Self-Published Book Distribution

 

Self-Published Book Distribution: Publishing Your Book Is Only the Beginning

When I first entered the world of self-publishing, most of my attention was focused on getting the book finished.

Write it. Edit it. Format it. Design the cover. Publish it.

Those are all important steps, but over time I learned something that every independent author eventually needs to understand:

Publishing a book and distributing a book are not the same thing.

You can write a wonderful book, edit it carefully, create an attractive cover, assign an ISBN, and successfully publish it, and still have very few places where readers can actually find or order it.

That is why I have come to believe that distribution can be every bit as important as writing, editing, and publishing the book itself.

For the self-published author, distribution can range from selling a few copies locally to making a book available to readers, bookstores, libraries, and online retailers around the world.

The distribution route you choose helps determine just how far your book can travel.

What Does Book Distribution Really Mean?

Distribution is basically the system that connects your book with the places where readers can obtain it.

That might mean:

• Amazon

• Your own website

• Local bookstores

• Independent bookstores

• Barnes & Noble

• Libraries

• Schools and universities

• Apple Books

• Kobo

• Online bookstores

• Ebook subscription services

• Audiobook platforms

• International booksellers

There is an important distinction here.

Available to bookstores does not necessarily mean sitting on bookstore shelves.

A distribution service may place your book in a wholesale catalog so that a bookstore or library can order it. That does not mean the store has automatically purchased copies and put them on display.

Amazon makes a similar point about its Expanded Distribution program: enrollment can make eligible paperbacks available through distributors to bookstores and libraries, but it does not guarantee that a particular bookseller or library will actually order the book.

Understanding that difference can save a new author a lot of disappointment.

Start With the Reader You Want to Reach

Before choosing distribution services, ask yourself a more basic question:

Where is my likely reader going to look for this book?

If most of your audience buys books through Amazon, then Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing may be your most important starting point.

If your goal includes independent bookstores, libraries, schools, and international booksellers, you may want a wider wholesale distribution network.

If you write ebooks, you may want your books available through several digital retailers rather than only one.

And if you produce audiobooks, you have another distribution decision entirely.

There is no single distribution strategy that is right for every author.

Amazon KDP: An Important Starting Point

For many independent authors, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing—KDP—is the first distribution system they encounter.

KDP allows authors to publish Kindle ebooks as well as print-on-demand paperbacks and hardcovers. Amazon says those print books can be manufactured and shipped to customers in markets around the world.

For eligible paperbacks, KDP also offers Expanded Distribution, which can make a title available to distributors serving bookstores, libraries, online retailers, and academic institutions.

However, there are limitations. For example, KDP's Expanded Distribution currently applies to qualifying paperbacks, not hardcovers. There are also eligibility requirements, and some types of books are excluded.

That means authors should never assume that clicking one distribution box automatically gives them complete worldwide bookstore distribution.

Read the requirements.

Know what your particular book qualifies for.

Going Wide With IngramSpark

Authors interested in broad print distribution often consider IngramSpark.

Ingram is deeply connected to the traditional book supply chain, which is one reason independent authors interested in bookstores and libraries frequently use it.

IngramSpark says its distribution network gives publishers access to more than 45,000 retailers, libraries, universities, independent bookstores, chain stores, online stores, and other outlets. Its network covers major markets in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and other parts of the world.

That kind of distribution can make an independently published book much easier for a bookstore or librarian to locate through the systems they already use.

Again, though:

Being orderable is not the same as being stocked.

The author may still need to market the book to bookstores, libraries, organizations, teachers, community groups, and readers.

Distribution opens the door.

Marketing gives someone a reason to walk through it.

Bookstores Think Differently Than Individual Readers

One of the things new authors may not realize is that bookstores purchase books differently from ordinary consumers.

A reader might see your book online for $14.95 and simply buy it.

A bookstore needs room to make money from that $14.95 sale.

That is where the wholesale discount becomes important.

Book wholesalers and retailers generally purchase books below the retail price. That discount helps provide the margin from which the distributor and retailer operate.

Authors using wholesale distribution therefore need to calculate their list price carefully. The retail price has to account for printing expenses, the wholesale discount, and whatever compensation remains for the publisher.

Authors interested in bookstore sales also need to understand returns.

Some bookstores prefer or require books to be returnable. Making a book returnable can make it more attractive to certain retailers, but it also creates financial risk for the independent publisher because returned books can be charged back against publisher compensation.

That is one of those small-looking publishing decisions that can become a very large business decision.

Ebook Distribution Gives Authors Even More Choices

Print books are only one part of distribution.

An ebook can potentially travel around the world without printing, warehousing, or postage.

You can publish directly with individual retailers, or you can use what is commonly called an aggregator.

An aggregator allows an author to upload the book once and then distribute it through multiple participating stores and library systems.

Draft2Digital is one example. Its current distribution partners include Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, OverDrive, cloudLibrary, Hoopla, Everand, Tolino, BorrowBox, and others. Amazon ebook distribution through Draft2Digital is currently invitation-only, which is one reason many authors continue to publish directly to Amazon KDP while using another service for additional retailers.

That creates what many independent authors call a wide distribution strategy.

