAlsace's five best tips for
authors.
So welcome in, Alsace.
I'm so happy to have you today.
Alsace Walentine (01:29):
Thank you so much, Mica.
I don't get to spend much timetalking about this.
So this is exciting for me.
Mica Merrill Rice (01:34):
And exciting for us.
We love in we love our indiebookstores.
So this will be a greatconversation.
So let's start from thebeginning.
Why don't you tell us a littlebit about Tom Below books and
how it came to be?
Alsace Walentine (01:46):
Sure.
So I was living in themountains of Asheville, North
Carolina for about 20 years,working at a really incredible
independent bookstore there.
And um I had been there forabout 16 years and was a manager
and was the events director.
And my partner was offered ajob in Florida.
(02:09):
And we had recently beenmarried and we owned a house,
and I loved my life up there.
But um I she moved down here.
I stayed up there.
Um I came down like once amonth for a weekend, and that's
when I fell in love with St.
Petersburg, Florida, andthought, oh, well, I've been
(02:30):
doing this thing for a longtime, and I think it's time to
take a leap and go to a sunnyplace and try to open a
bookstore.
So I did it.
Mica Merrill Rice (02:40):
Yes, and not just any bookstore.
It's a really it's such a greatlocation.
St.
Pete has so much history, and Ifeel like it's almost a
cornerstone there.
You you have to go and see it.
Alsace Walentine (02:51):
Thank you.
The history and the artscommunity here and the natural
beauty.
Um, there's a really strong GoLocal movement.
So those were all the thingsthat convinced me that it was
going to be successful.
And then I took a really longtime to write the business plan
and get it going, but um, that'swhat we did.
Mica Merrill Rice (03:11):
Well, good things came to those of us who
waited for sure.
All right.
So, what role do indiebookstores play in today's book
industry?
Alsace Walentine (03:21):
Um, so you know, when Amazon first came
about, it decimated the indiebookstore, um, indie bookstores
across the country.
It was a really, really sad andhard time for those of us
working at indie bookstores.
Overall, you know, there's justa passion to this really
(03:42):
personal movement.
Like what we do is not sellingproducts.
What we do is we haverelationships with authors and
relationships with ourcustomers.
And what we're selling isstories, you know, what we're
talking about is stories.
So it's a really deep, youknow, it's a deep thing for me
and for those of us in theindustry.
(04:04):
So I always had faith that itindie bookstores would survive,
and they have, and they've comeback tremendously since back
then.
There are so many little tinyones now, um, little pop-up
ones, um, niche bookstores.
Like there's there's just somany, and they're all unique.
(04:24):
Um, and that's the other thingI love about independent
bookstores.
So the role that they play, Ibelieve, in the greater industry
is um it's they just have a bitmore integrity than the big
chains or just the transactionalvenues for books.
(04:46):
And there's a grassrootspassion there and like a blood
that flows deep.
And I feel like it's the wordof mouth that happens about
stories and about authors thatyou you can't replicate with an
algorithm.
And so they they hold sort ofjust like the essential heart of
(05:07):
the industry, in my opinion.
Mica Merrill Rice (05:09):
Yeah, well, I agree wholeheartedly.
You coming into your store,it's a different feeling than
going anywhere else.
I mean, it's like, and I cansay this a lot about you know, a
lot of indie bookstores, butcoming into yours, I can ask any
one of, you know, any one ofthe employees there, hey, I
really feel like a romance, ormy mom likes this, and I really
(05:31):
want to get this for Christmas,but I have no idea where to
start.
They just are so knowledgeable.
Um, but beyond their knowledge,and they're very good at what
they do, it's about community.
And that you I think yourbookstore nails like I've never
seen before.
You're always doing thesespecial events and it brings
people in.
So that's fantastic.
(05:52):
And I hope that that continueson to the to the future.
All right, let's talk about therealities of bookselling, of
course.
All right, so how do you decidewhich books are gonna make it
to your shelves?
Alsace Walentine (06:06):
Good question.
Um, there's a lot that goesinto that.
Um, we review catalogs from thetraditional publishers, and you
know, there's just thousandsand thousands of titles being
published all of the time.
And we certainly can't carryall of them.
