Like any business, the major concern of national book chain stores and independent sellers is profit. Retail outlets are inclined to stock only books by well-known authors with a proven track record of sales. This can be a major obstacle for self-published authors. Their books usually come from vanity, subsidy and print-on-demand (POD) publishers.
Self-published books sales suffer because retail outlets are not willing to risk stocking the work of unknown authors on their shelves, regardless of how well written the books may be. But a more important fact is that self-published books are non-returnable.
Bookstores like to carry books whose publishers offer full returnability. In laymen’s terms, returnability means a retail bookstore can return books that they do not sell to the publisher. The books are shipped back to the publisher, the publisher absorbs the cost, and the store owner is not left with a stockroom full of unsold books. Bookstores tend to over-order, so they return a substantial percentage of books. Why not? Over-ordering entails no liability for them.
The publishing universe is changing and expanding rapidly. Although most books are sold from retail stores, a growing portion of sales are occurring elsewhere. As a self-published author, you need to decide how much of your time and resources you want to spend on marketing to bookstores.
If you acquire a traditional publisher, be sure they offer a full returnability insurance policy for your book.
Self-published authors may want to consider cutting out the middle-man and forget about marketing to “brick-and-mortar” bookstores. With social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, you can promote your work at almost no out-of-pocket cost. You can build a wide “fan-base,” comprised of family, friends and friends-of-friends.
Consider converting your work to e-book format, so you can use digital media outlets as well as on-line print retailers. By using such a format, you will incur little up-front costs and you can dedicate your marketing time to reaching out directly to the end-consumer.