3 Easy Ways to Sell Your Book

If you’ve made a book, getting it out into the world for others to enjoy is your next step. Here are three ways to sell your book:

1. The Blurb Bookstore

Anything you make with Blurb, with any desktop tool, can be set up for sale. The Blurb Bookstore is great because each one of your projects gets its own product page with an independent link that you can post to social media or send in email. Blurb also handles the money, shipping, and order fulfillment for you. So, you can share the link with your friends, family, and fans and they can click to buy your book directly. This fulfillment and product page is free, without cutting into the profits you’ve set to make.

2. Local, in-person stores or events.

Local, independent stores can be more flexible with their inventory and space than big chain stores. Try approaching your local independent bookstore, or consider something more niche. If you made a cookbook, try getting it placed near the register at a local market. They may be open to giving you shelf space in exchange for some of the profits. This is also true if you wrote a book about your town or city or something else local. Getting those beautiful books placed in local boutiques might also work with this consignment scheme.

Sometimes, with a good enough relationship with a store or some compelling stats about your following, you can persuade a local store to partner with you for a signing event. It’s important to note that this in-store option means doing a volume order of your title ahead of time so you have copies on hand to sell—this also lets you take advantage of volume discounts!

Bonus: Watch for local craft or art sales where you may be able to get a book a booth and sell projects of your work at different, scalable price points. You can sell grand coffee table books, magazines, smaller photo books, etc. to offer your work. This can be a great way to sell your content to a wider audience by making it accessible at lower price points.

3. Sell on Amazon or through Barnes & Noble for wider distribution.

Whether you make a photo book or a trade book, you can sell your book on Amazon for wider distribution. Photo books are sold through the Amazon Marketplace, where they’ll get their own product page and a shareable link. Your book will also be searchable by Title or ISBN, so this is an incentive to make your title VERY unique or make sure that people have the number information for your book. It can take a while for new books to become visible in searches for these big databases for new authors. There are distribution fees associated with this sales method, but it can be really satisfying to send people to Amazon or Barnes and Noble to order your book. Plus they both offer the possibility of being discovered by people you don’t know.

There are so many possibilities for where to sell your book! To get started, order a proof copy of your book. If everything looks right, start with 10 or 20 and have them on hand for family, friends, or anyone interested. You may be surprised how easy it is to engage the people around you with just a couple copies on hand!

Good Luck!

Have any other suggestions for how to sell your book? Share them with other booksellers in the comments below!