Bookstores will often not order books that are not returnable. If a title does not sell within a period of time, they want to be able to return the unsold copies for full refund. Eighty percent of books are sold through brick and mortar bookstores. If your book is not displayed in these stores, you lose a lot of market share.

Self publishing companies sell you a returnability program. The following is what Xlibris charges

• 12-month Term - $699
• 24-month Term - $999
• 36-month Term - $1299

Felibri also offers returnability policy. However, this service is included in our Worldwide Distribution plan at no cost.

Print-on-demand books are more expensive than traditionally printed books. When a book is returned, you pay, not only the cost of the book but also shipping expenses (from printer to the store, from store to Ingram warehouse and then to you). Unless you can resell the retuned books through other means, they are your losses. One returned book can eat up the profit that you make on, three, four or five books.

Having your book listed in Ingram Books catalogue and offering returnability does not necessarily translate into more sales. If you don’t have a good marketing strategy you may end up selling very few or even no books at all.

Contact bookstores and find out what are their requirements to order your book. They often will agree to sell your book as consignment. Which means unsold books will be returned to you. Then you can order a few books which we will directly ship to them on your behalf.

Having your book displayed on the shelves of bookstores increases the chance of it getting noticed. However, it is no guarantee that it will sell.  In order to sell your book you have to promote it, get reviews, do book signings, write articles, give speeches and appear on radio talk shows. You must create a buzz and build a momentum in order to increase your sale volume.  

Do you have a website? If not we will be glad to assign you one. If you write great articles and invite people to read them, your readers will pass the link to others and search engines will pick your blog bringing more traffic.