The Importance of Distribution: Self-Publishing Children's Books

Where can readers find your books?

Every year, I add new distributors and drop off those that perform poorly for my books. The key idea is that readers need to be able to find your books WHERE THEY WANT TO FIND YOUR BOOKS.

First, I’m talking about buying books, but I’m also talking about consuming books as audiobooks, ebooks on a reading app, or checking out a book from the library. We know that only about 25% of people buy new books, while the rest find books in the library, from friends, or from a used book store.

It makes sense! If they have channels where they consistently buy or consume book, they will continue to look for books on those channels. They will only rarely move to another channel to buy/consume a book.

The distribution MUST be in place before you start your promotions. Can you imagine spending $1000 in advertising, but when the reader gets to the XXX store, your book is not available.

Here are some ideas on adding new distributors beyond the online markets for children’s books. Go beyond Amazon, Apple, GooglePlay, and Kobo!

Where else can readers find your books?