We can't even carry all of theones we would like to carry.
(06:28):
But what we do is a combinationof looking at the press that's
gonna come out about each book,whether it's a repeat author or
a debut author.
We think of our customer base,we think of individual people,
you know, like there's somebooks that I order and I only
(06:49):
order one because I can onlythink of one quirky customer who
I know they're gonna want it,you know, but but that's it out
of our thousands of customers.
And then if it sells reallyquickly, may or if I hear some
whispers, maybe I'll orderanother.
But from that to ordering inlike 35 copies of a brand new
book because I know it's gonnafly off the shelves, um, or
(07:14):
because our booksellers arereally passionate about it.
So maybe the marketing isn'tthere, but the grassroots love,
once again, is there, and sowe're gonna be talking about it.
Maybe it's only one of ourbooksellers is gonna talk about
it to everyone, and that passionis gonna sell the book.
But at the end of the day, rentis very expensive, and so you
(07:35):
know, if a book is um spacedout, it's you know, six inches
of space, it's gotta sell prettyquickly to be able to pay our
rent and to pay our cut ourbooksellers' health insurance
and to pay hopefully what is aliving wage.
So um it's a blend of takingsome risks on some titles that
(08:00):
will sell more slowly to asmaller number, balanced with
books that we can get behindculturally and the writing that
are gonna sell a lot.
So we'll pass on some maybereally popular things that
you're just gonna be able topick up at Walmart or what, you
(08:22):
know, like it's everywhere.
Because maybe that's gonna giveus another five inches where we
can feature some lesser knownauthors that we feel strongly
about.
So it's a balance, it's an art,and it's my job to do the
buying, and it's so much fun.
Mica Merrill Rice (08:37):
I can imagine that it must be like the
coolest job in the world.
Oh my goodness.
All right, okay, so let's talkabout you know what whether what
factors go into whether abook's gonna sell in the store.
So we're thinking about genre,cover, the demand, the author.
You spoke a little bit aboutthis.
Um, but what factors do youkind of weigh in when you're
(08:58):
thinking about what to put onthe shelves?
Alsace Walentine (09:02):
It is all of those things.
One of the first things I lookat when I'm looking at a book is
um which other authors haverecommended this particular
title because that's the writingcommunity.
They've already read the book,you know, before it's published.
And if I see a network of, oh,there's five authors on the back
(09:23):
of this book who we all loveand they're recommending this
new one.
Well, it's got a really goodchance of selling the cover
design that makes a difference,certainly, but it's not it's not
the main thing.
I mean, there's quite a fewbooks in the store right now
that I do not want to see thatcover, you know.
(09:43):
But it's just not for me, youknow, but it's for someone else,
and so it has a place.
Mica Merrill Rice (09:49):
I guess.
Alsace Walentine (09:50):
Um in terms so to answer your question, like,
are you talking generally whenI'm ordering books in, or are
you talking specificallyself-published books?
Mica Merrill Rice (10:02):
Yeah, anything.
Alsace Walentine (10:04):
The genre, of course.
I mean, um we have very strongum, we have a great book club
program, and that fuels a lot ofour genre purchases.
So we have a fantasy club, wehave a great sci-fi section, a
horror section, my favoritesection is fiction, um,
(10:25):
contemporary fiction.
We also have classics.
So depending on how much spaceeach section in our store has,
some of the sections are a lotsmaller.
And so I need for those booksto sell really quickly so that I
can feature new things all thetime.
Mica Merrill Rice (10:44):
Yeah, that makes sense.
So you've been around books along time.
And you mentioned that you likecontemporary fiction.
So for you, you are obviouslyyou're covering a lot of genres
in the store.
So is there what's the biggestdifference between what you know
will sell versus what youpersonally want to stock?
Like, you know, how how do youlook at it from that angle, I
(11:05):
guess?
Alsace Walentine (11:06):
I mean, again, it's a balance.
The books that I personally,you know, I like a couple weird
books that they're not foreveryone.
And I'm not gonna push it onpeople.
You know, that's the fun ofbookselling is getting to know
our customers and figuring outwhat we have that's really best
(11:28):
for them.
