How to get your book in bookstores, even if you self-publish

Another rad Publish & Prosper podcast episode, “How to Get Your Book Into Indie Bookstores,” inspired this post. Many authors I talk to treasure the experience of having their book at bookstores, but it’s not a realistic goal for everyone. Remember, many people prefer ebooks and audiobooks nowadays, and unless you’re traditionally published, your chances of getting your book into every large bookstore chain are next to impossible.

However, if you’re self-publishing and know you can sell a lot of books locally, approaching local bookstores (even chains) is a worthwhile endeavour, especially if you want to do readings and signings.

Signing a book has become one of my favourite things to do, as it’s the most personal you can get with a reader. Here are the 4 tips to get your books into bookstores:

1. Have your own ISBN.

Bookstores need to input your book into their system, which they cannot do if it does not have an ISBN. And Amazon or IngramSpark’s numbers don’t count here.

2. Have a spine and make sure your cover is fire.

If your book isn’t thick enough for a spine or if it’s coil or saddle stitched, that won’t stand out on a shelf. So change that. I made that mistake with my first book, which was a workbook.

If your cover doesn’t look professional, bookstores may not want it. Avoid the temptation to design your own book cover and hire a pro.

3. Know where your target readers shop and form relationships with bookstores.

We’re obviously talking about locally owned bookstores here, but also think outside of the box, like retail gift stores. Bookstores usually want information about your book’s position in the market: your genre, your target audience, target audience age, and whatever else you can think of. Make sure that you’re prepared to provide that information.

Airport bookstores prefer paperbacks over hardcovers because people are more likely to impulse purchase a paperback. They don’t wanna carry a heavy hardcover on a plane with them.

Some bookstores don’t really care what your book is about, so if there’s something that makes your book specifically relevant for the store, tell them that. Maybe they’ll place it right by the door.

In Vancouver, most local bookstores will consider carrying your book on consignment. That means they take a percentage of sales if they sell your book and if they don’t, you take back the books.

You could also just contact the bookstore and say, “I’m a local author. I think it’d be really cool if I had a couple of copies of my book available at your store. I plan on sending people there to buy it if they don’t want to pay for shipping.”

Find out whatever guidelines the stores has in place and if they have a system for how to submit your book for consideration for consignment. You provide the stock because most self-published books are not available for bookstores to order (unless you used IngramSpark and so do they). There are two things that are important for indie bookstores:

1. They want to order books that are returnable if they don’t sell as many as they were expecting to. They don’t want to eat the cost of unsold books.

2. They want to make sure that they’re going to make a profit from your book. If your book is only available at retail price, then the bookstore won’t make money. When I worked with Vegan Supply to carry my book, I told them my cost, the retail price, and then we arranged a revenue split.

You pay out of pocket to order book copies, but that should be no surprise if you’re already selling books at events, too.

You want to show there’s a benefit to the store having your book, not that it’s a hassle to carry.

4. Be prepared to host an event to drive sales.

It’s YOUR responsibility to get the books to the store for the event, not the bookstore’s.

They might also just choose to stock your book after the event if it’s sold well. They might want to keep a few copies, especially if there is something that you have with it that makes it a little extra special, like a bookmark, exclusive edition, or free access to your online course for a month. If there’s something that compels readers to buy the book, the bookstore might be happy to add three to five copies to their inventory.

Remember:

If you’re self-publishing, don’t compare your book to one that’s traditionally published. Publishers have sales reps that get books into bookstores. (Some hybrid publishers might offer this too.)

Someone in the book world once told me there’s an agency you can hire in the US (at 5 figures) that have people literally walk into bookstores and buy books so that the title makes it to The New York Times‘ Best Sellers list. That’s right—the system is gamified!

Also, just because someone else’s book is in more bookstores, that doesn’t mean they sell. What happens to books that don’t sell? They get recycled. Nope, publishers don’t take them back and dish out refunds.

Good luck on your bookstore sales journey!

Need a book coach to help you publish your book so you can get it in the hands of readers? Read more about my services here and contact me if you’re ready to begin!