Instead of depending upon one bookstore, your ebook can potentially appear in multiple digital ecosystems.

Don't Forget Libraries

Libraries can be an important and sometimes overlooked part of an author's distribution plan.

For some books, particularly history, education, memoir, children's books, community-interest titles, reference works, and specialized nonfiction, library availability can be very valuable.

Services such as Draft2Digital and IngramSpark can provide access to library-related distribution channels. Draft2Digital, for example, currently distributes digital titles through systems including OverDrive, cloudLibrary, Hoopla, and BorrowBox.

A reader discovering your work through a library today may become the person who purchases your next book tomorrow.

Print-on-Demand Changed Everything

Independent publishing became much more practical when authors no longer had to purchase hundreds or thousands of books in advance.

With Print-on-Demand—POD—the book is generally printed when someone orders it.

That changes the financial equation considerably.

Instead of filling your garage with cartons of books and hoping they eventually sell, you can maintain a title in distribution without carrying large quantities of inventory.

Draft2Digital Print, for example, describes its service as print-on-demand, with books produced and shipped when customers purchase them. Its print books can also be made available through Amazon and distribution channels served by Ingram.

For an independent publisher, POD can turn worldwide availability into something that would have been financially impossible for many authors just a generation ago.

Local Distribution Still Matters

Worldwide distribution sounds impressive, but don't overlook your own neighborhood.

Depending on the book, local distribution may include:

• Independent bookstores

• Museums

• Visitor centers

• Gift shops

• Churches

• Schools

• Historical societies

• Senior centers

• Cultural organizations

• Festivals

• Conferences

• Community events

• Author appearances

• Local libraries

Sometimes a book with a strong local connection can sell better through ten carefully selected community outlets than through thousands of online listings nobody knows about.

A local-history book, for example, may belong in a neighborhood bookstore, historical society, museum gift shop, or library display.

Distribution should follow the natural audience for the book.

Your Own Website Is Also Distribution

Authors sometimes think of distribution as something only large companies provide.

Not necessarily.

When you sell books directly through your website, at speaking engagements, through social media, at festivals, or at author events, you are creating your own distribution channel.

Direct sales can also give authors something large retailers often cannot:

a direct relationship with the reader.

That relationship may lead to newsletter subscribers, repeat customers, reviews, recommendations, and interest in future books.

Audiobooks Need Their Own Distribution Strategy

Audiobooks have become another major route for reaching readers, or perhaps we should say, listeners.

Today's independent author can distribute audio separately from print and ebooks.

Spotify for Authors now allows qualifying self-published authors to publish audiobooks directly to Spotify. Spotify also works with Voices by INaudio for authors who want broader non-exclusive distribution to additional audiobook retailers.

That illustrates an important principle:

Every format can have its own distribution path.

Your paperback does not necessarily need the same distributor as your ebook.

Your ebook does not necessarily need the same distributor as your audiobook.

The important thing is understanding where each system sends your book.

Be Careful About Distribution Overlap

This is an area where new self-publishers can easily get into trouble.

More distributors do not always mean better distribution.

If two companies are trying to send the same ISBN for the same print edition into the same wholesale system, conflicts can arise.

Draft2Digital, for example, advises authors not to place the same print title into D2D Print if that book is already using IngramSpark or KDP Expanded Distribution.

Before adding another distributor, ask:

Where does this company actually send my book?

You may discover that two services eventually feed into the same system.

Distribution Is Not Marketing

This may be the most important lesson of all.

Distribution answers:

Where can someone buy my book?

Marketing answers:

Why would someone want to buy my book?

Those are two entirely different problems.

You can distribute a book worldwide and sell almost nothing.

You can also distribute a specialized book through a relatively small number of carefully selected outlets and do very well.

The strongest strategy brings the two together.

Make the book available where your readers shop, and then give those readers a reason to look for it.

Think Beyond the Launch

Distribution should not be something you think about only when your book is released.

Your options may change over time.

Perhaps your book begins on Amazon.

Later, you decide to expand to independent bookstores.

Then libraries.

Then international ebook retailers.

Perhaps an audiobook comes next.

Maybe a local organization wants to purchase copies in quantity.

The distribution plan can grow along with the book.

That is one of the great advantages we independent authors have today.

We are not limited to a single road.

From Local to Worldwide

There was a time when getting a book distributed nationally, much less internationally, usually required acceptance by an established publishing company with existing relationships with printers, wholesalers, bookstores, and sales representatives.

That world has changed.

Today, an independent author sitting at a home computer can potentially make a book available to someone across town, across the country, or across the world.

But the technology does not eliminate the need for planning.

The author still has to decide:

Which road do I want this book to travel?

Amazon?

Bookstores?

Libraries?

Schools?

Direct sales?

Ebooks?

Audiobooks?

International markets?

Maybe all of them.

The important thing is to think about distribution as part of publishing from the beginning—not as something that happens automatically after you press the Publish button.

I have learned over the years that finishing the manuscript is only one victory.

Editing makes it better.

Publishing makes it real.

Marketing makes people aware of it.

But distribution gives the book somewhere to go.

And for the independent author, choosing the right roads can determine just how far that book travels.

— Giftkone Publishing