Publishing a book might seem like the biggest hurdle for an independently published (aka “indie”) author. But in reality, book publishing is nothing compared to the follow-up marketing that happens afterward.
Pitching your novel to a bookstore can be particularly daunting. To further complicate the process, every bookstore has their own policy when it comes to stocking shelves and paying authors. There’s no magic pitch formula or copy-and-paste template. Some bookstores prefer to order from your distributor (as long as it isn’t KDP, which is Amazon’s publishing company). Others like to buy directly from the author so they can carry autographed copies. And some have a strict policy against self-publishing altogether and won’t even consider carrying your book.
But if you feel like you’re ready to start approaching local bookstores, what’s the best way to increase your chances of getting your book on the shelf? Is it better to walk in, shake the owner’s hand, introduce yourself, and confidently pitch your book right then and there? Or send an email with links to your website, social media pages, and Goodreads listing? Should you approach the bookstore yourself, or send a representative to act as an agent on your behalf?
What information does a bookstore owner want to hear in your pitch so you can get straight to the point without losing their attention? Will the bookstore buy your books upfront, or does it operate on a consignment structure so you don’t get paid until the books actually sell? What profit margin does the bookstore expect? (And how much of your profit margin are you able to reasonably sacrifice?)
It’s wise to be at least somewhat prepared before you contact a bookstore and propose a partnership. Because that’s really what it is—a business agreement with give and take on both sides. You need to consider how you can help to support the bookstore if the owner take on the risk of adding your book to their inventory and giving you valuable, limited shelf space. Ideally, you’ll want to build a relationship with your local bookstore(s) so you can cross-market and schedule book signings.
What benefits can YOU offer the bookstore? Will you feature them on social media? Add links on your website? Help to drive traffic to their brick-and-mortar location by directing your growing fan base to the bookstore?
An indie author’s first move should be to do some research before pitching, just as you would with a literary agent. Get to know the bookstore. Find out what you can about their policies. Do they specialize in particular themes and genres? Do they have an online form you can fill out? If they don’t carry any indie titles, then there’s no need to waste your time and theirs. (Don’t bother trying to convince them that you should be an exception—they have that policy for a reason, so just move on.)
I could write a full article about my personal experiences as an indie author reaching out to bookstores… but I wanted to dive even deeper and hear directly from the sources to uncover what bookstore owners are actively looking for, not just what happened to work for me. So, I reached out to three local independent bookstores in my region to ask them interview questions and learn more about their individual policies, processes, and insights.
Here’s what they had to say about how indie authors should pitch their books to independent bookstores…
- Meet the Bookstores
- How long have you owned your business?
- What is your bookstore’s policy about authors approaching you to carry their books?
- What kind of business partnerships do you have with local authors?
- Do you have a preference for an author’s initial method of contact?
- What are the most important key points an author needs to cover in their pitch?
- Do you prefer certain genres or types of books over others?
- What red flags make you instantly reject a book for consideration?
- If an author contacts you in person or over the phone, are you likely to give them a yes or no right away, or do you need time to vet them privately before making a decision?
- Do you prefer to purchase books directly from the author or order from the distributor?
- Is your decision to carry a book impacted by whether the author is the one who contacts you directly vs. a representative reaching out on behalf of the author?
- What advice would you give to indie authors who are querying bookstores to carry their novels?
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Meet the Bookstores
A HUGE thank-you to the bookstores that participated in this interview! All three of these indie bookstores currently carry either my first book or my entire series. I’ve had book signings at two of them (with the third on my schedule for an upcoming signing at a local author fair this summer).
Before we dive into the interview questions, here are the bookstores who shared their professional expertise:
Books & Whimsy (La Porte, IN)
BOOKS & WHIMSY is a used bookstore with new and antiquarian books. The store is run by Waffles and Alexandria, the bookstore cats, and their humans.
Flourish Books & Plants (New Buffalo, MI)
FLOURISH BOOKS & PLANTS carries new, used, & discount books, houseplants, and a collection of delightful bookish things for all kinds of readers.
flourishbandp@gmail.com | 17649 US 12, New Buffalo, MI, 49117 (Wed-Sat 12-6pm & Sun 1-4pm)
The Press (Valparaiso, IN)
THE PRESS is an independent, experiential bookstore with a coffee shop featuring locally roasted coffee and a wine bar. Their mission is to stimulate the enjoyment of reading, imagination, and socialization in a relaxing and inviting space where a bookstore is coupled with fine, locally crafted coffee during the day and wine in the evenings.
How long have you owned your business?
Books & Whimsy
On Saturday, June 3, 2023, Booksie opened the store but made Lizz do most of the work due to her lack of opposable thumbs. Originally only open on Saturdays, Booksie soon approved Lizz’s partnership with Cameron and Tabs, which led to expanded hours and offerings. That makes our little community just over two and a half years old.
Flourish Books & Plants
5.5 years! What started as a pandemic project to pass the time and supplement income (and happiness) has turned into a magical, full-time job.
Photo: Jocelyne Tuszynski, Owner
The Press
The Press has been opened for 3 years this April (2026).
