How Would One Get A Large Chain Store to Stock a Book?

[cerebus]

How would I get such stores as Borders and Barnes & Noble to stock my book nationwide? Anyone familiar with that process?

[qiphlow]

http://www.borders.com/online/store/BGIView_publishersartists

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=8148

[cerebus]

Cool! Thanks!

[Michael]

If you want a cool air intake for your Acura, best to go to rsxclub.com, otherwise, all the answers on RSF

[cerebus]

If you want a cool air intake for your Acura, best to go to rsxclub.com, otherwise, all the answers on RSF

This has been my experience...

[meeks]

How Would One Get A Large Chain Store to Stock a Book?

well, ask them to move the chains over to make room for a book shelf

[Michael]

ba-dum-dum, chishhhhh!

[cerebus]

D'oh!

[Teazer]

Having worked at Borders back in the day, there was at least an alternate route. You can approach individual stores and see if they are interested in carrying it there. This is usually done for local books, but if you can get a manager interested they might do it for other subjects as well. They get sold using some generic code rather than needing to be listed in Books in Print first. If they sell well and you do what was recommended on that web link, you might also be able to get word back to the book buyers from the stores that carried it saying it was popular.

[cerebus]

Nice. Thanks!

[Michael]

"Get it in the libraries. Let the people decide." —Sideways, the movie

[JessOBrien]

Troy,

At this point, the mainstream publishers have exclusive access to the distributors that sell books to all independent and chain stores. In other words if Bantam was to present your book on their list of titles, the distributors would then make it available to the independent and chain stores. There is no way for individual self-published authors to do so.

Publishers are the gateway to the distribution. They act as gatekeepers. Bookstores assume that publishers more carefully vet their books and will deliver better quality, as they don't have time or space to deal with every self-published author.

That's much of the motivation for authors to sign with a publishing house that has distribution. Publishers also invest in editing, design, publicity, marketing, and warehousing of books, not to mention the printing cost. Which is why authors only get 10% of the take.

Self-published authors get to keep all the money, but have much restricted sales channels, and have to do everything from printing to packaging and shipping.

The old fashioned way is to get bookstores to sell your book, one at a time. It's a long road but that's the kind of grassroots marketing that can turn into gold. I know as an Acquisitions Editor, when a potential author says they've sold 10,000 or even 5,000 copies on their own, I'm very interested in their work, it has a proven track record and built in audience.

Just a few thoughts from the bloody battlefield of publishing...

Jess O

[Muad'dib]

Let me know if you want to hit City Lights or any bookstore over here. Might try Brendan Lai's as well.

[cerebus]

Thanks Jess. That was kinda how I was figuring it would be. I've already checked with some local bookstores and they are interested in it. I figure I start with stores in the Bay Area, as well as basically slogging through every martial arts forum on the internet with any appreciable traffic and post my e-fliers there. Also, any of the various martial arts supply stores in the Bay. And thanks Dan, I'll definitely be interested in canvassing the City. Much work ahead of me, but I find I'm enjoying it...