Step 1 - Join the Amazon Advantage Program

As a new press or a small press with few titles will find it a struggle to get your titles stocked in a retail store.

In most cases you can easily get your title(s) listed in Amazon. They are the largest online bookseller and account for about 70% of all online book sales in the United States.

To list your titles with Amazon as a small press you need to join Amazon's Advantage program.

Our Opinion: As a small press don't expect that being listed on Amazon will suddenly bring you a lot of sales. It won't. What it does do is make it easy for people to buy your book once they have heard of it via your publicity and marketing campaigns.

Why Join Amazon Advantage?

Here are the reasons listed on Amazon's Web Site:

Reason 1.

Titles available for immediate shipping sell more copies than titles with longer availability. With Amazon.com Advantage, your book is stocked at Amazon's distribution centers for fast shipping anywhere in the world, typically within 24 hours.

Reason 2.

Advantage-enrolled books are immediately eligible for inclusion in Amazon's Search Inside the Book program, a revolutionary new way to merchandise books on Amazon.com.

Reason 3.

On the Internet, information sells. The more potential customers know about your titles, the more likely they are to make a purchase. By enrolling in the Advantage Program and working directly with Amazon.com, you can manage the content for your titles. Advantage gives you the ability to include bibliographic data, descriptions, editorial reviews, artwork, etc.--all at no charge. We'll even scan your cover art. These critical elements will help with sales. Additionally, if you currently sell on Amazon.com and have a difficult time getting mistakes on your page fixed, we can work with you to improve your experience.

Reason 4.

In addition to Amazon.com, your titles will automatically be available on a range of other major web sites: Borders.com, Target.com, VirginMega.com and Waldenbooks.com.

Reason 5.

When you join Amazon.com Advantage, you get access to sales reports for all the titles you've enrolled in Amazon.com Advantage. You will be able to see:

• Unit sales last month
• Unit sales this month
• Current inventory
• Status of the last order that Amazon.com placed with you to replenish our inventory
• Amount of your next payment

This information is updated daily, so you'll always know how your titles are selling and how much Amazon.com owes you.

Reason 6.

When Amazon's inventory shows that its running out of stock on your titles, their ordering software will automatically send you e-mail requesting more copies. This way they keep your products on hand and available to "usually ship within 24 hours." They continually adjust the number of copies they order based on the recent sales performance of your title.

Order size typically ranges from 1 to 5 depending on customer demand. Because your inventory in held on a consignment basis, Amazon only keeps two to four weeks of stock on hand at a time.

Reason 7.

There is no need to hassle with direct shipment to customers, credit card fulfillment, phone calls, or customer service. Amazon.com takes care of it for you. Amazon ship's worldwide, so you only have to restock our warehouse to make sure all of your customers can get your products. When we start to sell out of your products, we'll send you an e-mail requesting more. You mail the copies to us and you're done!

Amazon.com saves you time that could be better spent on what you do best: making and marketing your products.

Reason 8.

With Amazon.com Advantage, payment to you is quick and easy. At the end of each month, Amazon.com automatically pays you 45% of list price via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)* for products you've sold during the previous month. You don't even need to send us an invoice. At any time, you can check your sales and inventory with our online reports. Twenty-four hours a day you can track how much you have sold, how much we have in stock, and how much we owe you.

*Note: Canadian and Mexican companies without a U.S. bank account can receive payment via paper check.

How Do I join Amazon's Advantage Program?

Go to the Amazon.com web site and select the Advantage hyperlink at the bottom of the home page or go directly to the Amazon Advantage Home page. Then complete the online application. In one to two weeks you will hear if you have been accepted.

What Next?

After being accepted into the Amazon Advantage program you must take the time to list your complete title information with Amazon for each book you have.

Advantage gives you the ability to include bibliographic data, descriptions, editorial reviews, artwork, etc.--all at no charge. We'll even scan your cover art. These critical elements will help with sales on Amazon.

Just having a cover image can increase your sales on Amazon's site by 50%.

The biggest mistake that publishers (small and large) make is that they don't take the time to list complete title information on Amazon. Providing complete bibliographic information about your title increases the chance for a consumer to purchase your title.

If you are running a small press you must review every title you have listed with Amazon to ensure that this information is being provided.

• Is there a cover image?
• Is there a description of the title?
• Is the author's bio listed?
• Is the text of reviews listed?
• Is there a table of content ?

If information is missing from your title listing submit it ASAP if you don't want to lose a potential sale.

At Kensai we recommend that small publishers assign one employee responsibility  for ensuring that full and complete information for every title is listed on Amazon.com and BN.com. This should be listed in their job description; or your job description if you are a one person shop, to emphasize the importance of this function.

Larger book publishing companies have book publishing software that will send this information to online retailers and wholesalers automatically.

Tips for Small Press Publishers

Many book publishers price trade titles at 5x to 7x the cost of PPB (printing, paper and binding). Why?

You will note that Amazon asks for a 55% discount. Major wholesalers such as Ingram and Baker & Taylor will also ask for this discount to carry your titles.

Example 1: Priced at 5x Cost

If your book has a list price of $20 Amazon will pay you $9 on each sale. Your author will likely earn a 10% royalty and and this will leave you with $8.10. Assume that your book costs $4 to print and $0.30 to ship to Amazon. This leaves you with a gross profit of $3.80 on each sale. If you sell 1000 copies you have a gross profit of $3,800.

Example 2: Priced at 3x Cost

Now, if you had priced that book at $12, Amazon will pay you $5.40 on each sale. Subtracting a royalty of $0.54 and shipping costs to Amazon of $0.30 leaves a gross profit of $0.56 per book. If you sell a 1000 copies that is a gross profit of $560.

If you want to achieve a higher gross margin you must sell your titles directly to consumers. Then you get 100% of the sale, not 45%.

One way to do this is to sell your titles through your own website. Steps 2,3 and 4 of our small press online marketing program cover this aspect of book selling.