Selling books on consignment: A viable option for many writers

Lately I’ve been consumed with searching for a viable publishing model that would mutually benefit the author, publisher and bookseller. While this is not the perfect solution (I’m not sure a "perfect solution" can ever be found), and it’s certainly nothing new, it’s an idea worth entertaining.

Selling books on consignment is pretty simple. Let’s pretend you self-published your own book to bypass the bureaucratic large publishing houses, and got your book into a POD (Print On Demand) program. Great! So you order a box or two of books as inventory to get you started. Next, you start hitting the pavement and visiting the various local independent booksellers in your area. Once a bookseller becomes interested in your book, you agree to give them X amount of books to stock their shelves with.

So far no money has exchanged hands. You and the bookseller mutually agree on the percentage you’ll each get every time your book sells (ideally this agreement should be in writing and legally binding). And at regular intervals for a specific period of time you check in with the bookseller to see how sales are. If your book has sold, then the bookseller pays you the amount previously agreed upon! If there’s any unsold books leftover, the bookseller can continue to try to sell them, or simply return them to you, and you can try selling them elsewhere. No refunds. No hassles.

Potential problems selling books on consignment
Nothing is perfect and selling on consignment is no exception. Perhaps the biggest hassle an author could face is dealing with a bookseller that, for whatever reason, will not pay what they owe. I’m not sure how often this happens as there are no statistics on the subject. This is a good reason why having a written contract is a "must" for selling on consignment. If the bookseller is wary of signing a contract that simply states he/she agrees to pay you what you’re owed for books sold, then perhaps you should rethink doing business with that particular bookseller.

The other problem is that this method of getting your book onto the market will not work with Borders, Barnes and Noble, and other large chain stores – consignment simply does not fit in with their business model. This might not be a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. If your book is in Borders, for example, it probably won’t get any "prime" shelf space. Whereas an independent bookseller might be able to promote it on a "local authors" shelf or even get a spot in the window. They are much more flexible in how they market their books.

Consignment not the answer to all publishing/bookselling woes
This model for selling your books won’t work in all cases. If you’re selling large quantities of books, then it wouldn’t make sense to sell on consignment. Also, if you’re trying to get your book published by "traditional" big house publishers, then you should get used to the normal way of doing things.

Who should sell on consignment
Of course, if your an author publishing your own work independently and in small quantities, then you should look into selling your books on consignment. Even if you write poetry and put together chapbooks, consignment could work really well.

Whatever method you use, make sure you do plenty of research first and understand the pros and cons. In the end, it’s your writing you’re selling, and you spent a lot of time putting your book together, so make sure you don’t get ripped off. There are innumerable ways to get your book out there, you’re pretty much limited by your imagination (sorry for the cliche`).

If you’ve ever sold you book on consignment, leave a comment and tell us your story! Give us a report from the trenches.

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