FULFILLMENT WAREHOUSES
You won't need book distribution services or fulfillment warehouses if your book is marketed by a traditional publisher. Nor for a book in electronic form. But the self-publisher may indeed need what the trade calls distributors to booksellers, book distribution services or fulfillment warehouses in these cases:
you don't have the facilities to store books safely
you don't wish to be burdened with fulfilling book orders
you live outside your main market area
If, for example, you live in Turkey but have the book printed in Hong Kong for a US market, it will make more sense to ship the entire print run to the States for a US company to a. distribute to bookstores and chains and b. fulfill individual orders. How?
You have four options:
1. Printing Company
Many short-run printers, and those serving the small presses, provide a fulfillment service. Here are some better-known companies: you'll find more through Internet searches.
BookMasters. Full service, single orders or distribution to bookstores/chains.
Printorium Bookworks. Canadian company with services for authors and publishers.
WebCom Link. Handle book and CD fulfillment, Canada and overseas.
Faithworks. Essentially for Christian publications.
FidlarDoubleday. Short-run printer with warehouse and fulfillment services.
Lightning Source. Distribute through Ingram.
2. Fulfillment Company
Many of these have sprung up to the needs of ecommerce. You'll find these listed under 'fulfillment company', etc. on the Internet search engines, but below are a few of some hundreds. The fee structure is 1. one-off setup, 2. storage per month (including insurance), 3. handling per item and 4. returns charges. There is often a minimum monthly fee, with package materials and shipping being charged at cost. You may also need to own the ISBN.
Para Publishing. Book Fulfillment: Order Entry, Picking, Packing and Shipping. A how-to booklet with useful listings. $19.95.
Warren & Carmack. Offer complete publicity services, including order fulfillment: family history orientation.
PA Department. From $10/month storage, $2.30/item, etc. $50/month minimum.
Biblio Distribution. Aimed at smaller presses: p.o.a.
Autologic. Full range of services, fees on application.
eFulfillment Services. US fulfillment services. From $2.00 plus per order plus $0.30 per product. Storage from $68.50/month.
Webgistix. Free quote on site.
Shipping-and-Handling. Fulfillment services for smaller companies, authors, musicians, etc. From $2.35/item.
Zeetech Shipping. Charges on application, but 500 square feet storage is $250/month.
3. Warehousing: Book Distributors
Publishing houses don't of course keep their publications of the premises but employ a chain of companies to get the books into bookstores. Many distributors deal with the larger publishers only, and some require the publisher to produce five books or more per year.
Distribution is an important element of publishing costs: remember to factor it in when deciding on the retail price of your publication.
Publishers Weekly. Useful articles on book wholesalers and distributors.
Publishing Central. Good listing of book distributors.
Book Distributors, Wholesalers, and Fulfillment Houses. Morgan Printing's useful list.
Advanced Marketing. Distribute 1 million books/year internationally.
International Specialized Book Services. Historical, specialized or academic books.
Small Press Distribution. Handles distribution for 500 small presses.
Ingram. World's largest book distributor.
National Book Network. Works with 70 small-medium US publishers.
Independent Publisher's Group. US and worldwide book distributor.
Koen-Levy Book Wholesalers. Distributors to US bookstores.
Yankee Book Peddlers. Distribution to academic and research libraries in US and UK.
Publishers Group West. Serve US independent publishers.
Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. Exclusive distributor for over 50 US and Canadian publishing companies.
4. Print on Demand
Most POD publishers will handle book distribution for you, at a cost but conveniently through Ingram and/or other national distributors — a point to bear in mind when selecting your Print on Demand publisher.