Getting your books into chain stores

While smaller independent book stores may be happy to order direct from the author, increasingly they obtain their stock via wholesalers. In order to get stocked in book stores in the UK you first then need to have an account with one of the wholesalers or distributors that stores obtain their titles from. It is also preferable that the books are actually stocked by one of these wholesalers, Gardners and Bertrams being the biggest players in the UK.

There are two ways that book stores obtain books from such wholesalers – the first as a special order, where copies are obtained direct from the publisher, who sends them to the wholesaler, who in turn sends them to the shop concerned. The second way is where the books are stocked by the wholesaler in their own warehouse and they fulfil all the orders direct. Wholesalers are quite choosy as which titles they take on board and expect all titles stocked by them to be available on terms of at least 55 percent discount (15 percent for them, 40 percent for the book stores) sale or return. This may not be a problem for traditionally self published authors, but print on demand titles are rarely available on such terms. Book stores then are often reluctant to stock such titles, unless they are local interest.

The guidelines from Gardner’s website state that Waterstones buy all their stock through them, but this is not entirely true. In order to sell to Waterstones it is though necessary to have a trading account. To set this up, contact Independent Author Advisor Justin Hutchinson by email justin.hutchinson@waterstones.com and ask for a Waterstones Trading Application Form.

The print on demand author will not need to fill in these forms, since their provider will have already done this. All you need do then is contact Justin, who will verify that your book(s) is/are acceptable, and he will then email you a spreadsheet of contact details for all stores. Then it is up to you to get ringing.

When a book sells through Waterstones, it will come up on a report the following day. It is then the buyer’s decision whether to reorder it. If the book has been on the shelves for less than 3 months, in 90% of cases it will be reordered. If it has been there for between 3 and 6 months, then the buyer will decide whether it is worth ordering more. Generally speaking, a book needs to sell at least 3-4 times a year to remain in stock.

If your book sells in sufficient numbers then it may be taken on as model stock, where it is automatically re-ordered by certain stores. Waterstones also operate a core stock system, with 12 grades ranging from A-M, and 6 grades in Irish and Scottish stores. Books accepted as core stock have to by default be stocked in a certain number of branches; A for example means that all branches must stock your book, B ninety percent and so on. Any book that sells more than around 50 copies for 3 consecutive months is likely to get noticed anyway, but it is always worth persuading a particular branch that your book does well in to champion your work, and recommend it to the core stock team recommending that it be stocked by more branches.

With Waterstones then you contact the stores first and once you have sufficient sales, the book tends to get taken on as core stock, with Borders however it is very much the other way around. Official policy states that authors are free to contact stores direct, but in practise most staff do not seem to realise this, and refer you back to Head Office. It is a catch 22 situation whereby stores only stock titles supplied via Head Office, yet Head Office only take on titles that have a proven sales history. They rarely if ever take on board print on demand books. While you may be able to persuade your local store to let you do a talk or book signing, you would in my experience be very lucky to get stocked in other branches.

To have your book considered as core stock, send a copy together with the usual information (information sheet, reviews, sales figures if appropriate, press coverage, press releases etc) and a detailed marketing plan - this part is very important as they do not take on titles that are unlikely to sell and it is your job to show them that you are going to work hard at finding and/or creating that market. Send the information to their New Press Department, Stillerman House, 120 Charing Cross Road, London WC2 H0JR. Please note that all business with authors and publishers is conducted by mail, and telephone messages and emails are not responded to. Unlike Waterstones, Borders do not supply you with a list of contact details, so you have to get all the details from their website, a time consuming process.

No one likes cold calling, but this is something that the serious self published author has to grit their teeth and get on with. The key is to know your market, understand how the supply chain works and be professional and courteous at all times. I aim to ring at least 10 stores a day, and have managed to get stocked in almost one third of Waterstones stores and many independents. Despite the rise in the internet, the fact is that over 90 percent of books are still bought from stores, this is probably then the most important piece of marketing you can do. After all, if each store orders just 2 copies, this adds up to several hundred sales over a couple of months.

In my case, I started with local stores within an hour of home. I then worked down the list country wide from A to Z. The whole process of ringing Waterstones countrywide took around 4-5 months to complete.

Who you need to speak to will depend on the size of the store you are calling, the best approach though is simply to explain who are and ask who the right person to speak to is. When ringing chain stores, the book seller will do one of several things - put you through to the right person, tell you they are not in or ask you send them some information.

When you do get to speak to someone, ask their name. Have a rough hand written script that you can use as a prompt, and ensure that you have the ISBN close at hand. If you are lucky and say the right things, they may agree to order copies straight away, but they are more likely to request further information. Whether you choose to send this by fax, email or letter is up to you. I send them a standard email with a copy of my information sheet and a link to the book trade page on my own website which contains reviews, sample chapter etc should they wish some more information. Works Calendar is a useful tool with which to record this information.

Make a note of whom you spoke to and sent the information to, and call them in a week’s time to see what their interest is. Whenever possible see if you can speak to the section manager direct, as they often know your genre better than the actual Store Manager, who is happy to leave buying decisions to them.

When you do get orders, it is a good idea to email and thank the store for their custom, reminding them that you are available for talks and book signings, and offering to keep them informed re press coverage etc that they can use for publicity purposes. Approximately one quarter of stores who told me they would order failed to do so; these emails then also serve another purpose, as they act as a reminder.