Turns & Tales is pleased to showcase the works of local authors in our region. To have your book promoted online or in store, please review the following policy.
General Policies
- To be considered for our Local Showcase, you must reside in Chatham-Kent or an adjoining county.
- Whether it’s available as an ebook or hard copy, your book should be professionally edited, be properly formatted, and have a professional-looking cover.
- Please note that we cannot guarantee if, or when your book will be selected for promotion.
- Please understand as well that, because we must dedicate our attention to selling books to customers, our staff are not available to discuss why your book might not have been selected, when your book might be displayed, what the current sales numbers are, etc.
- We will promote ebooks available on Kobo, and hard copy books in store. We will not promote ebooks on any other retail outlet.
- If your hard copy book is selected, please note that we will display it on a consignment basis.
- The selection of a published title for our general inventory is independent of selection for the Local Showcase. From time to time we may display general inventory titles by local authors in our Local Showcase.
- IMPORTANT: If you are indie published, please note we can’t obtain your books from Amazon. They’re a retailer, not a wholesaler or distributor. Your best bet is to order author copies from them and then we can consider them on consignment. Or, you can look at using IngramSpark as a paperback distributor. If you are traditionally published, please let us know your contact at the publishing house so we can reach out for an order.
- We’d really, really, really appreciate it if you’d call ahead or pick a Tuesday to come talk to us (after you read the rest of this page and fill out the form, of course!). We love local authors, but we also get busy with customers especially toward the weekend, so it helps us to help you if you come in at a slower time.
How to Be Showcased
- To have your hard copy book considered, bring in a filled-in copy of this form and no more than five copies of the title (we have very limited storage) you wish to have us consider. Don’t worry – if we run out of your book during your display period we will contact you for additional copies.
- If we elect not to display your work, we will contact you to pick up your books. Again, due to limitations on staff time, we cannot discuss decisions on individual titles with authors.
- We will select a number of authors and titles each month to feature in our local Showcase. If your title is selected, it will be displayed for at least 60 days. We will attempt to let you know when your book is on display, and we encourage you to let your friends and family know the month your book is being displayed.
- Once your display or consideration period has completed, you must pick up any remaining books as soon as possible. We cannot store any unsold books so your prompt pick up is required.
- If you have not picked up any unsold books after a period of sixty days, your books may be donated or recycled.
- We will provide an accounting of your sales when you pick your books up and pay you for any sales via a check. Books are sold on a consignment basis, with a 60/40 split in favour of the author.
- Books on display are likely to be handled by customers and unsold copied returned to you may therefore be shelf-worn.
This page last updated March 2024.
How to Do a Book Launch/Book Signing With Us
If you choose to have an author signing here this entails you meeting with our Bookstore Lead typically on a Monday afternoon as we are the least busy with other duties and planning out a date and time for your signing. This also allows us to figure out other details such as drinks, food, and other small details that will help your launch go smoothly. Our commission structure is 60/40, with 60 percent going to you.
Our signings are most successful on Saturday afternoons. We find that 12-2 or 2-4 work best as it catches the families that are playing games, the older kids who are spending time with their friends, and the adults who are browsing our store or reading quietly somewhere. We would ideally like to book your signing 3 or more weeks ahead of time. This gives you and us a chance to promote the event on social media, through word of mouth, and various other channels.
We will set up a table for you, take pictures for our website, and our social media pages and post them which often brings new people in. You will have free rein to decorate your table as you wish. Flowers, stickers, posters, book marks, the sky’s the limit. Our staff will be happy to help you if they are not busy. If you have promotional materials like posters, social media ideas, or other promotional ideas we will share those on our website, Facebook page, and other social media pages. We will also post any physical copies of posters and other materials you may have on hand.
After the signing, you may choose to keep up to five books here, or take them home if you wish. The choice is yours. Our bookstore staff will place any that you choose to leave here on our local author shelf or have any unsold copies returned to you.
What we would like you to do:
In order for your event to be successful, remember to promote the signing everywhere you can. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and any websites you may have. Word of mouth also works fantastically as do posters placed on various community notice boards. The more you promote, the more successful your event will be. We will also advertise on our various pages, in our store, and on our website under our calendar of events.
If at all possible, please drop your books off the day before your signing. This allows our staff to process the books into our system and look for any damaged copies so you can return with others.
If that is not possible, please drop them off as early as possible on your signing day, for the same reasons.
On your signing day, please come prepared. We will do our best to accommodate forgotten items like pens, or various decorative items, but we can’t promise that we will not be busy and attending to other things.
We would like you to arrive at least half an hour ahead of time. Especially if you are dropping off books. This allows for set up time, introductions to staff, and time to acquaint yourself with the store, and unpacking your items.
Once your event is over, please leave etransfer information with our book store staff so that we can ensure timely payment for any books sold.