How do I get my book into bookstores?

One of the many questions authors ask us is - how do I get my self-published books into bookstores? The answer seems obvious - bookstores need to find and purchase books from authors in order to stock their shops so it must be fairly easy. Hmmmm.

On a limited scale it is very feasible for an author to sell directly to a small number of local bookstores. The author can visit them personally to introduce themselves and show the book. A local bookstore is close enough to be able to deliver books in person and as long as you have a quality book and can provide evidence of a reasonably capable accounting system, some independent bookshops are happy to deal with a small number of individual authors. In these cases the bookstore usually takes a discount of 40-50% and usually works on the basis of sale or return. This means that they can return your books up to 6 months later and require a credit for the books they paid for earlier (hence the requirement for a reasonable accounting system).

However it does become tricky when you move into the realm of requiring national representation, dealing with large chain stores and managing delivery of large numbers of books. Most large bookstores will not deal with individual authors and if they do, it is generally a nightmare to become an accredited supplier on their system. Looking at it from their point of view, it is somewhat understandable. Imagine trying to run a business with thousands of individual suppliers – many of them who are doing it as a hobby, especially in view of the ridiculous system of sale or return.

Traditionally the answer to this is the role of the distributor. This is the middleman who promotes the book to the book store staff and buyers (hopefully!), has existing relationship and supplier status with the stores, provides the systems required to manage stocking and financial transactions and charges approximately 70% of the retail price (including the retailers discount) for his services. This is a service that traditionally the distributor has provided to the publisher – nowadays that publisher could just as well be a self-publishing author as a large publishing house.

But here’s the rub. Distributors aren’t crazy about working with self-published authors either – mainly for the same reasons as the bookstores. Hence the question – how do I get my book into bookstores?

Here’s some hints to help you find a distributor;

• ·         You need to provide a minimum of 500 offset printed books to a distributor – preferably more or it isn’t worth the effort for them
• ·         Have a publicity/promotional plan to show them how you are planning to drive sales
• ·         Talk to them at least 4 months prior to your book launch – it takes 2-3 months once they accept your book to get it into their catalogue
• ·         Act like a company even if you aren’t one and you must have an ABN and GST registration
• ·         Make sure that your book is of sufficient quality – content and production wise – to be sold to bookstores and libraries
• ·         Talk to companies like Palmer Higgs about working with distributors we know
• ·         Review the idea of selling your book on-line –suddenly it seems much more feasible and profitable! The world of bookselling is rapidly changing and the move to on-line sales is increasing especially with the advent of e-books