Author Submissions

 

If you would like us to consider stocking your book please read all the information on this page before emailing us.

 

It may take some time for us to reply, and we will only respond if we think your book is right for our shop and we have the time, space on our shelves and capacity to stock and sell it well. We are a small team and receive huge quantities of emails every day, and while we’d like to respond to all of them, it often simply isn’t possible. So please don’t chase us if you’ve not had a reply from a speculative submission.

Please note: we will not consider submissions from October to December as this is such a busy time with so many new books being published.

What We’re Interested In

We generally only take non fiction books on topics of local interest.

At this moment in time we do not take any works of memoir, fiction or books for children that have been self published or published by a hybrid publisher, including Amazon.

We prefer that your book is available via Gardners Books. Most booksellers navigate stocking thousands of books by using wholesalers and the stock control system, of which Gardners is a part. If you’re not sure, ask your publisher!

If you are a local author whose non-fiction has been published by a traditional publisher with wholesale distribution, and would like to tell us about your book we would be happy to hear from you.

What You Need to Do

Here are some key points to think about. They are taken from an excellent guide, ‘Getting Your Book Stocked in a High Street Bookshop‘, which you can find on the Booksellers Association website.

• 
  Contact us by email rather than in person – this gives us time to think about your proposal. Even if you want to bring the book in please don’t visit unannounced – if you contact us first we can arrange a quick appointment with the appropriate buyer.

• Give us a quick synopsis of the book and a little bit about who you are.

• What is the selling price and what will it cost us?

• How do we order it? Is it available through book trade wholesalers? How do we return unsold stock?

• What marketing and publicity will you be undertaking to direct potential customers to us?

• Look at the production quality – your book will have to compete for space and sales with books from publishers who invest a lot in design and presentation.

Please don’t be disheartened if we say ‘no’ to your book – what works for some bookshops doesn’t work for others. Our decisions about what to stock are based on our knowledge of our customers and what they like to read, what we have the expertise to sell, and what the level of local interest is likely to be.