How to Get Your Self-Published Print-on-Demand Book into Barnes & Noble
Yesterday I posted Sophronia Scott’s advice on how you can get the book you’ve written press attention. Like a spoilsport, though, I mentioned that if you are the person who is doing this legwork, it’s not likely your book is going to get major media attention.
Having published a small book with a small press, I’ve had good and bad experiences doing so. Ups: getting the finished product, procuring a review from Booklist. Downs: lots and lots of legwork that can yield some, but not lots and lots of results. This is not to say that I’m not proud of what I did. But I probably won’t do it again.
Joel Eisenberg at Absolute Write says that it is possible to get your self-published, print-on-demand book into huge stores like Barnes & Noble. However, it involves lots and lots of phone calls and keeping track of which stores have your book. Is it worth it? It’s up to you.
What I did that I thought was a good idea was look up smaller and independent bookstores here in Chicago like Women and Children First, Quimby‘s and the Book Cellar. They are small-press and first-time-author friendly and will not laugh at you if you reveal that you are moving your own books, as opposed to your publisher doing so (something I was worried about, honestly.) Since these places had dealt with authors similar to me, they were able to hold my hand throughout the process of giving them books to sell. And best of all, I felt that their customers would probably find my book of interest more than would those at Barnes and Noble, where the book could easily disappear (it doesn’t hurt that many small bookstores have sections highlighting local authors.)
It’s never bad to think big when it comes to selling your self-published or micro-publisher book. But thinking small and local can also yield better results.
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