Expanding Sales of Your Children's Books

School visits, retail, subscriptions, social media shops, or wholesale?

I want more sales! I’m already thinking of 2025, trying to figure out ways to expand my sales, extend my reach, bring in new customers, and put books into the hands of more kids!

And there are exciting options! I could add school visits, subscriptions, social media shops, wholesale marketplaces, or open a retail space. What are the pros and cons of each approach?

First, I’ll explain my current sales channels, and then discuss other options.

HOW I SELL CHILDREN’S BOOKS

PRINT DISTRIBUTION

Right now, my books are listed on Ingram (hardcover and paperback), which means they are in the Ingram Wholesale catalog and can be ordered by stores, libraries, educational distributors, or anyone else retailing books. I added KDP (paperback and ebook) so that my books are always available on Amazon.com. Yes, the Ingram listing is also sent to KDP, but sometimes, they don’t work well together. By listing also on KDP, I guarantee availability on Amazon.

EBOOK DISTRIBUTION

As I said above, my ebooks are available on KDP for Amazon sales. I use Draft2Digital as my aggregator to reach most other ebook markets, including EverAnd, Hoopla, and Apple. I go direct to GoogleBooks and Overdrive. For me, the best sales channel for ebooks is reading apps; my books are currently available on EPIC! and BookaApp. One series, A LITTLE BIT OF DINOSAUR, has been read over 5 million times on the EPIC! app.

Because Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited requires exclusive ebook distribution, I won’t use it. I do much better on the reading apps and on Overdrive. KU would require me to remove those listings—not a good idea for my books.

AUDIOBOOK DISTRIBUTION

I use Findaway to deliver audiobooks. I could also have Bookfunnel deliver them, but I have few audiobook sales, so I’ve opted out of that. I go direct to Overdrive for audiobooks, too.

SHOPIFY STORE

I also have a Shopify store, and use Lulu for the POD backend; for ebooks, I use Bookfunnel to deliver the ebooks. I don’t offer audiobooks on my Shopify store because of low sales. Mostly, the Shopify store works as a wholesale warehouse for large, bulk orders. I do get orders, but it’s not large number because I’m not advertising enough. I’ve tried Facebook ads, Bookbub ads, and Amazon advertising, but nothing works at scale for me. I’ve added email newsletter, advertising and nurturing of contact, but not much works. As a retail channel, the Shopify store isn’t a strong one. But it’s great for those wholesale orders that consistently come in.

Let’s talk about other places you might sell your books: school visits, subscriptions, social media shops (Tik-Tok and Facebook), retail spaces, and wholesale marketplaces.