Distributors and Wholesalers

A wholesaler’s responsibility is to the stores and libraries it serves. It will take orders and stock books, but it does not create a demand for those books. A distributor, on the other hand, will not only take and fill orders but uses sales representatives for their accounts and creates a demand for the books it represents. In this regard, a distributor’s primary responsibility is to the publisher.

We have compiled a list of wholesalers and distributors that handle small press books and literary magazines (wholesalers are designated by a "W" following the name, distributors a "D"). Each company will have its own guidelines and requirements, so you should query those you are interested in to find out whether they would be appropriate for your publishing operation.

Because many distributors have an exclusive arrangement with their publishers, it is important that you make a good match. When starting to look for a distributor, or perhaps to change distributors, the first step should be talking to other presses or magazines which are similar to your own in staff size, budget size, circulation/list size and focus. Find out who they are working with and whether or not they are happy with the service they are receiving. After you have narrowed down the field by doing this and other research, you might want to ask those distributors some of the following questions:

• What is their relationship with wholesalers? How will they make it easier for you to get your books or magazine carried by wholesalers?
• How do they stay in contact with bookstores? What sort of marketing efforts do they use to reach bookstores?
• What sort of reports will they generate for you? How often? How complete will they be?
• How often will you get paid? What percentage will the distributor take and what other charges might there be?
• How large is their sales force? What regions do they cover? How many other and what types of presses and magazines do they handle?
• What are the backgrounds of the people on the sales force? Are they more familiar with book selling or publishing?

After narrowing down the field to a couple of possibilities, contact publishers carried by those distributors and ask if they have been satisfied with the service. You may even want to ask how much their sales increased, if at all, when they signed on with a particular distributor. Presses or magazines which publish only 1-2 titles or issues a year may have a difficult time getting picked up by a distributor. If you find yourself in this position, you might explore the possibility of “piggy-backing” onto another (larger) publisher’s distribution. For a fee, a press or magazine might agree to carry your books or issues as part of their own line-up.

For more information about distributors and wholesalers, read “I Can Get It for You… How to Work Successfully with Wholesalers,” an article by James McGrath Morris in the spring 1993 issue of Small Press and Book Marketing Made Easier by John Kremer (Jay Frederick Editions, 1991).

Our distribution monographs can give you more in-depth information.