Book Sales Catalogs

Catalogs are a great way to market your book to non-bookstore buyers.

There are thousands of different catalogs. According to the National Mail Order Association there are over 14,000 printed catalogs and many more on the Internet.

Since most of these catalogs are niche specific, the key is to find those most appropriate for marketing your book.

Of these, in the United States:

• 9,000 are consumer catalogs
• 5,000 are focused on business-to-business sales

Each catalog is a separate sales channel - including your book cover and description to a targeted group of customers.

Apart from the direct sales, the exposure your book gets through these catalogs helps to raise awareness of your book in other channels, such as bookstores.

Service Support for Catalog Sales

Catalogs generally promise a “high fill rate” - meaning orders are filled and shipped quickly. This means they will want to purchase books for inventory. This is where you must partner with the catalog and ensure they have ample stock to complete this service promise. Shipping in larger quantities also helps to keep the per book shipping rate down. In most cases, the catalog company pays for shipping, giving you their shipping ID.

Sales are generally non-returnable

Commissions are generally paid in 30 days

Discount rates range from 50 - 65% of retail list price.

Whilst the discount rate seems high, these sales are usually ones you wouldn't otherwise get from direct efforts, so the additional cost is acceptable.

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