My job consists of providing information and advice to self-publishing authors. While our conversation usually touches on a variety of topics from cover design to software, there is one subject that consistently stands out as the most misunderstood in the industry--distribution.

In its most basic form, distribution is the process of getting a product into the hands of retailers who in turn provide the product to the end user. Traditionally, the distribution of books was done through companies that moved large quantities of books from the publisher to various bookstores across the country or around the world. The problem with distributing self-published books is that the books are not normally produced in sufficient quantities to provide this wide of a distribution. Then what is the difference between the traditional distribution model and the newer self-published model of distribution? And, how do self-published books make their way to the shelves in your bookstore? The answer is found in the word “available”.

When choosing a self-publishing company that offers distribution services, many authors imagine their book on the shelves of bookstores around the world. They assume this because they are promised that their book will be available in over 25,000 stores worldwide (or some variation of this claim). At first glance, this looks like a golden opportunity, but when authors take a closer look, they realize that having a single copy of their book on the shelves of each of these stores would not be possible unless someone was paying the production costs of the book on their behalf. They aren’t.

Ironically most books, which are available in over 25,000 bookstores, never actually make it to a single bookstore shelf. In fact, a copy of a self-published book is only produced when an order is generated.

How is an order generated if the books are not in the bookstores? The process goes something like this: In order to purchase the book, a potential customer must go to the bookstore, ask for the book by name, search for the book on the bookstore’s database, have one of the bookstore’s staff order the book in, and then wait approximately 4 weeks for the book to arrive at the store. Frankly, most people don’t go through the trouble. What’s worse, many of these self-publishing companies remove books from their distribution list if a certain amount of books are not sold within a relatively short period of time. In the end, most authors find the promise of distribution a very empty promise.

Many self-published authors have found the most effective method of marketing is accomplished through a combination of online and retail sales. Most authors consider listing their book with Amazon for online sales as well as placing copies of their book in a number of local bookstores. Book signings, radio interviews, a personal website and newspaper articles are all things that help to create awareness of a book, and are expected of any author—traditionally or self-published.

Self-publishing is clearly a viable way to publish, provided that authors understand the terms of their service. Remember that having books in hand and truly “available” in stores generates a greater amount of sales at a book signing and greater appeal to those browsing the bookstore shelves.

About the Author:

Michael Schacht lives in Manitoba, Canada with his wife Darlene and their four children. He is a managing partner of Art Bookbindery www.artbookbindery.com a leading self-publishing company that provides information and complete services to those wishing to self publish. His key role in the company is advising authors on the self-publishing process.