It's not about I really wanteveryone to read this weird
book, you know, because I wantpeople to enjoy what they
purchase and to come back.
Um so it's a balance.
I mean, pretty much everythingthat we have, I'm proud to have.
Mica Merrill Rice (11:47):
Yeah.
That's good.
Yeah, and I guess that wouldthat makes sense.
I mean, you would youdefinitely have to strike that
balance by between what you wantversus what you know other
readers would want.
And you're right, we all dohave these like varying um
opinions about what kinds ofbooks that we like and what
we're gonna be into.
So all right.
(12:07):
Well, about the shelf space.
I know that rent in St.
Pete is like astronomical,anywhere is really.
Um, and so you have limitedbookshelf space um indie
bookstores tend to be a littlebit smaller, and so you're a lot
more like conscientious aboutwhat you put on your shelves.
So, do you have like, allright, we're gonna dedicate this
(12:29):
much space to an indie authorand this much space to
traditional authors, or is itmore like you're just looking
for, you know, you think thatbook is gonna sell.
It doesn't matter if it'straditional or if it's an indie
published book.
Alsace Walentine (12:43):
Exactly.
It doesn't matter.
Um, if it's going to sell, wemake the space for it.
The store is always morphing,you know, certain sections will
will move a little bit dependingon what we have right then and
what we're backing right then.
So um, yeah, if it's gonnasell, we're gonna carry it.
(13:03):
I mean, if it's gonna sell andwe're gonna love it, we're gonna
carry it.
Mica Merrill Rice (13:07):
Awesome.
All right, let's let's talkabout what you look for from any
author.
Um, but let's put our indieauthor uh lens on because I'm
sure that you get approached alot by a lot of indie authors in
your store.
So, what is the best way for anindie author to get discovered
by an indie bookstore?
Alsace Walentine (13:28):
I read over that question, and really I've
got a little stack here of booksthat are some of our most
successful indie books.
And many of these people wealready knew before they came in
with their book pitch, eitherbecause they were regular
(13:50):
customers, or they came to allof our events, um, or one of
them writes for the localnewspaper.
So we already knew she had thisplatform, she had this
following.
Um I do think that that's theanswer for us to already know
(14:12):
about you because you havealready done some massive kind
of networking that is somehowalso related to your work as a
writer.
Um one of the people whosebooks we have here is she uh
hosted um a storytelling eventfor years in St.
(14:37):
Pete.
So she had this huge followingbefore she approached us with
her book.
And so we knew that she wasdeeply involved in the work of
storytelling, first of all.
Secondly, she's alreadypractically running a business.
Thirdly, she's got thisfollowing of all these people.
Uh her name's already been inthe newspaper because of this
(15:01):
recurring event.
So that shows us there is adeep platform already beyond
like an Instagram, you know.
And so that's really that Iwould say that's a hard thing to
do and a really long process,but that's the best way.
Mica Merrill Rice (15:19):
Yeah.
And it goes back to what I wassaying earlier.
You're a community leader, andthat is that community.
You're looking for the same,uh, the same things that you
have as a bookstore is sort ofthe same, you know, traits that
you're looking for in theauthors.
And that's that's a great wayto go about it.
It makes it easier, you know,if you know that I'm sure.
(15:39):
All right.
So what makes an indie bookstand out to you as a
bookseller?
So think about a cover or maybethe the back matter or whatever
it is, what makes it just likepop to you?
And you're like, all right, Ihave to have this.
Alsace Walentine (15:55):
Yeah, the first thing is the cover.
I mean, that's the firstimpression, right?
So the product, the actualproduction of it.
Um it's it's like fairly,fairly easy.
There's so many programs outthere where you can print a
book, but they're not all,they're not equal.
Um and you can get it donewithout a professional designer.
(16:22):
But I want to see somethingthat's gonna blend in with these
books that the big fivepublishers have published.
I don't want people to go, oh,that does that belong here?
You know, I want it to looklike it belongs on the shelf in
the production value of the bookitself right off the bat.
And it's little stuff that youwouldn't know unless you've
(16:45):
worked in the industry for along time or unless you are a
professional designer, just likethe margins, excuse me, the
font size, like it really jumpsout at us if the font size is
just like four points too big,it looks odd or or too small,
you know.
