Custom List Tool: Favorite Authors List

I think it would be fair to say that many wholesale buyers likely have a go-to list of their favorite authors—whether it’s written down or just a mental list—whose books typically guarantee sales and are always in demand by customers.

With Book Depot’s new Custom List tool, we have created a very easy way for you to upload your unique author list(s) of any size to our list generator. There is no longer a need to plug in one author at a time in the search bar. Now you can upload them all at once and shop the entire list! Once your list is created, you can refer back to it as often as you want or even create a template to have that list emailed to you at the frequency of your choosing.

Video Tutorial

Here is a brief video tutorial to show you how to use this tool:

Step-by-Step Instructions

Once you are logged into your account, you can find our Custom List tool under the profile icon at the top of the webpage in My Lists (or by clicking here). When you get to the page, you may notice that you already have a list or two already created. These are example lists we have created for you to help get you started and to aid your browsing experience.

GETTING STARTED

To create a Favorite Authors list, start by clicking on Create. You will see a list of several attributes that you can create a list from. For the purpose of this tutorial, check the box next to Author and select Next to proceed to the next page.

AUTHOR

On the Author page, allow a few seconds for the page to load with the thousands of authors that are in our database. In the filter bar you can start typing in the names of your targeted authors, but please remember to use the sequence: last name, first name. As you type in the name, the list will begin to filter down your selection until you see the author you are looking for. When you see the author’s name that you are interested in, simply check the box next to their name. You will now see number alongside the Author heading above the filter bar indicating how many authors you have selected.

To make this process even quicker for you, you also have the option to import a list that you have already created in either a text or Excel file. Simply copy and paste your list into the filter bar, remembering again to use the correct format (last name, first name), and all the author matches we have in our database will be added to your list. When you have added all the names you desire, you can move onto the next page by clicking Next.

REPORT FIELDS

On this next page, you have the ability to select the information you would like to be included in your downloadable Excel spreadsheet list. We have pre-selected several for you but you can alter these options to whatever you prefer. You even have the option to include the cover image, but please note that if your list exceeds 1,000 titles, the images will not appear due to file size constraints. When you are satisfied with your selections you can continue to the final step by clicking Next.

FINALIZE

On this last page, it’s now time to finalize your list and then move it to a shoppable format or create a template from the list and schedule it to be delivered to your email. The Review section gives you the ability to make any last-minute changes to any of the attributes that make up your list. Since we only selected Authors for this list, all the other attributes listed should have All included or No filter applied listed. The only attribute that will be impacted from this tutorial is Authors, and that will specify the number of authors you have selected for your list.

The Name section is your next step, where you simply need to name your list. Once you have done that, you have the option to create a template by checking the box beside Create as template. If you choose to create the template, a scheduling program will appear that gives you several options including frequency of recurrence (weekly, monthly, yearly), start and end dates, day of the week, etc. You need to include the email address(es) that you want to send to list to, and you can also create a subject and message for that email to remind you of what you are receiving. Whether you choose to create a template or not, you must finalize the list by clicking on the green Create button at the bottom of the page.

If you decided to just create the list and not template it, you will see a pop-up to either view the list on our site using a special viewing page which allows you to add items to your cart, or to download the list to an Excel spreadsheet.

TEMPLATES

If you chose to create a template, you will see that list under My Templates. To view it immediately, you need to select Create Now and that list will be moved over to My Lists. By doing so, you now have the ability to open it on the custom view page on the site, or you can also download it to an Excel spreadsheet under Actions.

If you have any questions about this tool or any other functions of our Custom List tool, please contact us!

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-800-801-7193 ext. 229

International: 905-680-7230

Rick Mechelse

Online Sales Manager

Book Depot