Writing World: Books in Barnes & Noble

Today I wanted to clear up one of the biggest misconceptions in publishing. Not all published novels make it into bookstores. I know this thought may seem strange at first, after all, isn’t that the reason you publish a book in the first place?

Think about it though. Can you imagine how big a Barnes & Noble would have to be to house every single book ever written by anyone? Costco sized at least. I don’t know why I never thought of this when I set out to publish a book, but it makes sense. Barnes & Noble is selective with which books are chosen to sit on their shelves. Just because your book is in print and available to order through Barnesandnoble.com doesn’t mean they’ll choose it to be in their stores.

Of course there are some guarantees. If you’re published by the big six in New York, you can pretty much bet your book will have a home in Barnes & Noble, but what about the rest of us? If you’re published by a mid-sized house, a small press, self-published, etc. there is a lot more competition for that left over space on the shelves.

One of the first things people said after Oppression was published was, “Oh I can’t wait to go get it at Barnes & Noble!”

I’d have to explain that there was no guarantee it would be there. Of course people would be able to order it to the store if they wanted, but in terms of walking in and seeing it already displayed, that was something I couldn’t promise.

After discovering how things worked, I wasn’t really expecting to see Oppression in stores, but a month after its release, I walked into a local B&N and there it was, staring back at me. It had fought its way there and squeezed its beautiful book body between two others, amongst the big names in YA. Not just one, but five copies sat proudly on the second level facing out for the world to see.

It was a great feeling to know that Oppression made the cut, at least for that store (and four others here in San Diego).

Thanks Barnes & Noble, and thanks to everyone who has supported me and spread the word about my book! It’s because of you that it has been so successful J