every author wants to see their book on a bookstore shelf.
You are reading: Where do bookstores buy their books
Sure, amazon.com and kindle stores are great (and that’s where most authors get most of our sales), but there’s something about seeing your book on a shelf in an actual store that makes the heart race and you get excited. home that you are really a professional author.
but how do books end up in bookstores anyway?
If you want to get into a major book store, beyond your local independent store, it’s a complicated and confusing process.
We will try to make it as simple and easy to understand as possible.
Let’s take a look inside and find out how it’s done.
retail book sales
“retail” is where sales to customers actually take place.
Retailers are in the business of selling books. they want books that their customers will attract, and they want to be sure that whatever they put on the shelves will sell, rather than be stuck with a book that sounds great but only sells one or two copies.
anywhere you can buy a book in person is a retailer; Amazon is a retailer, just like your local independent bookstore. the same goes for barnes & noble. and guess what? If you sell your books on your website directly to readers, you’re a retailer yourself!
Retailers buy their books at a discount and then mark them up to match the list price printed on the cover. Sometimes they will offer a sale or discount price, but for the most part, you as the reader will pay what the publisher suggests for a newly published book. the bookstore, however, pays around 60% of that and keeps the difference as profit.
many retailers other than bookstores sell books; think target, wal-mart, certain specialty supermarkets, gift shops, museum stores, wholesale clubs like bjs or costco, and more.
so where do all these retailers get their books in the first place?
well, it’s not directly from the producers, authors or publishers. it would be too difficult for a bookstore to keep track of all the books produced by all the authors or publishers in the world, then sort through the interesting ones and figure out how to pay thousands of different small sellers.
Instead, they get their books from a middleman called a wholesalerwho sells many different books in bulk.
wholesale
wholesalers are companies that buy books in bulk, at a discount, and resell them to retailers.
They act as middlemen and aren’t particularly loyal to anyone in the process: they’ll buy books from anyone who gives them a good discount, and sell them to anyone who’s interested.
wholesalers make money on volume, so they are typically only interested in books that will sell many copies. however, some wholesalers will stock books from small publishers and even independent authors as long as they can guarantee they will have the necessary physical copies when ordered.
You do not need to have an exclusive agreement with a wholesaler; you can use two, three or even more if you want. this is a good way to make sure your books are available to order no matter where you prefer to shop for a bookstore.
wholesalers periodically publish a catalog of available titles, usually every month or quarter, and send it to all the bookstores that buy from them.
Bookstore shoppers browse the catalog and choose what they want to order, then place a large order from the wholesaler that can include books from a dozen publishers or more.
Now this isn’t a big illustrated catalog of books with flashy covers and full descriptions. basically it’s just a list containing the title, author and isbn.
so your inclusion in a wholesale catalog won’t really grab a bookstore shopper’s attention or convince them to buy your book based on your amazing cover or exciting description. the buyer must already know about your book and be interested in it, or search your category specifically for a new book in that area to complete their stock.
Either way, you’re not likely to make a lot of new book sales just by being listed by a wholesaler.
The wholesaler does not actively promote his book, he only fulfills the orders that come from the bookstores. he’ll have to do the heavy lifting of making sure bookstores know his book is available, available, and something their customers will love.
Some wholesalers offer additional promotional opportunities for an additional fee (an enhanced catalog listing, for example, or placement in a special catalog just for your gender), but for the most part, wholesalers are passive middlemen.
In other words, wholesalers don’t sell your book. they wait until an order arrives, then ship the book, allowing bookstores to order books from many publishers in a single batch.
This is beneficial to you as an author: remember that bookstores don’t want to deal with thousands of small accounts, so they prefer to order everything from one or two major wholesalers. Therefore, having your book listed with a wholesaler is quite essential if you want to make bookstore sales. but it is not a substitute for marketing.
wholesalers buy books at 55% off the list price. so if your book retails for $15, the wholesaler will pay you $6.75.
the main book wholesalers
There are several major wholesalers, each with a particular specialty or target market. most sell mainly print books, but are also increasingly offering digital wholesale services, particularly for the library market.
ingram
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One of the largest and most well-known wholesalers in the world is Ingram. they sell in basically every market, from trade books to library and school books. they also wholesale audiobooks, e-books, and even related products.
if you want your book to be on store shelves, it needs to be listed on ingram.
If you publish through lightning source or ingram spark, you already appear with ingram in your wholesale catalog, because ingram owns these companies!
baker & taylor
baker & Taylor is the other main wholesaler. again, they sell to almost every bookstore, library, and school, as well as other large retail accounts around the world.
If you publish through createspace and use a createspace isbn, you may be listed on baker & taylor catalog by selecting “extended distribution”.
brochure
If you want to do school sales, perhaps because you’ve written a great book for adults or for high school students, you’ll want to consider getting on Follett’s list.
