How to Sell Your Book in Bulk

One of the most ignored, yet most profitable, ways to sell your book is with bulk sales. Most authors I speak to think instantly of retailers like bookstores, Target and Walmart at the mention of the words “bulk sales,” but there are several other overlooked places that are actually more profitable. Retailers take a huge chunk (usually around 55%) of the retail price of your book, leaving you with mere pocket change. Of course, if Walmart decides to order 10,000 copies of your book, even at only $1 profit per book you’ve just made $10,000 on book sales in an instant. However, these books usually need to be returnable, meaning that if they don’t sell you’re stuck with 10,000 books you then need to warehouse and sell on your own. Not to mention the print cost you must affront for these books.

Here are three more profitable ways to sell your book in bulk, and make a mint doing so:

Speaking Gigs

If you’ve been asked to speak at a conference, include a book for each attendee in your speaking fee. You don’t need to tell the event planner your fee includes the books. Instead say, “This is my fee, and as a bonus I’ll throw in a copy of my book for each attendee.” Event hosts love this tactic! Their attendees get to leave with an instant value-add, you’re seen as the generous go-to expert at the event, and you’re remembered long after the event is over as attendees will see your book sitting on their desks and bookshelves at home. By increasing your speaking fee from what you’d normally quote to enough to cover the cost of books, you could make an extra $5-10 per attendee.

Corporations

If your book is motivational in nature, corporations are a golden sales zone for you. Many corporations have hundreds of employees they regularly offer incentives to, such as motivational books. You can also ask them to speak at a “Lunch and Learn” and offer them 10% or 20% off your book if they’d like to purchase one for each employee. Even if an employee can’t make the lunch and learn, they can benefit from your book and the message you bring for them to work harder, smarter, and value their relationships. If your book lines up with the corporation’s values, you can make a killing on book sales alone by selling hundreds or even thousands at a time.

White Labeling

Your book may be in an industry full of other experts, and those experts may have no desire to write and publish their own books. Take real estate for example. If you write a book about buying a home, there are thousands of real estate offices and banks that could benefit from giving your book as a gift to their potential clients. Offer a special deal to white label your book for them. You’d still be the author, but you can feature their company information on the cover and an advertisement for their services on the first page. This is an inexpensive, high value giveaway item they can use that won’t take any work on their part. They will be seen as the expert to their potential customers, and customers always remember the gift of a book. You can even go so far as to include references to their firm throughout the text so as people read the book they’re constantly reminded of the white labeled company’s services. You can make money upfront with a white labeling fee  (the cost for you to create a book with a new cover design and/or information on the interior) in addition to ongoing bulk book sales.

The best parts about these three options are the bulk discount you offer them being much lower than traditional retailers (ie: more money in your pocket) and the fact that the books don’t need to be returnable. These options each give you upfront money, with perhaps a small discount as an incentive for the purchasers to buy more books, and no stock of books that don’t sell coming back to you that you then have to deal with later. It’s a win-win for you and them!