Distribution and the Post-Press Hustle
by Marina Reis

For many of our authors, Anchor Distributors will be the company providing distribution for the books that you publish with Word Alive Press. There are many pros of working with Anchor, like:

• They are a reputable distributor that has been in this business for several decades.
• They provide reliable, old-fashioned supply-chain distribution to bookstores in Canada and the United States, including Chapters/Indigo and Canadian Christian bookstores!
• They list all their titles on Shop the Word, a great and discounted website for your readers to get your book. Seriously, check it out: shoptheword.ca.

That being said, in this day and age of immediacy, when your book is distributed by Anchor, a longer post-press window is required for the publication date. To make sure we are all on the same page, when I say “post-press” I am speaking about the time between receiving your printed books and the time your book will show up online as a title distributed by Anchor to the various book-buying platforms.

It is important to keep in mind that when your books ship out from the press, the copies going to Anchor ship out from a Canadian printer and cross the Canada-U.S. border to the Anchor warehouse located in Pennsylvania. This shipping takes time: books must cross the border and go through customs, must be received, and then processed at the Anchor warehouse. All of this to say that it may be a month or two from when you get your own personal copies of your book and when you see your book officially listed online on websites such as Chapters Indigo.

However, this post-press limbo creates a special window and formidable opportunity of time for authors to plan events, promote their book, and have it available exclusively from you the author for several weeks. This is such a rich opportunity to really get a head start on your sales before your title runs the risk of getting lost among the work of your peers at the big stores.

I have put together a list of pro-active things that you can do to sell and promote your book during this post-press time.

Create your author website

The sooner you can start on this the better, but if you haven’t gotten started on this during the publishing process, this post-press time still works. There are several different ways you can go about this, but in every case, you want your website to look professional and credible. Every author website should be easy to navigate, have well laid out tabs (for example: home page, books, blog/newsletter, about the author), a professional photo of you and contact information. You don’t want this website to look like something that will give the visitor a computer virus! Here are some examples of website building companies you may want to look into if you are unsure where to start:

•         Squarespace
• Wix
• GoDaddy

Start a public social media

You may have a personal Facebook or Instagram page, but now that you are officially a published author, you need a professional social media presence. Going hand-in-hand with your author website should be your author social media page, or pages (both should be used to advertise the other and both should be easily accessible from the other). This may be familiar territory for you if you are comfortable with social media. If social media is new to you or simply just not your thing, then I recommend starting with the platform that piques your interest the most. It will serve you better to have one social media profile, such as Facebook, that you regularly update for your followers than to have several social media profiles that just gather virtual dust.

Approach a bookstore for a book signing

This is always an exciting prospect for new authors! Three things you want to keep in mind when approaching a bookstore. One, introduce yourself as a new author. Two, let them know who your publisher is (that would be us!). And three, most importantly, let the bookstore know that your distributor is Anchor. Anchor is known in the industry; don’t worry, if they don’t know what you are referring to, a simple search in their database will bring Anchor to light. When you approach the bookstore at this post-press time, it could be that your book hasn’t been entered into Anchor’s database yet (it could still be somewhere in transit at the border, even), so it might not show up, but still, this is not a wasted opportunity. You are networking and practicing getting out there as a published author. If nothing is coming up in the database, return or call back in a month. By then, your book should be available.

Create and advertise book merchandise

This could be something complimentary to sell along with your personal copies: a mug with your book cover or a hoodie emblazoned with your title. If these kinds of things feel too pretentious for your humble author beginnings, you may want to consider one of Word Alive Press’s Book Launch Kits. Our book launch kits include bookmarks, business cards, and postcards that are designed to advertise your book and you as the author. In all instances, we have a couple of different layouts that you can choose from and different quantities depending on your needs. We design, print and ship the Book Launch Kit items directly to you. If you need more information about our Book Launch Kit materials, ask your project manager, and she will be happy to help you out!

Throw a book launch

At the post-press stage, you may be the only person with access to your book—making it a rare and coveted resource! Use this to your advantage to sell your own personal copies at a book launch. When your book starts being distributed live via Anchor, you will technically be in competition with many websites and bookstores. Down the line, readers may choose to get your book on Amazon rather than from you as the author directly for convenience’s sake. However, when you are the only one holding copies of your book, readers must come to you and you only for the goods! Holding a book launch at this time not only helps you begin to earn back your publishing investment, but gives you a little bit of a sales head start compared to traditional means, like bookstores and online retailers.

I understand it may feel a little lackluster to not be able to link your book online to your readers as soon as you get your boxes of books delivered. However, I really encourage you to make the most of this post-press time. You will always be the biggest advocate for your book, so don’t be shy about making the most of every opportunity, even the ones that may seem like small setbacks. Don’t wait for your book to show up on Amazon before you get excited to be an author. Build your own website for your own book. Ingram is great and tailored for our culture of instant gratification, but your book is not just another product. It is a creative work that you poured your heart into, so you want it to not just have immediate accessibility, but lasting influence.

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Did you enjoy this post? You may also be interested in these other posts on publishing.

And, read more by Marina Reis, here.

About this Contributor:

Marina Reis is a Senior Project Manager who joined Word Alive Press in 2017. She graduated from the University of Winnipeg in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in English.