Um, and sometimes folks don'tput the name on the spine or
(17:10):
they put it on the spine upsidedown.
Just little mistakes like that,they really jump out at us and
then they jump out on the shelf.
So they're gonna be noticed bythe customer.
And it's just again, you got topay the rent with this book.
So if no one picks it upbecause it looks funny, yeah,
that's kind of a deal breakerright off the bat,
(17:31):
unfortunately.
Yes, you know, well, contentmight be wonderful, but if you
can't pass that first test forthe for the consumer, there's
nothing I can do about it.
Mica Merrill Rice (17:43):
Yeah, and it makes sense really.
I mean, you're not just lookingfor what the details of the
book, but you're also lookingfor because a lot of people will
come into a bookstore and lookjust for the cover.
So I get it.
If it doesn't stand out, it'snot gonna get picked up.
Um, and I don't think there aremany readers.
I don't know, you know, I don'tknow the statistic, but I don't
(18:04):
think there are many readersthat just pick up a book and
they don't they disregard thecover altogether.
Alsace Walentine (18:09):
So um definitely even little even
little things like the style ofthe font.
I mean, there are books aboutfont and certain ones are just
dated, and you cannot be usingthem anymore.
It's it's it's not something weconsciously think about, but we
see it when it's not quiteright.
Mica Merrill Rice (18:31):
Yeah.
What is it?
Is it supposed to be Times NewRoman?
That's what I do all mine in.
I don't even know what the fontthey all look the same.
Alsace Walentine (18:39):
I mean, I do like Times New Roman personally
for myself, but that I don'tthink many books are published
in that anymore.
Mica Merrill Rice (18:45):
Yeah.
I have an auto formatter, soI'm hope I hope that it puts it
in the in the right way, butthat's good.
All right.
So thinking about again, coverdesign, pricing, and formatting.
So you're going to buy,purchase a book.
Um, how important is coverdesign pricing and formatting?
I think you touched on it alittle bit.
Does one maybe weigh more thanthe other, or do they all kind
(19:08):
of have to weigh the same interms of like what you're
looking for and how it'll end upon your shelf?
Alsace Walentine (19:14):
Pricing is fairly important.
I mean, if you if mostpaperbacks these days are going
for XYZ and yours is twice asmuch, that's uh going to be
offensive to my customer at theregister when I say, oh, that's
twice as much as everyone, youknow, when I tell them the
total.
So, and that's a another easymistake to make.
(19:38):
So that that does have animpact.
Formatting, yeah, formatting isreally important.
If you just open a book andyour eyes don't immediately go
to the words because the spacingis too odd, it's not a
pleasurable reading experience.
It's just psychology, you know.
(19:59):
I mean, so those are definitelyagain, those are some deal
breakers that can be solved justby having a professional editor
or layout graphic design.
And really studying, I mean, ifyou're gonna do it on your own,
(20:21):
you really just have to putyourself through this the
education.
Mica Merrill Rice (20:26):
Yep.
Well, that's kind of how thisall came to be in the first
place.
It was, it's just not uh it'syou can't just publish a book.
You have to like do theresearch, you have to get out
there.
Um, and there are plenty ofresources to do it.
So um getting this this chanceto talk to you is gonna help.
Um, and it makes us thinkthrough like all these things
(20:48):
that maybe we don't think about.
Like I wouldn't have consideredthe font.
I just do whatever the autoformat have I considered looking
at other books to see if that'sactually right.
No.
So even I've learned somethingnew today, so I really
appreciate that.
Alsace Walentine (21:01):
And the font is listed in the back of most of
the books.
It says whatever the font nameis at the very back of the book
and the fine print back there onpretty much every book I've
ever looked at.
Um but yeah, I think I thinkyou need to treat it as a small
business.
And I don't envy authors tryingto do this because you do all
(21:22):
the hard work of creating it andwriting it, and then you're
only halfway done.
Because there's so much more ifyou're gonna be doing it on
your own, there's so much more.
Mica Merrill Rice (21:34):
Oh, do we know?
We talked about therelationship between Tom Below
and the authors.
