I just got an email from Barnes & Noble with a link to a program by which a self-published author could get a book onto B&N store bookshelves. It seems to be fairly new. The link is titled Consideration for Product Listing on BN.com and Retail Store Placement.
https://help.barnesandnoble.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2155
The linked page includes the following. "Publishers/Authors who would like Barnes & Noble to consider their title(s) for store placement, please submit a finished copy (no manuscripts, discs or flash drives please) of the book along with marketing and promotion plans, trade reviews, and a note describing how the book meets the competition (what makes it unique)" to them.
The web page gives more info about the requirements, and a link to even more detailed requirements. Your book can be published either by Amazon's CreateSpace or Ingram Spark, seemingly. I didn't see any exclusion if the book was already available, but I'd guess that that would count against it.
The hoops we would have to jump through are considerable, and it would be a rare book that satisfied them AND had enough commercial potential to be selected by B&N editors. I'd guess that publishing would be more likely by going the usual route of agents submitting to existing trade publishers. Still, the program may be interesting to some of us.
https://help.barnesandnoble.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2155
The linked page includes the following. "Publishers/Authors who would like Barnes & Noble to consider their title(s) for store placement, please submit a finished copy (no manuscripts, discs or flash drives please) of the book along with marketing and promotion plans, trade reviews, and a note describing how the book meets the competition (what makes it unique)" to them.
The web page gives more info about the requirements, and a link to even more detailed requirements. Your book can be published either by Amazon's CreateSpace or Ingram Spark, seemingly. I didn't see any exclusion if the book was already available, but I'd guess that that would count against it.
The hoops we would have to jump through are considerable, and it would be a rare book that satisfied them AND had enough commercial potential to be selected by B&N editors. I'd guess that publishing would be more likely by going the usual route of agents submitting to existing trade publishers. Still, the program may be interesting to some of us.