Getting listed on Amazon

NemoBook said:

Maybe this is a stupid question, but a friend of mine just had his book published by a small press in FL who doesn't want to use Amazon, for some reason. The book includes lots of color images, and is kind of expensive, and the publisher claims that they won't make enough money if they sell on Amazon (of course, the alternative is that they don't sell any books, and make less money anyway!).

Is there any way to get the book sold on Amazon without the publisher's consent? Seems like there are many options these days as far as the New/Used Marketplace and individual sellers. Just curious if others have experience with this...

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Virtually every book eventually gets listed on Amazon because used copies will end up in the hands of used booksellers who will list them there. I suppose you (the generic you - the author, or anyone) could buy copies from the publisher wholesale and list them for sale on Amazon as "used, as new." I don't know how the publisher would feel about this if they caught you at it, or if there would be any legal liability of selling books that way which haven't already been sold retail.

I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to sell on Amazon, it's surely the biggest online book retailer.

NOT selling on Amazon sounds fishy.
I would advise your friend to ask questions & look deeper into this.
Sometimes, we're so grateful to have someone want our book, we sell our soul. I would tell your friend to hang on for a minute and don't fear seeking answers to such a weird set up.

Yes, it is very easy, just have your friend sign up for Amazon Advantage and off you go...

But it is fishy that their publisher does not have the books on Amazon.

Actually... can you sell used copies of a book whose ISBN isn't registered for new sale?

Dustry Joe,

I'm not sure I understand your question correctly. Can you sell used copies of a book that has an ISBN that has not been released? Yes and no. You can sell anything - just don't list it under the ISBN, use the title. Amazon does not like this and makes it hard to list a book that is not in their database or does not have an ISBN. abebooks and alibris will let you sell books without an ISBN.

However, if you are asking more about Advanced Review Copies or something similar, again, people do this (and collectors actively collect these), but the publisher will get very upset. Can they do anything? No. But if you are associated with the product in any way, I would not do this.

My books' contracts (different publishers) state I cannot sell books that I buy from them with my author discount at less than their list price (this effectively makes me their subsidized competitor). If your dad's contract has something similar, that would make buying wholesale and selling as "used" unfeasible. However, if the publisher has Alzheimer's, he might never know! LOL

Sorry to hijack this thread but I have a related question. How do you approach Amazon to get your book listed with them anyway (if it's not being sold as a used book but as a brand new book)? In other words, if you want them to sell and stock it like one of their new titles? Is there some channel you have to go through?

I'm wondering because I have my book listed on Amazon, but it was through a Lulu distribution plan. Without that, I'm not sure how it would've gotten listed there in the first place. The problem with Lulu is that the manufacturing cost is pretty high, so once you add the distribution cost to that, the sale price on Amazon is over $20 for a paperback. Ideally I would like to find some way to decrease the manufacturing cost and to go directly to Amazon myself. That could cut costs. How would I go about doing this?

Thanks.

If the publisher had a debilitating disease like Alzheimer's, would it be feasible for your father to get out of the contract and seek a new publisher? The situation seems sad to me, but the bottom line is the bottom line.

benbradley said:

. . .
I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to sell on Amazon, it's surely the biggest online book retailer.

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Because Amazon takes a big cut off the top (55% I believe) AND has some costly requirements for shipping from the publisher to Amazon. Slow to pay, too, I believe. If your margins are not fat enough between cost of the books and list price, it will be a money-loser. There is no fix except to have gotten the printing of a book like that done in Asia (and take your chances with delivery by slow boat) to minimize printing costs. Not everyone wants to do that.

--Ken

Strongbear said:

. . .Ideally I would like to find some way to decrease the manufacturing cost and to go directly to Amazon myself. That could cut costs. How would I go about doing this?

Thanks.

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Start by studying Dan Poynter's The Self-Publishing Manual (latest edition). Then be prepared to seek competitive bids on printing and to warehouse a large supply of your own books, handle all of the bookkeeping, licenses (business license, maybe a home occupation permit), taxes, and shipping. Not recommended unless you really, really want to get into that kind of business.

BTW, you mentioned Lulu -- here is something I learned only recently. Lulu offers good discounts on bulk orders. I don't know the cutoff, but by the time you hit 500 copies in one order, the numbers start to work pretty well. Still higher per book than, say, a 2,000 copy run from a competitive short-run printer (some can be competitive for smaller numbers, I have been told), but better. The thing is, for the really special bulk prices, you have to make a direct request and place the order directly with the Lulu representative by email or phone, NOT via the online order form. The latter will still get you a quantity discount (not bad by the time you reach a few hundred copies), but not as big a discount as through the special bulk-order process.

But as I said, unless you really want to run that sort of business, I advise against it. The bulk order worked in my case, for that particular project, because most of the copies have been presold and will go out my door still in boxes the day they come in. Then someone else parcels them out retail.

--Ken

If you want a direct line into Amazon (and not via their Advantage program) use Lightning Source for your printing. They are cheaper then Lulu or CreateSpace and allow you to set your discount (i.e., those in the know set a 25% discount if they only want to sell online). So, if you publish your book and only want online sales, this is the way to go. If you want bookstore sales as well, you need to make your books returnable and have a 40-50% discount (which you can do also via Lightning Source). They also offer an off-set service for larger orders, but anything over 500 is best done via the traditional methods querying bids.