What Do Bookstore Buyers Look For?

A bookstore buyer is ultimately deciding whether a title deserves scarce physical shelf space. That decision can involve several factors:

• Demand: Is there an established audience for the book? Does the author have a platform, publicity, events, or other marketing activity that can drive readers into stores?

• Category and positioning: Can the buyer immediately understand where the book belongs and who will buy it?

• Price and wholesale terms: Is the retail price competitive for the category, and do the wholesale terms allow the store to make an appropriate margin?

• Returnability: Returnable books generally present less financial risk to bookstores. IngramSpark notes that some booksellers will only purchase titles on a returnable basis.

• Metadata: Accurate title, subtitle, author, category, description, price, publication date, and other metadata help buyers and booksellers discover and order the book.

• Professional presentation: Cover design, trim size, binding, and overall production quality need to meet readers’ and retailers’ expectations.

• Reviews and publicity: Reviews, media attention, awards, endorsements, and other third-party validation can help demonstrate potential demand.

Why “Being in Ingram” Is Not a Strategy

One of the most common phrases we hear from authors is, “My book is distributed through Ingram.” It’s usually said with relief, sometimes with pride, and often with the assumption that a major hurdle has been cleared. However, that’s often not the case.

A book does not move from author to bookstore shelf in a straight line. It moves through a layered system: publisher to distributor to wholesaler to retailer to reader. Each layer serves a specific function. When those functions get conflated, authors mistake access for traction.