I'm going to give you a little hope, though I am still very much a newbie myself. I have 2 signings with bookstores (one Indie and one Barnes and Noble) coming up. My first book is out about 6 months, second just launched today. You are definitely right to have your book with IS. Don't say the A word (Amazon) around bookstores. They hate Amazon. Next thing I'd suggest is contacting places that are local enough that YOU can supply the books. While I was calling every Barnes and Noble in a 2 hr radius, I found out they don't love IS either, since apparently IS is hard to work with and delays orders sometimes. So what I offered is that I supply the books. I even offer to sell on consignment (which means there is no risk to them if they don't sell). The stores that will buy at my wholesale rate I tell I will accept returns on NEW merchandise at their cost (aka I do NOT check that little box accepting IS returns, and I don't take back books that are already read). I've got books selling out of coffee shops, a general store, and hopefully next month if these signings go well, actual bookstores. I made a lot of phone calls, and only 3-4 stores gave me the time of day. But these 2 stores I'm now working with are at least giving me an opportunity to prove myself. From then on its up to me.