Annie Jones, owner of the Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA, and host of From the Front Porch, joins us to chat about how she has built multiple streams of revenue for her bookstore powered by subscriptions. She runs a physical book subscription and a digital book club for the superfans of her podcast. So many insights in here for us authors!
Annie’s Links:
https://www.bookshelfthomasville.com/
https://www.fromthefrontporchpodcast.com/patrons-only
EPISODE OUTLINE:
0:00 - 2:24 Introduction and Context
2:24 - 4:56 The Overview of the Bookshelf’s Subscription Model
4:56 - 7:08 Why Annie Started Subscriptions as an Indie Bookstore
7:08 - 8:39 Tweaking Reader Subscriptions to Drive Hundreds of Sign-ups
8:39 - 12:25 Subscription for Annie’s Bookish Podcast
12:25 - 16:02 Virtual Events for Authors
16:02 - 20:10 How Annie Markets Her Subscriptions + The Start of From the Front Porch Podcast
20:10 - 21:50 Making The Bookshelf Community with Subscriptions
21:50 - 24:19 How Annie Manages the Bookstore, Podcast, and Subscriptions
24:19 - 28:08 The Growth in Annie's Team and Online Direct Sales
28:08 - 32:46 How Annie Hired a Community Manager
32:46 - 34:56 How Annie Cultivates Direct Relationships With Her Readers (And Sells Directs Online Too)
34:56 - 37:58 The Power In Book Curation and Community Curation
37:58 - 41:00 Has Annie Tried Selling eBooks Direct?
41:00 - 43:26 Gen Z Reading on Mobile Phones + Future of eBook Direct Sales
43:26 - 45:25 Creators as the New Booksellers
45:25 - 48:30 Boundless Futures for Books and the Adapting Tastes of Readers
48:30 - 50:05 Life Update + Conclusion
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