Barnes & Noble is adding a Nook Press print book platform which offers self-published authors the opportunity to get national distribution through the firm’s 640 bookstores.
Authors will be able to sell their print books through Barnes & Noble stores across the country on a local, regional or national level and online at BN.com.
However, to be eligible to sell through Barnes & Noble bookstores, an author must have sold at least 1,000 ebooks of a single title in the past year. Authors need to have sold only 500 ebooks in the past year to qualify for an opportunity to take part in in-store events including book signings and discussions, where they can sell their print books.
Self-publishers who want their print books considered for in-store placement on a local, regional or national level, should submit their print books for review by Barnes & Noble’s Small Press Department and one of the company’s corporate category buyers while an event review is needed from a B&N store manager to take part in in-store events. You can get more details by emailing nookpressauthors@book.com.
Barnes & Noble Chief Digital Officer Fred Argir says, “Barnes & Noble is proud to offer coordinated national distribution for self-published authors who will benefit from in-store placement at Barnes & Noble stores and online at BN.com. No one else can offer self-published authors a retail presence like Barnes & Noble can, and we are thrilled to lead the movement to innovate the self-publishing industry by leveraging our stores nationwide. We look forward to seeing how the new all-in-one platform will increase the success of our authors.”
Self-published best-selling series author HM Ward thinks the print distribution deal could be a ‘game-changer’. She says, “I think the Nook Press print platform is going to be a tremendous success. For authors, being able to have their books available in print and digital is huge.
‘For readers, they suddenly have access to more best-selling titles at great prices. Barnes & Noble and authors can make self-published books available in stores and at events, which is something the competition can’t do. This is a game-changer and shows that Barnes & Noble has the capability to change the self-publishing model in a way that no one else can.”
Any self-published print book can be made available for sale on BN.com in about 72 hours after being uploaded to the Nook Press platform.
The print platform guides authors through the print book creation process so long as they have print-ready PDF or Word documents of their interior text and cover. For more information, authors should visit print.nookpress.com.
Here’s an example of the economics of Nook Press print books for self-publishers:
This is a quote from Nook Press for a 5 inches x 8 inches, 201-250-page paperback book, black and white print on cream paper — $3.86 per book printing cost.
Setting a retail price of $10.99 for the book would see a retail and distribution charge of 45% (which is pretty good by comparison with some distributors who look for 50% or more), which would leave $6.04. Take away the print cost of $3.86 and the author is left with a 20% margin of $2.18 — not a bad result in the print world.
The important factor, of course, is setting a competitive price without cutting into your margin too much.