Bookseller Finds Bestseller List Promotes Bookstore

The Faribault Daily News of Faribault, Minnesota, recently joined hundreds of magazines, newspapers, and websites across the country featuring the Book Sense Bestseller List. The Bestseller List's inclusion in the newspaper was the result of the efforts of Faribault's Central Avenue Bookstore.

Central Avenue co-owner Margaret Arsenault explained, "We were just looking for ways to get our name in front of readers," and they were inspired by the appearance of the list in the Northfield News, the newspaper of a neighboring city. Arsenault then contacted the Faribault Daily News and Associate Director of Book Sense Marketing Meg Smith, who supplemented information provided to the newspaper by Central Avenue Bookstore with additional information about Book Sense.

Every Thursday, the newspaper now features the top five hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction Book Sense bestsellers in a 3.75" x 7" shaded box, which includes contact information for Central Avenue Bookstore. The store is charged only a nominal fee of $20 for inclusion of its logo, address, and phone number.

Getting the Book Sense Bestseller List featured in a local paper is an excellent and inexpensive way to promote a bookstore, noted ABA's Smith. "The Book Sense Bestseller Lists -- regional or national -- are great marketing tools, both inside and outside the store," she said. "As Guerrilla Marketing author Jay Levinson has said, 'Creativity is a way to implant your name and not an excuse not to mention your name.' Many newspapers recognize the local independent bookstores when they reprint the Bestseller List, and at the very least, the association with Book Sense in the reader's mind will be made."

For more information about how to get the Book Sense Bestseller List featured in a local newspaper, go to www.bookweb.org/read/4140 or e-mail Smith at [email protected]. --Karen Schechner