Checking stock in Waterstones

One of the biggest problems with print on demand is I find the fact that wholesaler accounts are not in your own name but the print on demand providers. The author is effectively the middle man (or woman) between book store and publisher and therefore unable to access their own sales data, or even know which stores are stocking their book(s).

I have though discovered that if you go to Waterstones website and type in your books title or ISBN a box appears next to the books details which when clicked on lists all the stores that have copies.

A red box I am reliably informed, means that the store has less than 3 copies. An orange box means between 3 and 10 and a green box more than 10 copies. This is an excellent way of keeping tabs on who has what and ensuring that stores who promise they will order you book do so.