Why are pre-orders important for book sales and authors?

PictureAuthor Andrea Bartz schools us on why it is important to pre-order books — and especially to pre-order from independent bookstores. This information appeared as a series of tweets on the Twitter. The individual tweets were threaded together by an app called Threader. Very cool, eh?

After reading, please consider pre-ordering a book!
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Andrea Bartz@andibartzAuthor of THE LOST NIGHT (@People calls it an “impressive debut with a nerve-racking finish” & Mila Kunis is developing it for TV) & THE HERD (out March 2020)Nov. 05, 2019  

You have probably heard me stating that preordering a book from an independent bookseller is the most impactful thing you can do if you’re going to buy an author’s book. Lately some of you wonderful people have asked for more detail, so I thought I’d explain!

WHAT COUNTS AS AN INDIE BOOKSTORE? Click-to-buy (ahem), B&N, and other huge chains aren’t independent bookstores. No hate, but I’m talking about locally owned, community booksellers.
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When you preorder from one of those, an actual human sees the sale and thinks, “There’s local interest in this book! I should look into it.” Maybe they’ll be inspired to devote some table space to it when it comes out, or even to read it themselves and make it a staff pick.
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Your preorder from an indie bookstore also makes a book more likely to hit the NYT bestseller list (#dreamingbig), since the Times system heavily weights purchases at small, privately owned book shops.
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HOW CAN I FIND ONE? Go to  http://Indiebound.org  and enter your zip code on the right, where it says “locate an independent, local bookstore.” (cc @indiebound)
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BUT WILL THEY STOCK IT? That’s where your preorder makes a huge difference: It puts it on the bookseller’s radar and makes them more likely to stock it! But even if they decide not to put it on shelves, they will order it just for you and let you know when it’s in.
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BUT NOTHING’S NEAR ME! That’s okay. You can still preorder from an indie bookstore and they’ll ship it to you for a few bucks more; if you preorder from @booksaremagicbk in Brooklyn, I’ll sign it for you at my launch party!
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You can also preorder a book directly from  http://Indiebound.org , and they’ll split the profit between their member bookstores.
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BUT I REALLY JUST WANT TO USE AMZN…That’s okay, too! Every single preorder matters and lets a publisher know there’s early interest. I just wanted to share more info. Buying books is an amazing act, no matter where or how you do it! Thx, friends. ?
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You can follow @andibartz.