This is the world’s largest textbook wholesaler, selling to the educational market from K-12 through college level. they also sell books of interest to school librarians, such as middle and junior grade books, and other select fiction.
brodart
brodart is a powerhouse to sell in the library marketplace. they help librarians develop their collections and deal with major library orders.
They often work with small publishers and independents who have books requested by librarians, but you’ll have to take care of the fulfillment yourself: they’ll send you a purchase order and you’ll ship the book to their warehouse. once the library pays brodart, they pay you.
They also offer various subscription options and digital wholesalers.
powell
A huge bookstore based in Portland, Oregon, Powell’s stocks more than 2 million books and now offers wholesale services to other bookstores. they mostly specialize in non-fiction titles.
bookazine
As the name implies, bookazine wholesales both books and magazines, with a specialty in magazines.
Bookazine, the largest of the independent wholesalers, accepts children’s titles, independents, comics and graphic novels, making them a great option for an independent author with around 10 books that they want to sell wholesale, especially given their target audiences. experience and smaller catalog.
new sheet
If you write spiritual or new age books or books on natural health and wellness, you may want to list them with the new sheet for wholesale. Because New Leaf specializes in these types of books, as well as tarot cards and other related products, bookstores are more likely to look for exactly your type of title in their catalog.
book distributors
While wholesalers simply accept orders from bookstores and then fulfill those orders, distributors act as a sales force for a publisher.
They charge a lot for this service, often around 30% of the list price, although it can be higher. And that’s in addition to the 55% discount required by the fulfilling wholesaler on any orders the distributor receives for you!
but if you have several books with strong sales potential, it may be worth hiring a distributor.
Unlike wholesalers, distributors work for you, though not exclusively for you. they have dedicated sales forces and representatives for particular stores or chains who will go out and present groups of books to retail buyers, hoping to increase their sales.
a wholesaler still makes the final sale; either the retail buyer, after hearing about your book from the distributor, places an order in bulk, or places an order with the distributor, who passes it on to a wholesaler for fulfillment.
Basically, what you’re paying for here is a sales team. Unless you have 50 or more titles coming out each year, you probably can’t afford to keep a sales rep on staff, and even if you could, there’s no guarantee you’ll get a foot in the door with a major chain like barnes & noble or wal-mart.
Distributors have specialized representatives in different genres, as well as representatives with good relationships with various regional and national stores. they can promote your book to buyers and give you access to retail accounts you might not otherwise be able to get.
Distributors are exclusive: if you sign a contract with one, you won’t be able to work with another as well. Think of it like KDP Select, which is essentially an exclusive e-book distribution deal. therefore, when choosing a distributor, you’ll want to make sure they have a strong track record of success with the types of books they publish.
You’ll also want to read the contract carefully to see what the terms are. Some distributors require that you distribute your print and digital books exclusively with them, which means you cannot sell your books directly through KDP, let alone sign up for KDP Select. that can really affect your overall sales results, especially when you factor in distribution fees and wholesale discounts.
Some larger distributors also stock and fulfill orders, in addition to acting as a sales force. this often adds more fees to the deal, but can streamline the process so you don’t have to store or ship the books yourself. smaller distributors will only represent the books, passing orders to you or a wholesaler for fulfillment and shipping. be sure to ask about storage and compliance options so you know what you’re getting into.
Most dealers will not accept a customer who has fewer than 10 active titles currently available for sale, and you must apply to be accepted, presenting your sales statistics, marketing plans and more. A distributor will help you increase your sales, but it won’t do everything; you still need to have a solid marketing plan and ongoing marketing campaigns.
main book distributors
There are quite a few distributors, ranging from small specialized sales forces to large international groups.
Choosing the one that’s right for you will depend on the genre you publish, where you want to sell (small independent bookstores, big chains, alternative retailers, etc.), and what terms you’re willing to agree to.
ingram
As well as being a wholesaler, ingram is also a distributor, one of the largest in the world, having acquired several prominent distributors such as perseus in recent years. working with them can streamline your sales and fulfillment process, because you can do everything in one place.
Just keep in mind that you’ll be paying for the privilege: between wholesale discounts, distribution fees, and other costs, you could end up only getting $1-2 for a book that retails for $15!
still, it may be worth it if you end up earning 10x the sales. do the math carefully and take your time deciding.
book masters
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bookmasters offer a variety of publishing services, including distribution, but they can also print your book and take care of warehousing and fulfillment. it really is a one stop shop for the independent publisher!
