Need Advice On Selling My Books On Consignment
Do you send authors a message about dos and don’ts when stores ask to sell books on consignment?
bookstores
Authors – Avoid Being Victimized by Bookstores
Hi Angela-
Re: The item concerning marketing to bookstores in which you state:
“I recommend selling a few copies to a bookstore on consignment instead. I must warn you to not sell them more than a handful at a time because chances are most will be returned. One author reported a bookstore telling her all copies of her books were stolen. (They never paid her and I, of course, didn’t believe the bookstore was telling the truth.)”
I urge that authors selling to book stores:
1. Get paid up-front.
2. Give them written notice, with a copy duly endorsed by the store for the author’s files, that the Author will refund the price of any unsold copies returned in salable condition as determined by the author via prepaid shipment.
Some 10 years ago, my co-author and I provided some copies of one of his books on consignment to one small bookstore and one distributor. He has yet to receive payment or returned copies from the bookstore.
As to the distributor, another bookstore had recommended it to Eric and, when he mentioned he had difficulty collected the amount due despite repeated assurances to the contrary, the bookstore owner paid the invoice amount and told Eric no problem, she would deducted the amount from the next invoice she received from the distributor. It would not complain because she was a good customer.
After that, it was prepay only.
Harvey Randall, Author
A Reasonable Disciplinary Penalty Under the Circumstances
Layoff, Preferred Lists and Reinstatement (2014 Edition)
The Discipline Book (2014 Edition)
The General Municipal Law Section 207-a and 207-c Case Book
Marketing to Bookstores – A Lot of Work for Little (if any) Money!
I need to please ask you a question. I have started sending a copy of my book to some large bookstores out west. My first response was no, they wouldn’t accept it because of my publisher’s no returns policy. I’m afraid the other stores are going to say the same.
When Bookstore Clerks are Jerks – Angela Hoy, WritersWeekly.com and BookLocker.com
About once a week (sometimes more), we hear complaints from authors about misinformation and downright lies they’ve been told by bookstore clerks and managers. Just today, I received this one from a Print on Demand (POD) author…
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Some POD publishers imply their books are available in all bookstores but you don’t make that claim. Why?
How to Sell Books on Consignment to Bookstores and Other Retailers
A teacher wrote in saying he didn’t want to sell his books to students directly but, instead, wanted a local bookstore to handle the sales for him. He asked for my advice on how to do this. My response was that this would likely only work with a small, local bookstore and that they would probably only agree to a consignment deal…
Does Ingram Distribution Mean Bookstores Will Stock My Book? No!
I am still a little confused about the distribution through Ingram. So, does that mean we’re guaranteed to at least have a few books in the bookstores Ingram works with? Or, does it depend on how many copies the bookstores want to order from Ingram?
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Long, long ago, when we first started publishing print books back in 1999, we used to offer all retailers, schools and libraries credit. Some had ridiculous terms, like “Net 90” (meaning we had to wait three months for a check that sometimes never arrived), while others blatantly violated our purchase terms…
Who is Responsible for Marketing Your Book, Less Than Half of Books Sold are Purchased Through Bookstores, Paying to Make Your Book Returnable, and More! By Angela Hoy
I received the following letter last week:
I was interested in your article on book return policies. Recently, I published a book with AuthorHouse and was expected to contact bookstores myself. When they found out there wasn’t a return policy in place they wouldn’t order my book. AuthorHouse then came out with a fee (currently $699) for book returns. They wouldn’t cooperate with advertising either even though it was part of the package. The publisher would not help with the most important part of the presentation of my book. Both publisher and bookstores expected me to do it all myself.
Marketing to Bookstores – A Waste of Time? By Angela Hoy
I’m often asked how new authors, both self- and traditionally-published, can get their book into bookstores.
Traditional publishers often don’t get the majority of their new titles on bookstore shelves. There are just far too many books on the market for bookstores to carry all published titles on their shelves. Sadly, many authors think that getting a traditional contract means their book will be in almost every bookstore in the country. That’s just not the case.
Authors who successfully manage to get their books on a few bookstores shelves are primarily targeting local bookstores which are often happy to help a local author.
