Ah-Ha Moment

This week I had two new customers visit the shop. We are Facebook friends and just had to check out the store, they explained. That was an ah-ha moment for me. Social networking actually does work! Sure, I’ve received orders through Facebook and MySpace, but were these from new customers or regulars who just found another convenient way to order? This was the first time I was told straight out that my babble on one of these sites actually brought someone new into the store and what a fantastic feeling that is!

If you aren’t a Facebook , MySpace or Twitter friend of BayShore Books yet, please find me now. Go ahead. I’ll wait. Did you friend me? Great! Now as a thank you, watch for special deals just for my friends. You will never know when it’s coming, but when it does just stop in and let me know where you heard about it. This will help me know which deals you are interested in and which sites you are on. Another way you can help me to help you is to comment. Tell me what you like about the store, what you don’t, what inventory would you like to see more of or what authors would you like to hear from. We can have actual conversations now! How exciting is that? I can’t wait to hear from you!

Ask Indies

Ask Indies, an effort by dozens of independent booksellers on Twitter to share our knowledge, went live this week. Just ask a question about books, add the #AskIndies hashtag, and booksellers will respond with recommendations, ideas, and opinions. Every book page on IndieBound.org now has an Ask Indies button which links to a simple twitter form so you can also ask your questions directly from the site. The book’s URL and #AskIndies will be entered automatically.

As Paige Poe, IndieBound's outreach liaison, observed, "Ask Indies really came from booksellers who were looking for ways to use social networks to connect with readers, and make those ways new and interesting. So many booksellers are on Twitter, more of them every day, and Twitter's immediacy fit the idea perfectly. It allows indie booksellers to publicly display exactly what makes them such great curators: their knowledge and expertise. And hopefully it's fun for everyone involved."

Not tweeting yet? Check out The Little Book of Twitter.This handy little guide tells you everything you ever needed to know and more.

Hurray, Hurray the first of May . . .

Hurray, Hurray the first of May!

You know what that means don’t you?

That’s right! It is International Buy Indie Day!

The idea is to buy one book – paperback, hardcover, or audio book

at an independent bookstore near you.

Who came up with this brilliant idea?

Bestselling author, Joseph Finder asked every person who loves books to buy one from an independent bookstore on Friday, May 1.

Since then hundreds have flocked to
facebook to RSVP

and to twitter their support

or include the event in their blog

or on their website.

So, where will you be today

and what will you be buying?

Follow Me!

Blogspot has added a new gadget called Followers. It's similar to Twitter in that you can become a follower of BayShore Blog and it'll let me know that someone is at least reading it. You can join either with your google account or anonymously and you'll know when I update the blog. Since this was just added, at the moment the followers list shows a great big zero. Is there anything more depressing than that?? Even if you are already a follower on Twitter or a friend on IndieBound , Shelfari , Goodreads, Library Thing , JacketFlap, LinkedIn, MySpace, ShoutLife or Facebook, please follow BayShore Blog!