What is your bookstore’s policy about authors approaching you to carry their books?
Books & Whimsy
We don’t really have a policy about how authors approach us as we try to accommodate what works for individuals since we try to cater to neurodiversity. We accept people however they come, anxious or confident. Whether it’s via email, text, in-person… or our least favorite of all time… The Phone Call (please don’t call, we love you, we just want you to text instead).
Flourish Books & Plants
We have an Author Inquiry Request tab on our website, which currently directs you to our email (I will be changing that to a Google form). Once you have inquired, the rest is up to us! We understand marketing yourself is a full time job, and if we are interested in you, we will get back to you—promise. We’re just busy!
The Press
We were quite surprised with how many local and indie authors there are in our area. After being inundated with submissions, we decided to go with a very specific process to keep things more organized. We have query submissions guidelines for local artists and authors on our website. We ask anyone approaching us to visit our website & submit the queries accordingly. This process allows us to sort through the requests in a more proficient manner.
What kind of business partnerships do you have with local authors?
Books & Whimsy
We try to negotiate individualized agreements that are mutually beneficial to both parties, so it really depends. We look at the agreements in three particular areas: stock, profit share, and sidelines. A lot of it depends on how invested we are with the author and how much of a risk we think their book is for our customer base. We always want to serve all the stakeholders of our shop—authors, our customers, the local community, and the shop. If we decide to carry a title, usually the arrangement that most appropriately shares risk, rewards, and serves stakeholders is consignment.
On a consignment arrangement, we work with the author to determine an initial investment. The easiest way is to pay authors upon sale, but sometimes an author needs a little help to meet an order minimum or achieve a stock level. If an author wants us to help pay for the copies we stock, we do what we can. Whether it’s a split of the cost of the title or a full payment of cost, we will pay the profit portions upon sale. Occasionally, we will stock a title through a distributor, but the reality of that is that distributors rarely offer a discount for a title by a local or indie author that is reasonable for a shop.
Another concern to deal with is inventory shrink. Our store personally covers any shrink that occurs, but not all stores cover lost, stolen or damaged goods. When it comes to splitting the profit on the book, we generally need to maintain a margin of 30% to cover overhead and make a rather minimal profit. Sometimes we budget a little bit on the book profit share, but the industry average margin on books for profitable stores is 53% according to The American Bookseller’s Association. So, when we agree to a 70%/30% author/store split, we’re pretty close to unprofitable territory for us. The whole industry is very tight on margin for both authors and bookstores. We also look to carry sidelines and tie-in products that authors produce. We try to dedicate a little area to the author if they’re local or an indie we particularly support.
Flourish Books & Plants
Since we do work with authors that have self-published nontraditionally, the safe statement is: We do prefer to start on a consignment basis, with three to five titles and a sixty day window—once your stock has sold, we can work from there.
The Press
We offer consignment. Our standard agreement is The Press retains 33% of the retail price set by the author/artist.
Do you have a preference for an author’s initial method of contact?
Books & Whimsy
We’re working on an author submission form as an initial form of contact, but at the moment, a text or an email asking to set up a meeting works really well for us. That way we can discuss and figure out whether we’re a good fit for each other. We don’t mind when authors just drop by, but sometimes we might not have the time you deserve. Really, we’re up for anything that isn’t a phone call.
Flourish Books & Plants
The initial email/form will be great! We really do support indie authors, I just tend to forget about stuff during the hustle and bustle of business owning.
The Press
No matter how you reach out to us, our response will be the same—please see our website for query submission details.
What are the most important key points an author needs to cover in their pitch?
Books & Whimsy
Love of the story, being open to input, and having spent at least a moment knowing who our store is.
Flourish Books & Plants
Did you self publish? If all of your copies sell out quickly, can I order from Ingram? Are you available to replenish the stock at our store? A lot of authors spend time selling the premise/plot of their book to me instead of explaining how to get their books in my hands—this project obviously means a lot to you—so it means a lot to us!
The Press
Be prepared to provide a statement of why your book/product is a good fit for our store. These are some of the questions we will ask ourselves while reviewing your title or product:
- Is the product professionally bound or manufactured?
- Is the jacket art or packaging pixelated or AI?
- Does the text have excessive typographical, typesetting, or copy-editing errors?
- Are there any production quality issues?
- Is the product’s pricing competitive?
- How do you plan on marketing your book/product to our customers?
Do you prefer certain genres or types of books over others?
(If so, is this preference determined by sales trends, patron demographics, personal taste, et cetera?)
Books & Whimsy
We have very specific tastes, but we tend toward fantasy, sci-fi, and underrepresented literature. They’re a result of what we personally like, our sales trends, and very importantly, what we’d like to make available to our community.
Flourish Books & Plants
We do not have a genre preference.
The Press
While we do not prefer certain genres, we do take into account what our customers are buying. For instance, a book on how to buy property in Texas wouldn’t sell well, as we are based in Indiana.
What red flags make you instantly reject a book for consideration?
Books & Whimsy
First and foremost, homophobia, transphobia, racism, fascism, and hate in all its forms.
