Now, a word of caution is in order. Availability in bookstores is not necessarily the same as shelf display. For a book to be stocked by a bookstore, someone high in the hierarchy must decide to order it. Typically, it's not the store manager who makes such decisions, unless he runs an independent store. Oftentimes, they want to see some noise happening before they move.
Local bookstores like to be able to demonstrate that there is demand for a book.
And since a book on display helps create demand, a ripple effect begins. This is why it is so important that authors make themselves the center of all local attention. Face it, you're no John Grisham or Nora Roberts, not yet. So you must not only beat the drum, but be the drum major as well. All successful marketing begins at home.