I have books, now what?

Getting the books printed is only one step in the long and difficult process of publishing a book. The main question on any new publisher's mind is "How do I get the book into Barnes & Noble?" Getting the printed books into the traditional book publishing supply chain is a daunting task. Unless you are happy storing your books in your garage and shipping them yourself, you will need a partner in order to get your books into the marketplace.

So many choices

When you Google "book distributors," you receive a listing of companies ranging from ABDI Fulfillment to Young Adult Librarians and everything in between. Sifting through the mountain of information requires a basic understanding of the three ways books are distributed (i.e., sent into the marketplace) - through a fulfillment house, through a wholesaler or through a book distributor. Although many people use these terms interchangeably, there are significant differences between them.

What they do

A fulfillment house stores your inventory; picks, packs & ships your books; bills & collects from customers; performs credit checks; processes returns, etc. They charge a fee for these services. Some fulfillment houses charge a share of net revenue; some charge on an ad hoc basis for particular services; and some charge a flat fee for each order shipped. In general, a fulfillment house does not sell your book. They fill orders received, but creating demand for your book is up to you.

A wholesaler buys the books from you (either returnable or non-returnable) at a high discount (about 55%) and sells the books to their customers for a slightly lower discount, and pockets the difference. That is how a wholesaler makes its money, rather than charging you a lot of fees. The wholesaler's primary purpose is to service their bookstore and library customers. Essentially, they work for the customer, not for you. The biggest wholesalers to the book trade are Ingram and Baker & Taylor. From time to time, publishers have complained that wholesalers will return books for credit rather than settle up in cash. Therefore, a publisher should be careful about how much credit to extend to its wholesalers.

A book distributor is your representative to the book trade. A book distributor usually insists on being your exclusive representative, although you can often keep part or all of non-bookstore markets. Your distributor will do all of the warehousing, packing, shipping, etc like a fulfillment house does, but they also sell your titles by calling on accounts. They take a share of net revenue in exchange for their services. You will pay a distributor more than you will pay a fulfillment house, because you are paying extra for their selling services. A distributor is also very willing to work with you in terms of inventory management and marketing suggestions. And why not - the more you sell, the more money they make! Independent Publishers Group and National Book Network are two of the larger distributors for independent publishers.

Choose wisely

If this all sounds confusing, remember this basic rule of thumb: a fulfillment house is working for the fees; a wholesaler is working for the customer; a distributor is working for the publisher.

Regardless of which kind of service(s) you ultimately choose, remember two things:

- Watch out for extra fees, such as storage charges, order-processing charges, return charges, report charges, etc. These can add up quickly, and can turn a good-looking deal into a bad one.

- Be reasonable about your expectations from your fulfillment house, wholesalers or distributor. No one else can market your book like you can. Although almost all fulfillment houses, wholesalers and distributors create catalogs and offer co-op advertising to the trade, do not expect your service provider to do the hard work necessary to get your book in front of the reading public. That is up to you!

Additional Articles

For definitions of various financial terms that regularly occur when talking about publishing, see A Financial Primer for Publishers. To learn more about book distributors, read Am I Ready for a Book Distributor?

Deirdre and Gary Smerillo are the owners and founders of Smerillo Associates, a consulting firm focusing on the business and financial needs of small and independent publishers. Based outside of New York City, they can be reached via .