Why You Should Buy Direct from Small Presses

Victoria Barrett of Engine Books makes a compelling case for buying small press books directly from the small presses themselves, even though other methods (rhymes with Bamazon) offer greater convenience and sometimes a better price.

Here’s an excerpt from her full blog post.  Notice the factor of 10 figure. Geesh!

.. Okay, it’s nice to get my hands on something right away if I can get it in person, and also to not pay for shipping. And so, now and then, the laziness/thriftiness/get-it-now mentality might take over.

Then I started Engine Books, and learned a thing or two.

For example, Engine Books nets more revenue from 100 direct sales than 1,000 copies sold through conventional distribution. That’s right: A factor of 10.

This exact number won’t be true for all small presses. For Engine Books, it’s the right decision to discount wholesale prices to meet retailers’ demands. But if you didn’t know, those discounts are staggering. The best option for small presses to generate sustainable funding is either to offer retailers a smaller discount or to price the book higher to generate a little more revenue. The former means that fewer retail stores will even consider stocking the book; the latter means it feels overpriced to potential readers. And perhaps at some point, Engine Books will adopt that business model, reaching for less distribution and more stable (if modest) sources of income. This works well for many small presses. And of course, even with the bloodletting-level discount, there’s no guarantee whatsoever that bookstores will order a title. Even so, I feel I owe my authors a shot at broad availability.