How to Sell Your Self-Published Book to Bookstores

Original article published March 2, 2023. Updated May 27, 2026.

Independent booksellers once resisted self-published titles, often assuming they lacked quality. Today, many self-published books rival traditionally published ones in both content and production. So just how do you go about selling your book to independent bookstores?

Quick Summary: How to Get Self-Published Books into Bookstores

• Offer industry-standard wholesale discounts (typically 55%)

• Make the book returnable through a major distributor, like Ingram

• Pitch local indie bookstores in person with a tailored marketing plan

• Ensure professional, genre-compliant cover design and trim sizes

Writing books is both a passion and a business for authors, and the same is true for independent bookstores when it comes to selling them. Indie bookstores are cherished community spaces, staffed by people who truly care about books and readers—but they still have to keep their doors open. Everyone has to make a living in this business, and this is what independent booksellers need from you and your book in order for both you and them to succeed in selling it.

Know Your Target Audience

1. Know the specific reader you're writing for, not just the broad market.

Having a clear understanding of who your audience is before you start writing is a great advantage. You should be able to identify: 

• • Who the book is for
  • What kind of reader will connect with it
  • Why that reader would choose your book over similar titles

This means thinking beyond "people who like memoirs" or "men from 18 to 34" and getting specific about interests, reading habits, tone, and expectations. 

Take a deep dive into defining your target readers:

• Tips on How to Target Your Book's Audience
• Go Granular for Your Target Audience
  
  

2. Understand where that audience shops.

Every book doesn't belong in every store. Think about:

• Which kind of bookstores serve your readers

• Whether your book is a good fit for a general indie store, a niche store, or the local-interest section of a store

• Whether your audience is more likely to discover the book in person, online, at events, or through community groups 

For more on how to find a ready-made audience for your book: 

• Genre-Specific Bookstores: How Indie Authors Can Reach Ready-Made Readers
• Finding a Niche Market for Your Book

3. Match the book to reader expectations.

Support your local independent bookstore before asking them to support your book.

• Go beyond just finding a store on Google; get to know them personally.

• Build relationships with indie booksellers by buying books from their stores. Encourage friends and family to buy there as well.
  
• Recognize that this kind of support makes you a strong literary citizen, and it's also smart, long-term business.

Independent bookstores have become more than just a place to buy a book; they're constantly evolving. 

• Indie bookstores are community hotspots—supporting the local community, creating publishing programs, publishing and selling their own unique content, and hosting author events.

• When pitching your book to an indie bookseller, consider the unique ways your book ties into supporting the bookstore and the community. Your support of them will make them more likely to support you.

Before you approach a bookstore owner, research his or her background.

• Get a feel for the shop’s customers and the types of books the store typically promotes and sells.

• Take a look at the store’s social media accounts and see what kinds of events they typically host. When you meet with the owner, use this information in your pitch. If they have a certain type of customer that will be interested in your book, mention it.

For invaluable tips for self-published authors without big marketing budgets:

• Grow Your Base by Tapping into Reader Community Networks
• Speaking Engagements for Authors: Tips & Tricks

4. Know a store's demographic. 

A bookstore owner wants to make sure your book aligns with their customers.

• Niche bookstores may only carry a certain genre. Know your genre and your target reader.

• Be able to accurately and concisely explain what your book is about, so the bookstore will have a better idea if your book is a fit for their customers.

• Spend time in the store to understand who shops there and how your book compares to their inventory.
• If a bookseller doesn't believe their customers will buy your book, they won't stock it.

• Learn to master metadata best practices, create persuasive marketing materials including excerpts and press releases, and build an author website that serves as your marketing hub with our FREE Book Marketing Course. 
  

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Set Competitive Wholesale Discounts and Return Terms

The book industry is a returnable industry, which means bookstores will expect to be able to return books they don’t sell and get a credit for their return.

• If you want your book to flow easily into independent bookstores, then consider the 55% wholesale discount and make it returnable.

• Remember that most bookstores will start cautiously, ordering only one or two copies until they see how well your book sells.
• If you're self-published, print-on-demand services are a cost-effective way to get your book out there.
• Bookstores are more likely to order your book when it's returnable through a distributor like IngramSpark and offered on bookstore-friendly discount terms.

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Meet Industry Quality and Design Standards

Aim for bookstore-ready quality. Stores want to be almost certain they can sell a book before they buy it, so be sure you're producing a professionally edited, well-designed book that meets industry standards.

• Ensure your cover design, interior formatting, and overall production quality meet or surpass comparable books in your genre.

• Align with clear genre conventions:

  • Shape your book so it comfortably fits in its genre while still offering a fresh angle.
  • Review strong-selling titles in your category and use them as a guide for positioning your own.
• Your book must be easy for booksellers to shelve, so it should clearly fit a recognizable section or genre.
  • Determine how people will actually discover your book and label and package it in such a way that booksellers will know exactly what it is and where to put it.
  • Visit your local bookstore and take note of the trim sizes, book cover imagery, and interiors. 
  • If you see consistent designs in a genre, follow them, as they signal what appeals to readers and booksellers.

Establish an Appropriate Retail Price

Set a retail price that fits your market and reflects your book’s value.

• Some titles, such as manuals or textbooks with limited print runs or highly specific demand, can be priced as premium “destination” books.

• Others—especially lighter, impulse-read titles—should be priced lower. This is where your market research matters: study comparable books in your category so your price feels consistent, avoids sticker shock, and still signals quality.

Simplify the Ordering Process for Booksellers

Listing your book with IngramSpark gives booksellers peace of mind. Ingram is widely trusted in the book industry and is a dependable partner for stores when they decide where to order their books.

• Booksellers prefer streamlined distribution. Working through established distributors lets them order, sell, and invoice many titles at once, while dealing directly with individual indie authors requires repeating that process one author at a time. 

• Using IngramSpark for your book will be more convenient for the bookstore, and the easier you make it for an indie bookstore to sell your book, the more likely they are to be willing to try.

Build a Robust Marketing and Support Plan

Booksellers want to know what support you will provide to help your book sell and what will inspire readers to visit a store specifically to buy it.

• The bookstore's only job is to sell your book, not market it. Have a solid marketing plan in place, and let the store owner know your plans. It'll show them that you can not only take the initiative, but also that you have confidence that your book will sell well. 
• If you want to sell your book at a specific store, you can start a grassroots book marketing campaign to make it happen. Ask friends and family near the store to request your book over time so it builds a track record of sales before you approach the manager.

Create an Author Page on Bookshop.org 

Your website and marketing may point readers to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but also create an author page on Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores and build your mailing list.

Locally, some indie stores may prefer consignment or an event to test interest, but all want to see that you will generate buzz and help move books off the shelf and into readers’ hands.

Plan your indie bookstore strategy in advance: visit stores, learn their customers, assess fit, and, if this channel is right for you, apply these tips and self-publish with IngramSpark.