One reason that I was fortunate to use Triumph Press as my publisher is b/c I wanted final say in every aspect of the book—the cover, design, and content.  Since they are a small company, I’m left to do most of the marketing.  I enjoy it, but I’m also limited with connections, time and experience.

My goal from day one was to get Mark’s book into brick and mortar stores.  I first contacted Books-a-Million, which has over 250 stores in the US.  They agreed to make an initial purchase and sell in their top-selling stores for biographies.  It was a small quantity, but with this being my first book with little sales data, they couldn’t take a chance on me.  I understood that.  Plus, my distribution chain is somewhat limited.

I found great pleasure seeing my book on the shelf when I visited various stores.  Occasionally I’d buy one and ask the cashier if she’d heard of the book.  Some would say “no” and some would say something like, “I think so”.  They were probably just making themselves believe they’d heard of it.  Anyway, I’d say something about how good I heard the book was and leave it at that.

About a year later, I contacted their buyer again asking if they were going to re-order.  Now, here is the good stuff.  She said:

“No, we will not be reordering this title.” 

I can take that.  I still haven’t gotten an explanation why, but the answer is obvious.  Of course I could go into the shelf placement, yada, yada.  But, bottom line is it didn’t sell fast enough to catch their attention.  However, it didn’t do too bad b/c part of the contract was we’d have to buy the books back if they didn’t sell the quantities they wanted.

Next came the one I really wanted, Costco.  This one is tricky and I won’t go into many details, but here is what they responded with:

There are a few reasons why I think they rejected:

1. They didn’t like the cover—possibly too strong.
2. My distribution chain doesn’t meet their criteria. Even though I have a publisher, the paperbacks are still printed thru Createspace.  However, hard covers are printed and distributed thru one of their approved vendors.
3. They just didn’t like the book.

Regardless, I wasn’t done trying.  About a year later I talked to an author from TN who was doing book signings at every Costco in the southeast.  I met him and asked how he did it.  In a nutshell, is he’s with a traditional publisher, so they got him in.  Even though Costco doesn’t sell his book, it’s in their system, so they could sell from their shelves if wanted.

With some research I found out that American West Books is a distributor who sells to Costco.  If I could get them to purchase mine, they could get my book into Costco and probably other stores.

Well, here is their response:

“We have reviewed the book you sent us and feel we would not be successful with it.

Our retail customers carry a very limited title selection and we believe yours will not produce the weekly sales minimums that are required by them.”

So, two strikes for Costco.  Doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

Now there is a down side to getting into large retail stores—profit margins are very low and they want guarantees that you’ll buy the books back after a certain period if they don’t sell to their standard.  So, if you’re not with an established publisher printing thousands and thousands of books at a time, this is very hard to do.

Even though I’ve received several “No’s”, I’ve been fortunate to have what I deem success regarding book sales.  Amazon is a great tool, both for physical books and Kindle.  I’ve had book signings at several stores and restaurants.

I’m not sure what the beauty in rejection actually is, but it just pushes me to be more creative and persistent.  This is something I believe in so I won’t let up.

Being a self-published author, or one like me who technically has a publisher, but is still responsible for most of the promoting, is a non-stop job trying to sell books.  There’s always work to be done.  And since I’m passionate about the product, I enjoy the entire process and don’t get discouraged by the rejections.  Onward!

Note: if you have any questions regarding my experiences in selling the book, whether on-line or in a store, feel free to ask.  I left out a lot of details.

Mark’s book has received very positive reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.8/5.0.  I haven’t read all of them and don’t plan to, but I have read many of the reviews.  So, if you’ve read the book, please leave a review on Amazon.  You can also leave them at Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, or a variety of places.

I’m going to respond to one particular comment because even though few have said it, others may have thought it.  Here is one reader’s review:

First of all, everyone can have their opinion and I probably can’t change your mind.  But, if you’re thinking about reading the book and are making your decision solely on comments/reviews, then let me shed some thoughts.  I hate to spend time based on one person’s comment, but it’s a subject that’s been on my mind since Mark’s funeral—long before the book was written and long before I started speaking to groups about him.

How many people read the introduction or “pre-chapters” to any book?  I admit I used to never read them, instead I’d go straight to chapter one.  In the case of My Brother in Arms, please read my Preface.  I try to make my purpose clear and get across my thorough research to only publish accurate, or at least unembellished, stories.  I wanted to be fair in describing Mark and his life.

I have to admit that even with this focus from the very beginning, it was still hard to do because so many people were praising him, and I was mourning.  Friends and teammates wanted to make us feel better so they only told us the good stuff.  However, they came to us (and still do) on their own, unsolicited, to tell us of their respect for Mark and his behavior.

I say ‘behavior’ because Mark didn’t talk a big game.  Although he was very opinionated, he wasn’t viewed by others as “holier than thou”.  There are several examples of this in the book.

As Mark’s brother, I’m fully aware he had pitfalls.  I’m also aware that he stuck to the principles he was taught as a child and tried his best to never disappoint his mom.  I’m convinced that this person who left the review I pictured above didn’t really read the book.  If so, he’d realize that most of the praising of Mark came from others, not me.

It’s probably common nature to over-praise our family members when they die.  Is that such a bad thing?  In Mark’s case, I was careful what I printed because I didn’t want to sound too biased.  I like to think I’m a realist when it comes to this topic with Mark.

So, the reader’s comment about there never being a better kid, never a better son.  That’s pretty accurate.  And I’m sure there are other parents and brothers who can say the same thing about their family member.  I was fortunate enough to grow up in a happy home where we spent a lot of time together as youngsters.  Then, I was able to have Mark as a roommate while he was in college.  Those were great days.  Shoot, he drove me crazy sometimes too.  I had to ask him to cut the grass and do some cleaning.  He wasn’t messy at all, but occasionally he had to be reminded that he needed to do something around the house.  That’s nothing unusual.

My little brother is an example to me of selflessness.  He voluntarily joined the special operations community in an obscure field.  Once he decided what he wanted (and felt God wanted him to do) his actions were based on how he could get there—working out, eye and shoulder surgery, graduating college, and busting his rear in the CCT pipeline so he could fight the enemy as soon as possible.  Mark became combat-mission-ready faster than a vast majority of others in that field.

So, I will praise my brother all the days of my life, but it will always be warranted.  Read the book and make your own opinion.