I began my first attempt at writing for publication about thirty-eight years ago. Needless to say my written word never made the best seller’s list in those early years and actually it hasn’t made it in the later years either. 🙂 But one good thing has resulted from such a lack of success. I can proudly state that I have earned my degree as a consignment connoisseur.

My first three books, Children In The Outdoors, Volumes I, II and III introduced me to the consignment process. In an earlier blog I have written about my first three books “Children In The Outdoors”. It was a three volume set that contained the collection of seventy-three stories and activity pages that I produced for the magazine “Minnesota Out Of Doors”, St. Paul, MN. I did a nature column for the magazine from 1985 until 1991.

I self-published the three books in our small town of Wheaton. Our local paper, The Wheaton Gazette, was willing to carry out the publication process. I still feel sorry for the ladies who were responsible for typing the paper each week and getting it ready for printing. Once that job was completed they had to return to typing the pages of my books. I bet they mumbled a few unrepeatable words about me during those multi-tasking times.

Those were the years I was introduced to the consignment process. Since my publisher was the local paper book stores had no way of knowing my books existed unless I contacted them. So that became my job. I became baptized into the world of book marketing.

I visited book stores, resorts, gifts shops and any other place of business that I thought might have an interest in selling my nature books.

I had some successes and more failures. Most business owners used the word ‘consignment’ when we conversed. They would pay me for my books once they were sold. And of course that was minus the 30 to 40% of each sales that they kept for themselves. So I would leave them with several copies with that understanding.

As I look back now as hindsight is twenty-twenty I should have done a better job of recording how many books I left with each business. I thought I would remember. Of course as the months and even years went by I forgot. To this day I’m sure I have copies of “Children In The Outdoors” in the back rooms of various book stores and gift shops lost and forgotten.

I was very excited when my books were accepted by the Douglas Lodge Gift Shop at Itasca State Park. In fact years later I met a young person who had actually bought one of my books there.

My college roommate, Jerry, was visiting Douglas Lodge with his family one summer. Later he shared a story with me about his experience with my books in the gift shop.

His family was browsing through the shop’s aisles containing many trinkets and memorabilia when Jerry discovered my books. He said they were on the very bottom shelf almost out of view of the shoppers. So what would any good ex-college roommate do?

Jerry took the books from a higher shelf, in plain view and switched them with my books that were barely visible. Bless his heart, I say!:) Maybe that’s why that young person I mentioned earlier was able to locate and buy my book.

The other problem with consignment is the store owners sometimes forget to make payment on the books that are sold. I am the one in charge of reminding them of the need for payment. That sometimes leads to a debate about whether the payment had been made or not! And of course with my poor book keeping practices that only added to the confusion.

For several years I had my books consigned at a very artsy gift shop. I hadn’t sold a book for many months so I decided to remove them. Six months later I received a  letter from the shop with a check for one of the books I thought I had removed.

It turned out I had not taken all my books after all. One of them had been accidently left behind. Now that was an honest artsy gift shop! 🙂

So for years the word ‘consignment’ was just something I did as I marketed my books. It was part of my business plan as cumbersome and annoying as it may have been.

Last week I was jolted out of my consignment mind set in a very pleasant and exciting way. Let me tell you about it.

I was at a book store actually buying some reduced priced movie tickets. Several months earlier I had stopped in at that same store to let the store manager know about my newly released book “The First Advent, Stories and Activities”.

The manager seemed interested in the newly released book but the word ‘consignment’ was never discussed. So I assumed that was that and there would be no chance of the store taking on my book. At least consignment would not be a possibility.

As I was leaving the store with tickets in hand I reminded her of our earlier discussion of “The First Advent” and to my amazement she replied, “Yes, I believe we have copies of your book.” She led me down an aisle to a book shelf, reached up and pulled down a copy of my book!

You could have knocked me over with a feather! My book in a book store with no attachment to the word ‘consignment’! A store manager on her own had ordered my book from a supply house. Wow, I had made it up another rung of climbing the ladder of author success! 🙂

And so goes the life of a self-published author. We have to take our successes and failures however they come. Seeing my latest book on the shelf of a bookstore without any attachments to the word consignment is pretty cool.

I’m beginning to like this writing gig. Book number eight might be a distinct possibility yet. 🙂

Until next time.