How do I get my book into bookshops
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Previously, getting independent booksellers to shelve self-published books was difficult. Booksellers were reluctant to sell self-published books, because self-published meant poor content or poor quality. Now, self-published authors have upped their game when it comes to content, and the quality of self-published books can be as good as those of traditionally published books. So just how do you get your book into an independent bookshop?
Booksellers need to sell books. Selling books is our passion. We love the industry, we love what we do, but if we cannot make a profit then there is no business.
Be a good customer.
The best way to know an independent books shop is to know them as a customer. Don’t just know a shop exists via Google searches. Actually, know them. Cultivate relationships with booksellers by purchasing books from their shops and encouraging your friends, family, and fans to do so as well. Book shops want to see your social media promoting independent shops not Amazon. They are more likely to support you if you are supporting them.
Independent bookshops are more than just a place to buy a book; they are constantly evolving. Indie bookshops can be community hotspots—supporting the local community, creating publishing programs, publishing and selling their own unique content, and hosting author events. When pitching your book to an indie bookseller, ask how your book tie into supporting the bookshop and the community.
Before you approach a bookshop owner, research his or her background. We cannot tell you how often we are approached by people who clearly know nothing about us. At best it’s lazy, at worst, it’s lazy! Find out about the shop’s customers and the types of books the shop typically promotes and sells. Take a look at the shop’s social media accounts and see what kinds of author events they typically host or are involved with. When you meet with the owner, use this information in your pitch. If they have a certain type of customer that will be interested in your book, mention it. Ideally booksellers would like to be emailed. It gives us time to think about your proposal; it gives us time to chat to our colleagues, and it gives the opportunity to deal with the request within our normal day.
A quick checklist of what to include in your email.
• How much your book retails for?
• Include a professional invoice outlining your terms of business. A sample invoice is attached.
• How much you are selling it to bookshops for.
• The format (Paperback/ Hardback).
• Returns’ information.
• Payment terms
• A few sample pages for us to read.
• Why you think the book will sell in our bookshop?
• Who the competitor - or comparable authors - are in your eyes?
• In which section should we display the book.
• Do not call the bookshop on a regular basis to check on sales. Tempting as that might be.
• A jpg image of the jacket.
• If the book has any local ties, is it set in our area? Did you go to school around the corner?
• Do you have any local publicity lined up, or in the pipeline (e.g. features, interviews or extracts in local news media)? This can have real value in improving local sales.
Know the shop's demographic.
A bookshop owner wants to make sure your book aligns with their customers. Niche bookshops may only carry a certain genre. Know your genre and your target reader. Be able to accurately and concisely explain what your book is about. That way, you and the bookshop will have a better idea if it fits with their readership. Spend enough time at the shop you're targeting to understand who their customers are. Their readers won't be your readers if your readers don't shop at that kind of bookshop. See if your book fits in. If an indie bookseller does not think their customers will buy your book from their shop, they not going to buy it from you.
What are the terms?
If you want your book to flow easily into independent bookshops, then consider the 40% wholesale discount and make it returnable. The book industry is a returnable industry, which means bookshops will expect to be able to return books they don’t sell. The most usual trade practice for independently published titles would be for the books to be supplied on “consignment terms” (which means that the bookshop will pay for the stock once it has sold and can return unsold stock when it chooses). An alternative is “sale or return” where the bookshop pays for the stock according to the payment terms of your invoice, but has the right to return unsold stock for a full refund.
Keep in mind that a bookshop is not likely to buy numerous copies from you outright. They want to be sure your book will sell before they take on more than one or two copies. If you're self-published, print-on-demand services are a cost-effective way to get your book out there.
Think about payment terms and the length of time the bookshop should have the stock for sale. If after this agreed length of time the book(s) has not sold it is your responsibility to collect unsold stock. If the book(s) is not collected after 3 months, the bookseller can dispose of the stock as they deem fit.
