Q –

On my website, I want to include a list of all the Internet sites that are selling my book. My publisher can’t give me that list (??) and said it’s a bad idea anyway. What do you think is going on?

A.R.

A – 

The easiest way to find your book online is to Google the ISBN with no hyphens in the number. If, like us, your publisher is using Ingram, the largest book distributor, your book will appear in Ingram’s automated feed. They send that to thousands of their retail customers across the globe. So, you’ll find your book for sale on websites you’ve never heard of, including many foreign ones.

Many authors find their books on these obscure websites, and assume something illegal is going on. It’s not. Those companies simply have an Ingram account, and can list and sell Ingram’s titles, and then order those titles for their customers. And, your publisher probably does not have a complete list of Ingram’s numerous customers anyway.

I agree with your publisher that adding all of those links to your website is a very bad idea. First of all, there are literally thousands and thousands of them. Second, almost everyone orders books from Amazon automatically anyway.

For your website, I recommend putting links to your book for just these companies. And, I am linking these to one of my books so you can see what I do:

PRINT EDITION

Your publisher’s website (if they have a retail store online like we do at BookLocker)
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Chapters.Indigo.ca (for Canadian customers)

If your book is also available as an ebook, provide links to four or five of those retailers as well, like this:

EBOOK EDITION

Your publisher’s website (if they have a retail store online like we do at BookLocker)
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Google Play
Kobo
Apple (Your readers need the iTunes app on their device to buy your ebook from Apple but folks with iTunes will know what to do so don’t worry about that.)

That is, of course, assuming your publisher sells your ebook edition on those sites. They may be using others but I would limit those links to four or five retailers only. If your website is too busy, customers may get confused, and stop reading.

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