I was lucky when my novel was released to have my local independent book store display the book prominently upfront, along with the review from the newspaper.  Since then, the book has been moved to the “new fiction” section.  Over time, as I’ve gone in to check 0n sales (which have been quite good so far), I’ve realized a bookstore is a great place to not only get to know your market, but to research your competition.  Some of things to look for:  Who else is sharing your self space?  What do their books look like?  Which covers catch your eye?  What are the recent titles in your genre?  Write down the author’s websites and check them out.  How are they marketing their books? If you’re really interested in what your competition is doing, you can set up Google Alerts on their names or book titles to see how much interest they’re getting.   See who their media targets are.  They may be good for you, too.