Book Distribution Doesn’t Have to be Confusing
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 21st, 2009 | 2 Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Writers assume that all traditional publishers have access to the market, meaning bookstores, via direct sales and national distribution. That fact is true—most do have access. The discrepancy comes when the multitude of POD publishers make the same claim. This is not true because they do not have access they only have availability. What’s the difference?
Book distribution has either “access to the market” or is “available to the market.” Access is the way the major New York publishers handle the sales and distribution of their books. They have direct access to the market. If your book is “available to the market” this means your title is listed in the database of hundreds of thousands of other books with no way of creating market demand. Meaning unless a consumer walks in a store and specifically asks for your book, it will not be available to anyone browsing store shelves.
Direct sales and distribution means you have a sales person, presenting your title personally to a book buyer from a recognized bookseller. Whether it is a retailer, book jobber, or wholesaler, your title is being presented to an established bookseller for purchase by that account and placed in their store or warehouse. This is market “access” via direct sales and national distribution.
When a POD or any “publisher” tells you they have “distribution,” you need to ask—does that mean your sales representatives present my title personally to a book buyer from a recognized bookseller? The answer will be NO, they do not! When they say to you they have “distribution” this means they will place your title on a list of all books being published in the database of a large book jobber which in essence means your book is “available” to booksellers around the world. This is not access to the market and not “ book distribution.”
If your title has “access to the market” this means it can be placed on store shelves for consumers to browse and possibly purchase. Be careful about the terminology of “book distribution” and understand the true meaning and difference in access versus availability.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Publishing, Book Sales, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
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Thank you so much for pointing out these important facts to writers. I would never have realized the difference between “access” and “available” to the market, had you not pointed this out. I have read 3/4 of your book “What writers need to know about publishing,” and am learning so many facts that I’ve shared with some writer friends. For example, one friend had her book published by a small press. Unfortunately, her book has not been available in any store. Her publisher did place it on amazon.com, and on page 43/44 of your book, you mention “If your publisher is willing to pay for the promotion necessary to get your book placed with Internet booksellers, then go for it. This is a terrific place to get exposure… However, it is costly and may not fit into the budget of your publisher.”
What I want to know is how expensive is it? and why would a publisher be willing to pay for this, and not distribute the book anywhere else?
Thanks,
Sonia
Placing a title compared to promoting a title on Amazon or any other online retailer or with any bookseller are two entirely different things. It is no accident that when someone searches Amazon for books by category that the major publisher titles appear first and all the others follow. Your friend’s publisher is merely placing her title online and not promoting. A publisher would not promote online or elsewhere without proper placement in and around the marketplace. It all depends on the budget for that particular title.
Typically promotion equates to placement (online in bookstores or booksellers). Placement without promotion can create returns which everyone wants to avoid. In order for your friend to truly know what is going on behind the scenes with her book, she would have had to follow certain steps to create the lines of communication any author needs with their publisher. Since her book is already published, that window of opportunity has passed, however, she can create new lines of communication with her next book.
Hope this helps.
Jerry D. Simmons–