In most cases, your book will be one of several dozen featured in each buying session, so you may not receive much special personalized attention. however, bookmasters offers specialized teams that can further pitch your book to particular accounts like gourmet food stores or Christian stores to help you make additional sales.
bookmasters will represent print books, digital books, or both.
midpoint
midpoint is one of the most flexible distributors when it comes to working with small or independent publishers. Unlike larger distributors who might want to take on both your print and digital distribution, midpoint will do print-only deals, meaning you can still sell your eBooks through kdp, kdp select, or direct to consumer. /p>
Although they prefer to work with publishers that have multiple books available, they may consider accepting only one bestseller, or they may represent only one book from their full list, using it to gauge demand before agreeing to distribute more of their titles.
midpoint is very hands on and often willing to tailor an agreement to better represent your sales needs.
diamond book distributors
If you write graphic novels, role-playing game books, media tie-ins, or science fiction and fantasy books, you may want to consider diamond book dealers.
These guys are the undisputed kings of titles with nerdy appeal, sold not only in bookstores, but also in comic shops, novelty shops, and game stores around the world. they’ll also store and fulfill orders for you, streamlining the entire process.
publisher group west (pgw)
publishshers group west represents more than 100 independent publishers in a variety of genres and subjects, selling to general and bookstore accounts, gift shops, museum shops and more.
Like most good distributors, in addition to having specific sales reps for certain types of accounts, they will also present their titles at major book fairs like Bookcon or the Frankfurt Book Festival.
prefer clients with 10 or more active titles.
independent publisher group (ipg)
Independent Publishers Group is the largest independent publisher in the United States. they sell to every type of account you can imagine and will represent print, digital, audio and more across a variety of topics and niches.
ipg only accepts publishers that have more than 10 titles currently available. if you have less, consider working with their small press division, United Small Press.
little press together
small press united, a division of ipg, specializes in helping independent publishers expand their sales and distribution. They know a lot about the specific challenges small publishers face, and their dozens of representatives can give your books the boost they deserve. they can also handle special and gift accounts and tied merchandise.
will accept applications from self-published authors who meet some specific criteria. The most important elements are that you must have your own isbn (not buy through createspace or lulu), have books available to ship at any time, and have strong sales potential in your niche.
In addition to its distribution fees, spu charges a one-time setup fee of $200.
other
These are just some of the distributors that exist. You can find specialty dealers for children’s books, Christian books, cookbooks, regional interest books, and more.
google your genre plus “distribution” to start looking for a small distributor that might be a perfect match for you.
how it works for indies to take a book to bookstores
While it’s not easy for an independent publisher or self-published author to make it onto bookstore shelves, it is possible.
first, make sure your book is available in print, obviously! an easy way is to publish through createspace and select the “extended distribution” option to list ingram (and baker & taylor if you have a createspace isbn). you can also use ingram spark to get automatic wholesale representation in the ingram catalog.
If you have chosen another print publication option, you may still be listed by a major wholesaler. The easiest way is to join a trade group like ibpa, which offers discounts on premium wholesale listings with some services.
You can also apply directly to specialty market wholesalers like Brodart and Follett if you think your books will appeal to your librarians or educational customers. If you have a good written marketing plan and can show interest from librarians or schools, you may be able to access their catalogs and increase your sales.
If you’re interested in getting your books distributed, research different distributors to find one that specializes in your genre or niche. then download and complete your application, or email for more information.
While most distributors don’t work with single-title authors, some will represent ambitious independent authors who have a solid marketing plan for their work. If you can show strong current sales and a lot of growth on your platform, you may be able to interest a distributor who can help you grow your sales in new markets.
other ways to put your book on the shelves
You can also find other ways to get into bookstores. While being listed with a wholesaler is pretty essential, you don’t have to have distribution to make sales at bookstores, libraries, or schools.
Instead, consider hiring a part-time sales rep or teaming up with other freelance authors who write in your genre to hire a sales rep.
spend money on big marketing campaigns targeting bookstore buyers as well as readers.
Focus on getting as many featured trade magazine reviews as possible, because bookstore buyers read publications like Publishers Weekly and Library Journal; a glowing review of your book might lead them to place an order with their favorite wholesaler.
And above all, keep writing! write great books with good editing and eye-catching design and build your audience. As your platform grows, ask your readers to order your book from their local bookstores. As word of mouth spreads, you’ll start getting more wholesale orders and you’ll finally see your book on store shelves everywhere.
Bookstores buy their books in bulk from wholesalers, but learn about those books from distributors. Choosing the approach that works best for you is critical to increasing your sales and profits.
Getting your book into bookstores usually requires several steps and a lot of fees, but it can be worth it to increase exposure and sales.
To learn more about how the book business works, read on:
- p&l planning: how traditional publishers use educated guesses to evaluate books
- pre-print: galleys vs. arches and why you should care
- how it progresses and royalties really work
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