Most independent stores will not order directly from an author. They order through their wholesale distributor, and for most U.S. indie stores that means Ingram. If your book is not set up there on trade terms, the store cannot order it through their normal system, even if the buyer likes it.

Available is not stockable

Being on Amazon or in paperback does not make a book stockable. A store needs your book in Ingram’s catalog with a trade discount, returns enabled, and clean metadata. That is a separate setup from your Amazon listing.

Step 1: Set up IngramSpark

Create a free account. IngramSpark does not charge a title setup fee for print or ebook titles. It takes a 1.875% global distribution fee on each sale, and you pay printing costs when you order copies. Have your final interior and cover files ready before you start.

Step 2: Build a one-sheet

One page with the cover, a short hook, ISBN, format, price, trade terms, and one proof point you can stand behind. Do not call yourself an award winner if you were a finalist.

Step 3: Call first, then email

A phone call to ask who buys for the store and what email they prefer gets better results than a cold email to an info address. Then send the one-sheet in the same day, with a subject line that matches what you said on the call.

Step 4: Follow up once

If nobody replies, one nudge after 4 to 6 weeks is enough.

Step 5: Track everything

Use a simple tracker with the store, contact, date, route, and result. Outreach fails mostly through lost follow up.

What I included in the kit

The Indie Author Outreach Kit ($99) has bookstore contact files with 5,552 actionable rows and 4,632 with a published email as of the last export, state by state call lists, a phone script, stocking inquiry and consignment emails, an event pitch email, a one-sheet template, the IngramSpark and LCCN how-tos, review and awards tip sheets, a library systems list, and the full Author Events Field Guide.

Use code EVENTSUP for $34 off through November 16, 2026.

Get the Indie Author Outreach Kit

I’m Andrew Drasen, author of A Vision of Hope. Contact data is public web data and can go stale, so verify before you send.

How to Get Your Self-Published Book Into Independent Bookstores