Books published through Amazon… Even worse when an author comes to us and asks us to buy their title from Amazon. Asking an indie bookstore to sell books published through Amazon is like asking an indie coffee shop to make you Starbucks… (We suggest How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine.) We’re willing to accept your titles are for sale on Amazon and we’ll have to compete with that, but if they’re not on Bookshop.org in print and ebook, with audio on Libro.fm, and you refuse to listen to why that’s important for us and you, it’s an automatic no.
Outside of “The Big A,” the biggest red flag is authors who have really high expectations. Some authors want us to devote multiple display windows, a featured shelf, directed hand sales, multiple social media pushes, and more. Or believe their book will sell stacks upon stacks. We want to help authors, and we do our best to feature them, but we also have to do what keeps the store in business with the limited resources and public attention we have. When we’re already making very minimal profit on titles that are not going to be mainstream bestsellers, we have to do what keeps the doors open as well as provide exposure to up-and-coming authors. That means we have limited physical, social media, and headspace.
Flourish Books & Plants
AI (covers/writing), consistent calls/emails/badgering by the author, topics we feel do not support our vision and community.
The Press
AI is an immediate pass. Gratuitous grammar & spelling errors along with improper book formatting will also be a pass from us.
If an author contacts you in person or over the phone, are you likely to give them a yes or no right away, or do you need time to vet them privately before making a decision?
Books & Whimsy
We probably won’t give an answer immediately. Answers we give immediately are generally rejections. Most authors make it past that and at that point, we want to get to know them, figure out whether we can work out a mutually beneficial agreement, and read something of theirs first.
We definitely vet our authors as well. We’ll discuss their social media and websites with them. Do they feature Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, and indie stores? Do they post content we don’t support? It doesn’t all have to be perfect, but we’re definitely checking it out first, chatting about what our relationship would look like, who you are, and reading your work. That takes time.
Flourish Books & Plants
I do vet anyone who contacts us about a collaboration—so an instant answer will generally not be provided.
The Press
We do not give immediate responses. We take our time and make sure the book is a good fit for the store before proceeding.
Do you prefer to purchase books directly from the author or order from the distributor?
Books & Whimsy
We prefer to buy directly from the author because usually that provides the most benefit for us both.
Flourish Books & Plants
It is much easier for me to order from the distributor, but lately, shipping has been a nightmare—if you have author copies you are able to wholesale discount for us, that works too.
The Press
Either. Distributor is easiest, but we will order from authors directly. Whichever is easiest for the author.
Is your decision to carry a book impacted by whether the author is the one who contacts you directly vs. a representative reaching out on behalf of the author?
Books & Whimsy
While we don’t mind who contacts us to introduce the work, authors always nail the pitch. We’ve all got limited time though, so while we try not to have a bias, we’re totally susceptible to authors in love with their stories. That said, an initial contact to see whether we’ll even consider carrying a title by an envoy who sets up a meeting with the author works well.
Flourish Books & Plants
Though impersonal, we do understand. An initial email or social media message is all I would require from the representative/assistant.
The Press
No. The process is the same.
What advice would you give to indie authors who are querying bookstores to carry their novels?
Books & Whimsy
Show up with enthusiasm about your work. Show us that hyperfocus, but keep in mind if you can’t sell your story in three sentences, one paragraph, or three minutes, you’re in trouble. Practice and get feedback from your readers. We get about 20-30 requests to carry books a week, so time is limited, and if you’re bored, we’re bored. Excite us.
Be ready to hear and understand how hard this is industry is. The book industry is byzantine, stodgy, and stingy. Unfortunately, authors and bookstores get hit with the brunt of those issues. The huge sausage machine in the middle sometimes makes authors and bookstores feel like enemies, and that’s not reality.
Take a no graciously, especially if you’re publishing through Amazon. Most indie stores don’t want your book if it’s through Amazon or you heavily push purchasing through Amazon. When your actions prove a store’s competitor will always be more important to you than them, you’re telling that store you don’t value them. There’s no way a mutual benefit starts with that.
Stay humble, avoid entitlement, and be ready to listen. If you haven’t already read what Sara’s written about this messy landscape, then be prepared to learn from a bookstore if they have the time to help you learn. And if they don’t when they tell you something is a problem, get out Google and Reddit and figure out why that might be, or ask. It’s probably not because they hate you.
And bring an ARC or review copy. If we have to pay to try and read your book to even consider whether we’ll carry it… oooof.
Flourish Books & Plants
Ease of acquiring stock is at the top of our list for carrying your work—We understand people use amaz*n to self-publish, and that is great for you! However, we will not be purchasing FROM amaz*n to carry your books.
Once you acquire them (from the zon), we will purchase them directly from YOU. You deserve our money, not Bezos.
We know your novel is SO important to you—like how our bookstores are important to US. Let us marinate with the options before coming to a decision; if we feel rushed or badgered, it’s definitely not happening.
The Press
Be polite. Ask what the policies are on queries. And be patient. Sometimes it takes a moment to get back to the authors, being hounded with constant emails and phone calls can be very off putting.
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.
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