Alternate Avenues of Book Distribution

• Posted on June 9, 2016
• by DSAdmin7
• in blog
• No Comments.

“You’ve got to read this!” It is the most powerful phrase in the book industry. And everything a bookseller does, everything you do as an author, is designed to make someone say to someone else “you’ve got to read this!” about your book.

Nicki Leone, writes about successful marketing and says this: “It really comes down to two issues: Distribution and promotion. And it is an open secret in the book industry that distribution is the biggest hurdle facing “independent” or self-published authors and small presses today. A listing on Amazon will only get you in front of Internet readers, but if you want to get in front of your own community, you need to be on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. There was a figure bandied about several years ago that although independent bookstores accounted for only 9% of the market, that figure jumped to 30% when it came to certain kinds of books–most notably, midlist and debut fiction.

So you there with your brand new novel need alternate avenues of distribution that will create a place for your book on the local bookstore’s shelves. That could mean anything from creating your own publishing company listing with all the major wholesalers in the country, to driving around the state with your car trunk full of books and knocking on bookstore doors.

1. Make sure your book is easy to find. A listing in Books in Print is automatic if you have an ISBN on your book, and the information will eventually trickle down through all the other databases booksellers (online and real world) use. But you need to ensure the listing includes accurate publisher and supplier information. If you buy someone else’s ISBN you have no control over this. If you buy your own, you do. You can also jump the queue by listing your book with Indiebound.org, the database that most of the larger independent bookstores use on their websites–including Malaprop’s, Quail Ridge, Park Road, City Lights, and Flyleaf Books… read the full article here.

Tags: book distribution, book promotion