When you first become a published author there is much to learn about the ins and outs of this sometimes difficult to understand industry. There are some aspects that seem just plain backwards, particularly for those entering the industry from a business background. One of the hardest elements to come to grips with is the concept that a sale is not really a sale until it goes through two or three transactions. This makes calculating expected revenue difficult, to say the least. Add to that the returns factor (discussed here) and you are left with some confusing data to sort through.

If you’re working with a distributor, your distributor is going to sell your book to wholesalers and to retailers. (Learn the difference between wholesalers and distributors here.) Wholesalers play a very big role in all of this and it’s not uncommon for the majority of your books to first be sold to the myriad of wholesalers out there, big and small. Your distributor will report this is a sale to you and you will be paid for that sale (minus returns and reserves against future returns) but in the more explicit sense of the word, it’s not quite a sale yet. At this point, your book has been stocked in a wholesaler’s warehouse with the hopes that their customers (retailers and libraries) will purchase it from them.

Ask anyone that has been in publishing for more than ninety days what they like least about the industry and you will undoubtedly get the answer, “returns!” Returns are high on the list of frustrating and hard-to-accept aspects of the book business.

When I first began working in publishing years ago, I was told early on about returns during my training with our own Tanya Hall. I remember kind of chuckling when she told me that all sales could be returned for any reason at any time. Having never heard of such a practice in my prior retail, B2B, and direct to consumer experience, I thought surely she must be joking. Well, she wasn’t, but the hundreds of authors I have worked with over the years have certainly felt like the joke’s on them when it comes to returns.

Stop the presses! Before you print your book, make sure you’re not committing a major packaging faux pas that will diminish retail buyers’ interest. We’ve all heard the statistic: 2,000 books are published every day. That means the competition for shelf space is fierce, so as an author, you have to make sure the physical presentation of your book is flawless or you don’t stand much of a chance.

We receive so many submissions that, despite having great content, have one part of the packaging off, which makes it hard for us, or any distributor, to effectively sell the title. Interior layout is one facet of packaging that can be easily overlooked but remains essential to the professional presentation and readability of a book. I spoke with managing designer Sheila Parr, who’s won numerous awards for her book designs, about common layout errors, and she offered some simple advice to anyone looking to produce a book on their own.

We know shipping (and its associated costs) can sometimes be a big pain. However, in the publishing industry, there is just no way around it. Books must get to the wholesalers and retailers in order for them to be sold to the customer, and someone has to incur the shipping costs.

There are a few options, though, when it comes to moving your books from here to there. Some are just OK; others are better. Trust me, we speak from experience (lots and lots of it!).

So, the big debate: which carrier to use? While Greenleaf Book Group typically recommends shipping with a courier such as UPS or FedEx, I will lay out the particulars of each option and let you decide which is the best option for you.

For the purposes of comparison, I’m going to lump UPS and FedEx together as couriers since they both operate in the same general way. Their primary challenger is the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Everyday thousands of new books are released, most by first time authors. What is interesting is that what an author thinks is a good book is not always what a book distributor or the general public deems a quality book.

Many authors begin the hard work of generating sales for their book long before the actual release date. There are many different options for collecting these preorders, as well as many ways to make the most of them, helping you meet your goals and priorities for the project.

Writers dream of becoming bestselling authors so they can plaster that phrase next to their name on business cards, resumes, books, blog posts, and photos. And they can’t be blamed—that phrase counts for a lot, especially for authors hoping to attract customers with a “national bestseller” banner on their cover. But what exactly does it mean to be a bestselling author? And how much does it really matter?

If you’re taking the reins on how your book is being printed, you’ve probably already come to face-to-face with the many available options. We’ve written before about print-on-demand versus traditional printing, but we thought it might also be helpful to discuss binding style. Hardcover vs. paperback or mass market—how do you decide which is right for your book?