With concerns about supply chains in the 4th quarter and the emphasis on shopping early for the holiday season, pre-order campaigns have become an important tool for bookstores. They can smooth out some of the uncertainity of the upcoming sales period, and help with cash flow in an unpredictable market.

Susanna Hermans of Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, NY and Amber Brown of Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC held a lively, slide-show-free session on best practices for Pre-Order campaigns at last month's New Voices New Rooms. The session is now available to view:

As often happens with online events, the event chat becomes a resource in itself, as attendees offer up their own opinions and links to useful websites and tool. Here are some of the highlights from this event:

Don't spend money that isn't yours

Set aside all your pre-order sales revenue in a separate account until the book is released and the book shipped/delivered to customers. This helps pay invoices later when they come due, and is a surety in case the book is delayed or cancelled, and the customer needs to be refunded. Don't forget to include shipping charges in the amount you set aside.

And speaking of shipping...

Check your published shipping rates now. USPS increased their rates for the holiday season on October 18, so make sure your rates reflect what the cost will be when the book ships. Include the cost of labor and supplies in your price. Recycle publisher boxes and other shipping materials as much as possible.

Some sources for mailers:
http://www.ipsinnovations.com/multi-d-shipper.html
https://www.theboxery.com

Incentivizing works

Offers of signed copies, book plates, and swag from publishers will encourage pre-order sales. You can find swag offers from publishers on Edelweiss or via your sales reps. You can also arrange for limited numbers of signed books directly from authors in your area.

Great tips:

• Create an Edelweiss Collection of all the books you are doing pre-order campaigns for, and share it with your staff so they are well-informed.
  
  
• Check Edelweiss for any social media graphics publishers may have created to support pre-order campaigns.
  
  
• Don't forget to market your pre-order campaign in-store. At The Haunted Bookshop, they create flyers with the cover and a barcode for the book and display them in their section in the store. Customers can bring the flyer to the counter to pre-order it.
• Use the tools you have at hand: Edelweiss 360, Eventbrite, Canva, to support your pre-order campaigns.
  
  
• Remember that shipping will be slower than normal this holiday season and do what you can to mitigate . Jill Hendrix at Fiction Addiction updates the descriptions of her campaigns about two weeks before Christmas to say "Will not arrive for Christmas." Kelly Justice from Fountain Bookstore gets written permission to ship early from the publisher.

Request the chat file here.