{"id":994,"date":"2026-07-02T12:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/selling-distributing-book\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T12:46:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T10:46:07","slug":"selling-and-distributing-your-book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/knowledge-base\/publishing-selling\/selling-and-distributing-your-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling and distributing your book: the options"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your book is printed; now you want to get it to readers. <strong>Selling your book<\/strong> can be done in various ways, from selling it yourself to going through bookshops. Which route suits you depends on your goal, your print run and how much you want to arrange yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large has-custom-border\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"960\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tussen-twee-werelden-gedrukt-bij-printiteasy-768x960.jpg\" alt=\"Selling and distributing your book: the options\" class=\"wp-image-4318\" style=\"border-radius:14px\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tussen-twee-werelden-gedrukt-bij-printiteasy-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tussen-twee-werelden-gedrukt-bij-printiteasy-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tussen-twee-werelden-gedrukt-bij-printiteasy-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tussen-twee-werelden-gedrukt-bij-printiteasy.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Selling it yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The simplest and most profitable way is direct sales: through your own website or web shop, at events, talks and fairs, or straight to your network. You keep the full margin and the contact with your reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Through bookshops and online stores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to reach a wider audience, selling through bookshops and online platforms is interesting. For this you need an ISBN and usually a distributor who lists your title in the central ordering systems of bookshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Distribution and fulfilment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In-house:<\/strong> you ship yourself, maximum margin, more work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Distributor:<\/strong> your title becomes widely available, in exchange for a commission.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Print on demand:<\/strong> printing and shipping per order, without stock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which route suits your goal and print run? We are happy to think along with you about the most practical approach to printing and delivering your book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which route suits you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Selling your book comes down to a trade-off between reach, margin and convenience. Selling it yourself yields the most but costs time; through shops you reach more people but give up margin. Many creators combine the two: selling directly within their network, and through bookshops for the wider market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is left of the retail price?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When selling through bookshops, a substantial part of the retail price goes to the chain. The bookshop takes a trade discount, and if you work with a distributor a percentage is added to that. Exactly what remains differs per agreement, but count on keeping considerably less from a book in a shop than from the same book that you sell yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you sell directly you keep the whole margin, but you pay for shipping, payment costs and your own time. Work through both routes once with your actual print price included; a combination often turns out to work best: directly to your own audience, and through the trade for the reach you do not have yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Returns and stock risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the book trade a returns arrangement often applies: whatever does not sell goes back to the publisher. For you that means a risk you have to estimate in advance, certainly if you have had a large run printed. Books that come back damaged cannot always be sold again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You reduce that risk by starting small. Print a first run you can shift with certainty, see how it goes and reprint when the demand is there. With us that is possible from a single copy, so you do not have to put a thousand books in the attic to get a decent unit price. You can read more about that in our article on <a href=\"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/knowledge-base\/publishing-selling\/print-on-demand-explained\/\">print on demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to arrange before selling and distributing your book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before a bookshop or online retailer can order your book, it has to be findable in the systems the trade works with. That starts with an ISBN and with registering your title data: title, author, price, format and publication date. In the UK, ISBNs are issued by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nielsenisbnstore.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nielsen ISBN Store<\/a>; in the Netherlands that runs through the national ISBN agency. Think about your print run in advance as well: if you sell directly in small numbers you can reprint whenever stock runs low, but going through bookshops means holding stock and carrying the risk of returns. What a sensible print run looks like is covered under <a href=\"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/knowledge-base\/ordering-delivery\/\">ordering and delivery<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions about selling and distributing your book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Do I need an ISBN to sell my book?<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For sales through bookshops and online stores, yes. If you only sell yourself, within your own network, it is not necessary.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>How do I earn the most from my book?<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By selling it yourself: then you keep the full margin. Through shops you reach more people, but you give up part of the retail price.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>What is print on demand distribution?<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is where your book is only printed and shipped once a customer orders, so that you do not have to hold stock.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>Do I need a publisher to sell my book?<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No. Self-publishing works perfectly well: you arrange the ISBN, the printing and the sales yourself. A publisher takes work off your hands and offers reach, but also keeps part of the proceeds.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n<details class=\"wp-block-details is-layout-flow wp-block-details-is-layout-flow\"><summary>How do I get into bookshops?<\/summary>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through a distributor who lists your book in the central book database. Bookshops order from it. Without an ISBN and without a distributor you can only make arrangements shop by shop.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/contact-en\/\">Request a free quote<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/knowledge-base\/publishing-selling\/\">More about publishing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Your book is printed; now you want to get it to readers. Selling your book can be done in various ways, from selling it yourself to going through bookshops. Which route suits you depends on your goal, your print run and how much you want to arrange yourself. Selling it yourself The simplest and most&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":697,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-994","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6351,"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/994\/revisions\/6351"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/printiteasy.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}