So if an author were to come toyou and say, I want to have my
book on your store, and maybe wedon't have that relationship,
but I've been a customer or ofTom Below's for a while, and
maybe we don't recognize eachother.
(21:54):
So are there other things thatyou may consider uh when an
author approaches you and you'renot really sure who they are
yet?
Do you look at some of themarketing they've already done?
Do you look at their socialplatforms?
Do those factors drive in?
Or is it really at that pointjust the book?
You look at it and nothingelse?
Alsace Walentine (22:12):
I we we will look at the other uh their
platform, whatever else theyhave going on.
One the thing I was going tomention is the local
significance of the book.
So we had a man approach us whoI did not know, um, but I knew
of his grandfather.
(22:33):
So he wrote a book about hisgrandfather, Dr.
Basha Jordan.
Elder Jordan Sr.
is the grandfather, the authoris Dr.
Basha Jordan.
And so I didn't know the manwho wrote the book, but I had
heard this name Jordan becauseum he was a civil rights leader
(22:55):
in St.
Petersburg and lived right downthe road from where the
bookstore is.
So there's this, there's ahistorical local significance
for us.
So we immediately wanted tofind out more because we wanted
to educate ourselves about thislocal history that wasn't
actually very well known.
So that was something importantto our bookstore, to our
(23:20):
personal culture.
And somehow this author knewthat about us.
So he approached us veryintelligently and we went for it
and we had a great event.
Yeah.
So what, you know, what is thebookstore concerned with?
What is the bookstorepassionate about?
What role does that bookstoreplay in the community?
And is that a really good fitfor you?
(23:42):
Is it worth your time, youknow, to go pitch to that store?
Or are you gonna find a betterfit at another store in the next
town over?
Maybe I don't know.
Mica Merrill Rice (23:51):
Yeah.
Oh, that's good to know.
That's a pretty cool story,too.
Um, about the the historythere.
All right.
So um we're gonna get a littlebit technical.
So this is really going intolike maybe we put our book on um
Ingram and we want to get itinto your store.
There's a couple of selectionsthat we can make when we're
we're considering this.
When it comes to purchasingfrom a wholesaler like Ingram
(24:14):
Spark, do bookstoresautomatically refuse a book if
maybe there's not that 55%discount, or if the book is set
in uh, you know, maybe you buyIngram and that's all you buy,
or are there other distributorsthat you may consider?
And if it's marked as noreturn, is that something you're
like, I don't think so?
(24:34):
You know, what are those liketechnical details when you go
and you buy from thesewholesaling sites that you look
for?
Alsace Walentine (24:40):
That's a good question.
And again, this is gonna differfor different indie stores.
So before approaching, you wantto find out what that
particular indie store does.
And a lot of them have itlisted on their website.
We have a page on our website,the book stock request tab, and
there's all this informationthere.
So mostly, yes, we need for ourbookstore, we need the book to
(25:07):
be carried at Ingram.
It does need to be returnable,it does need to be a certain
discount.
You say 55%.
That's the percentage that theauthor sees, I suppose.
Because on our side of it, wedon't see what you see, we see
our side of it.
They see the wholesaler side,and it has to be a 40% minimum
(25:32):
because that's the businessmodel.
We can't take on material thatwe can't return because we can't
afford to stay in business ifwe did.
Mica Merrill Rice (25:40):
Yeah.
Alsace Walentine (25:41):
And we need to retain 40% and we need to pay
out 60%, is the standard for ourbusiness.
The other thing is there arethese handful of books that I
brought in are not with Ingram.
So we do consider an author ifthey have their own, if they're
(26:08):
calling it their own publishingcompany and they are their own
LLC or whatever it is, andthey're gonna handle everything.
And the book looks to us like abook that you would get from
one of the big five publishers,and we feel like they've got the
marketing in place and they'vedone all the research and it
blends in perfectly and we likeit, then we will set up a direct
(26:32):
account, and that basicallyworks like consignment.
Mica Merrill Rice (26:35):
I have a question on later on about
consignment, because that'sactually new to me that we're
gonna talk about, because thatis definitely another way to get
books into a bookstore.
Now we're gonna move intoapproaching the bookstore
itself.
All right.
