Mascot Blog

Yesterday, I received an email from a buyer at Costco, one of largest booksellers in America. The buyer’s message was simple:  send us more high-quality regional titles! This is a message that we routinely hear from buyers. Why?

I have conversations with would-be authors all the time about whether it’s better to have a regional title or a national title. Who doesn’t want to pen the next bestseller that’s in demand from coast to coast? Well, that’s the ultimate home run, for sure.  There’s another approach. Authors routinely hit singles, doubles, and triples by releasing regionally-focused books. Whether your book is about a university’s mascot (remember, we got our start with Hello, Hokie Bird! starring my alma mater’s lovable mascot), or N is For Naples, New England A to Z, Palo’s World about the population of peacocks in Palos Verdes, California, or hundreds of other regional titles. We have great success with these specialized books. And there’s more good news as this thirst for regional titles spans genres. We’ve seen it in early-chapter books, cookbooks, travel-related titles, biographies, and more.  

So as you contemplate your next publishing project, don’t forget to think about topics in your backyard that others in your community (not to mention visitors) would be interested in reading about.  

 Write Away!

 Naren