Good Quality
Bookshops want to be about 90% sure that they can sell a book before they buy it, so that means that you have to give the bookshop a quality product. Something that stands out qualitatively and fits in beautifully genre-wise. Look at the production quality; a well presented finished-product speaks volumes. Look at books in similar genres to your own on bookshop shelves and note the current design styles/finishes/fonts being used.
Give important consideration to the jacket design. Review the competition, check out the award- winning designs from the latest British Book Design Awards www.britishbookawards.org. If you want your book to take up space on a shelf face out (the most popular display method) the jacket must be of stunning design and quality. Book cover design is a specialist discipline, so commissioning an experienced designer is often the best way to give your book an edge alongside other publications.
Where does it fit?
Your book needs to be easily shelved by the bookshop. Booksellers don’t want something that looks or sounds so unusual that no one knows where to put it. So, if you have the idea that your book is completely unique and there is nothing like it out there in the universe, you need to visit a lot of shops and libraries and go online and figure out what people will be looking for when they discover your book.
It's one of your jobs as a self-publisher to figure out how people will actually discover your book, and if your book is labelled or packaged so uniquely that the bookshop doesn’t know where to put it on the shelf, then you’re just creating difficulty for yourself. Booksellers aren't interested in books that stick out for the wrong reasons. Visit your local bookshop and take note of the trim sizes, book cover imagery, and interiors. Your book doesn’t need to look like a clone of everyone else’s, but if you notice themes for certain genres, think about how your book will fit in with that.
The Right Price
Make sure your book has an appropriate retail price. Do your research. Which book can your be compared with? How much is it selling for? Be competitive regarding the pricing of your book. A standard paperback is around £9.99. [Trade terms vary between publishers.] The market research agency, Nielsen, reports that the average discount bookshops receive from publishers is just over 40% off the recommended retail price. In the UK, the publisher almost always pays for the carriage charge in getting the books to the bookshop.
Make it easy to order
A bookseller won't want to deal with inconvenient distribution. When they work with wholesalers and distributors, they can order, sell, and invoice books in bulk. But working with indie authors means they have to do all of this individually with each author. Using a reputable distributor for your book will be more convenient for the bookshop, and the easier you make it for an indie bookshop to sell your book, the more likely they are to be willing to try.
Get an ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a unique product identifier for books and related material. It is used by publishers, booksellers and libraries for ordering, listing and stock control purposes. Systems used by publishers, booksellers and libraries all rely on the ISBN to identify books ensuring they select and stock the correct title and edition. Reputable bookshops will not sell books that do not have an ISBN Buy it here. https://www.nielsenisbnstore.com/Home/Isbn
Marketing
It's the bookshop's job to sell your book, not market it. Busy bookshops are approached by authors often, and they are inundated with offers on any given day. You will be expected to fulfil your end of the bargain in regards to marketing. The bookshop wants your book to sell, but they will not do the legwork for you. Have a solid marketing plan, and let the bookshop owner know what it is. It will shows that you take initiative and are confident that your book will sell. Put up links to indie bookshops when you are marketing on social media and if you have a website
If you want your book to sell at a specific shop, start a book marketing campaign to make it happen. Have your friends and family request copies of your book. When you approach that shop to ask if they'll stock your book, management will be more likely to say, "Yes!" if they've already sold some copies of it.
Some local indie bookshops will just want to buy from you on a consignment basis because that might be easier for them. Some of them might want to do an event first to test the waters. But ultimately booksellers want to know what kind of buzz you’re going to generate to help achieve the sell through. You need to not only help it get onto the shelves, but you also need to help it in the arms of a paying bookshop customer.
Online sales
Make sure your book can be distributed via the national trade trade wholesalers Gardners (www.gardners.com). For our online shop we only sell books that are available through Gardners
If after getting through this you think you have a book to pitch to us, we would encourage you to do your homework and be bold. What have you got to lose?
Useful links.
https://www.nielsenisbnstore.com/
You can find our email details on the website.
1 comment
Thank you for this invaluable information. We will be reading through everything.