So if an indie author wants topitch you their book, what's the
best way to do it?
And I want you to think aboutlike time of day, maybe time of
(26:59):
week.
Do you probably don't want usin there on like a Saturday or
something like that?
Alsace Walentine (27:03):
So um, so for our store, the best way to do it
is to use our online form.
And he says at the bottom ofour page on the website, please
don't do a cold call.
Don't walk into the store withyour book.
Because the folks working theregisters, working the sales
(27:24):
floor are the booksellers, notthe buyers.
And they don't have influenceover the buying necessarily.
But more importantly, they havea job that they have to be
doing right then, and that's notit.
So the best way is to fill outthe form and give us all the
information we need in this veryorderly way, not to do it in
(27:47):
November, December.
In fact, we take the form offthe website then because we're
too busy.
We can't be considering newmaterial then.
Yep.
And just, you know, the bestway is to read through that
form, figure out what all thequestions are, figure out your
answers ahead of time.
If you're not ready to do it,don't do it yet.
Yeah.
And then fill it out fully sothat we have everything we need
(28:09):
for when we review.
Mica Merrill Rice (28:11):
Makes sense.
Um, and that's important too.
You you brought you made methink of something else, um,
because there are obviouslythere are many indie bookstores,
and I think every single one ofthem probably might uh does it
a little bit differently.
So I think for our listenersand those considering indie
bookstores, it's important, soimportant to do your research
(28:32):
and make sure that you'relooking at some of those things.
Like I went to your website, Ilooked at your instructions, I
had been into your bookstore,you know, it was all of these
things before I came andapproached Tombelo through the
form.
Um, but I think that there aredifferent bookstores that do it
differently.
I've known, I know some thatflat out just don't have the
(28:52):
space.
And they're like, we're notdoing we don't do indie books,
you know, indie authors, wedon't do indie books.
Some of them want you to comein, but it depends on the time
of day.
So that's that's important tonote as well.
But um, very good to know aboutwhy yours is set up the way it
is.
All right, you've seen a lot,you've been in the book industry
for so many years.
(29:12):
What is the worst way you'veseen an author approach a
bookstore?
Alsace Walentine (29:19):
Oh gosh, during an event.
Sleep, please.
We're working so hard during anevent, and it's hard, you know,
we're performing and likemaking sure everything's perfect
for the author and for everysingle audience member, and it's
not the right time.
(29:39):
We seem like we're totallyready to talk about anything,
but we're super not right then.
It's working really hard.
Um, yeah, that's that'sprobably unfortunately not the
time.
Mica Merrill Rice (29:55):
Yeah, yeah, makes sense.
I would would have neverthought that that actually
happens, but I'm sure you'veseen plenty in your time.
Alsace Walentine (30:02):
And I don't hold it against anyone because
people are just chatting andhaving a good time.
And then they're like, oh, bythe way.
And it's like, ah, I can'tconsider this right now.
Mica Merrill Rice (30:12):
Oh my goodness.
All right.
For Tombleau, um, we talkedabout you have a form and it's
very specific and ask a bunch ofquestions.
Um, for your store, do you alsoask for a physical copy to be
brought in?
Do you ask for the manuscript?
Like, do you read all of that,or do you just take the form and
whatever blurb we put on there?
(30:33):
And that is sort of how youdetermine what if you're going
to move forward with thatparticular author.
Alsace Walentine (30:39):
We examine the form and everything should be
on there.
I can't think of any time thatwe looked at a form, had all the
information, accepted a book,and then the book didn't look
correct.
Um, because I think the formasked like for the website.
So like we get uh an image ofthe book.
(31:01):
So the form shows us what weneed.
Mica Merrill Rice (31:05):
Perfect.
All right, and then let's goback to consignment because I
know um you mentioned itearlier.
This is new to me, butconsignment is what with a
bookstore.
Alsace Walentine (31:19):
It is basically like borrowing the
book from you, selling as manyas we can sell, and then on a
regular schedule, paying out forwhat has sold and either
reordering or returning,depending on how quickly the
book sold at that point.
So if they if we didn't sell asingle one during the first
(31:42):
month of it being in our store,that tells us that your
marketing didn't work out theway you thought it was going to,
and we can't be paying the renton that.
