Available is not the same as stocked
A book can exist in a distributor or retailer catalogue without sitting on a bookshop shelf or being held by a library. Those are separate decisions.
Think in stages: identifiable → orderable → distributed → stocked → discovered → bought or borrowed.
Know the supply route
Distributors and wholesalers connect publishers to retailers and institutions, but arrangements differ. Gardners, for example, describes distribution into independent and chain booksellers, online sellers, schools and libraries.
The operational question for a bookseller is not only whether the book exists, but whether it can be ordered reliably with usable metadata, price, discount and returns terms.
Price from the economics backwards
For print-on-demand, supplier/platform formulas commonly deduct manufacturing costs and apply a retailer/distribution share before the publisher receives the remainder. The exact formula is platform-specific.
Do not set a cover price in isolation. Model print cost, discount, returns exposure, fulfilment, tax where relevant and the amount left to the publisher/author.
Returns can change the risk
Trade distribution may involve returnable stock. Platform documentation shows that return settings can affect retailer willingness to stock and can create costs for the publisher when unsold books come back.
Treat returns as a commercial term to understand, not a hidden afterthought.
Bookshops
For a local approach, make it easy for a bookseller to understand the title, price, publication date, supply route, discount/returns position and why the book may matter to their customers.
A personal connection to York may be relevant, but it does not replace workable supply information.
Libraries
Public libraries make their own stock decisions and use their own suppliers and policies. The British Library's PLR service explicitly does not control which titles libraries acquire.
Treat 'getting into libraries' as an acquisition/supply question first. PLR is a separate remuneration scheme discussed in Chapter 10.
Before you move on
- Know whether the title is merely listed or genuinely orderable through the intended channel.
- Model the actual unit economics.
- Understand discount and returns terms.
- Prepare accurate trade metadata.
- Approach bookshops/libraries with a clear supply route and relevant reason.