And we usually give it, Ithink, a little bit more time,
but that's not a good sign atthat point.
Yeah, unfortunately.
Mica Merrill Rice (32:01):
Yeah.
When you do take onconsignment, you are still
looking for the author to havethat LLC and like have their
small business so you canactually do an account.
So it's not like somebodybringing in a bunch of books
that maybe they ordered off ofAmazon and now they're trying to
give it to you as consignment,right?
Exactly.
Alsace Walentine (32:20):
So there's there's really a small handful
of books that we carry in thestore that the authors do not
have them on Ingram, and sowe're not ordering them that
way.
We're ordering it directly fromthe author.
And these are consignment andthese all sell steadily.
But if they didn't, we wouldhave to drop it at that point.
(32:41):
And it's for us, it's a 60-40split.
So we pay the author 60% of thecover price, and we retain 40%.
Mica Merrill Rice (32:50):
Awesome.
All right, and then beyondshelving the books, what are
some other ways that authors canpartner with you?
And I know you mentioned likeyou've had some um authors come
in and they were doingstorytelling with you, or um, do
you have and maybe you havesome that run some of the the
book clubs that you have, butwhat are other things that you
would you know consider forhaving an author maybe get into
(33:13):
the bookstore and help supportuh Tombelo?
Alsace Walentine (33:17):
That's a that's a good question.
I don't have a great answer forthat, although I know there's a
bookstore in um in Tampa thathas an annual like indie author
festival where you pay to have atable at it.
And it's like a one-day-longevent.
(33:39):
So yeah, all differentbookstores do different things.
We have had some local authorsoccasionally read at our story
time.
Yes, we have had some localauthors uh co-host book clubs.
I don't have like a regularthing right now, though, that
that happens.
Mica Merrill Rice (34:00):
Yeah.
So it's more just coming andsaying, Hey, do you have
anything that I can help with,or maybe I can do this?
And what would you think aboutthat?
So it's more maybe just askingthe questions, like how else can
I get involved to support you?
Alsace Walentine (34:13):
So I mean, yeah, participating in the
community, you know, like comingto book clubs as a reader, you
know, like not not as a justyeah, just being part of the
network if you're if you'renaturally called to do that
here.
Yeah, that's all.
Mica Merrill Rice (34:29):
For sure.
All right, we've made it.
We've got to the lightninground.
So I'm gonna ask you a seriesof questions, and you're just
gonna give me whatever answer.
Maybe you pulled the team onthis one, maybe this is from you
personally.
So, what we're gonna start withwhat is one book you always
recommend to a customer?
Alsace Walentine (34:49):
It's by a former bookseller named Danny
Kane, and it's called How toResist Amazon and Why?
It's just a little book that wealways carry, and I love it,
and it just helps liberatepeople from that consumer trap.
Mica Merrill Rice (35:06):
All right.
What is the most underratedgenre in your store?
Poetry.
I think so too.
It doesn't get enough love,right?
It doesn't.
No, not at all.
I uh I just picked up like aMary Oliver book, and there's
like this whole, you know,section in the bookstore that I
went to for poetry, and it justthere were too many books there.
I'm like, why is nobody overhere?
(35:26):
I know.
I love it.
I mean, it's it's sort of thefoundation of it all.
Yes, for sure.
All right, team preference.
Do the booksellers preferhardcover or paperback?
Alsace Walentine (35:39):
That's a tough split.
Um I, you know, like we collectbooks, so hardcover, but we
also fall asleep with books, sopaperback because it can be very
jarring to have that hardcoverfall on your face.
Yes, it is.
Mica Merrill Rice (35:57):
All right.
What is the strangest questionthat you or any of the other
booksellers have everencountered?
Alsace Walentine (36:04):
Oh, I'm sure there's something way stranger
than this.
But right after we opened,someone was in the store and
asked if they could borrow thisbook.
Like they thought it was alibrary.
And I thought, wow, if alibrary looked like this and was
this like boisterous andcolorful, I mean, I love
(36:26):
libraries, but our store doesnot look like a library.
It's much too loud for that.
But they thought it was alibrary.
Mica Merrill Rice (36:34):
That would be a pretty cool library, I'm not
gonna lie.
Right.
All right.
Any indie books that surprisedyou in the best way?
Alsace Walentine (36:42):
Yes, there's this super cute children's book
called Pete.
That um, oh, you can't see itbecause it's audio only, but um,
it surprised me in the best waybecause the courtyard outside
our bookstore is in the bookwithout them saying what it is.
(37:03):
We just recognize the littletables and the trees out there.
And so eventually I asked theauthor if that was the courtyard
outside, and he said yes.
Mica Merrill Rice (37:12):
Oh my gosh, that is so cool.
And that's like that is thebest part because it's like you
and then Black Crow Coffee nextdoor, and it's just a great like
little place to sit and parkand read a book um after you've
got uh purchased it.
All right, what is yourfavorite part about being a
bookseller?
Alsace Walentine (37:30):
Oh, meeting people, talking to people.
I'm naturally an introvert andI like my routine.
So this is where I just, youknow, I love it.
I love um introducing people tobooks and helping them find
that book that's really gonnachange their day or their year
(37:51):
or their life.
Mica Merrill Rice (37:52):
Very good.
And what is your what are yourfive best tips for authors?
So we've got through all ofthis.
You are in the industry, youknow what it takes to be on a
shelf.
What are your five best tipsthat you're gonna give indie
authors today?
Okay.
Alsace Walentine (38:08):
Um, I did ask some of my booksellers to help
me with this one.
And tip number one, uh, makesure to be familiar with the
bookstore that you'reapproaching.
And that you are also familiarto them.
Number two, um treat your booklike a small business.
(38:30):
Do a marketing plan, do a wholebusiness plan about the life of
the book after you wrote thebook.
You did the hardest part, nowyou have to do this whole other
business.
Make good publishing choicesabout how it's produced.
So important.
Research the bookstore'sprocess for how they handle
(38:52):
things so that you know and youdon't have to ask them, do the
research first.
And oh, and don't start doingthis on your pub date.
Do all of this research aheadof time.
Mica Merrill Rice (39:05):
I feel scene, Elsa's.
Oh, that is great.
There are great tips for me.
Alsace Walentine (39:14):
It makes me sad when people have put so much
work into a beautiful book andthen they're not ready for the
next part, which is why I wantedto do this podcast because I
really want to help get storiesout there.
And um, and there are morestories inside everyone.
So it's okay if it didn't goright the first time around, you
(39:36):
know.
For sure.
There's there are more bookscoming.
Mica Merrill Rice (39:41):
That is true.
All right, I'll say where canlisteners find your store online
and in person?
Alsace Walentine (39:48):
So we are open every day at 2153 First Avenue
South in St.
Pete and online attombelobooks.com, and we ship
all over the country.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:01):
Awesome.
And then do you have anyspecial upcoming events or
programs that you want to share?
Alsace Walentine (40:07):
We do.
We have lots.
There's so much going on allthe time.
We have like 11 book clubs andmany author events, but we have
our six-year anniversary.
We're gonna have a is at thebeginning of December, and we're
going to have um our annualnight market, and it's you know
during the holidays.
So we bring in local vendors,um, and it's a lot of fun.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:31):
Awesome.
And then any final advice youwant to share with the indie
author world before we uh saygoodbye for the day.
Alsace Walentine (40:38):
Just keep writing and keep having faith in
your stories.
Mica Merrill Rice (40:43):
Great.
Also, this has been a pleasure.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, for answering all of
our questions.
This is going to be a lot ofhelp for a lot of people.
And I just want to tell you howmuch I appreciate you and the
entire Tombelow Books staffthere.
Alsace Walentine (40:59):
Thank you, Mika.
It was really fun, and I lookforward to hearing your future
episodes.
Thank you.
Mica Merrill Rice (41:11):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
Traditionally Self-Published.
If this episode helped you,subscribe, leave a review, and
share with your author andreader friends a like.
And be sure to check the firstepisode where I share a bit
about how this all can be andwhy building a helpful community
is so important.
Until next time, be bold, writesmart, and then you can't get a
(41:44):
little bit of a little bit of alittle bit of a little bit.
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For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
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