Thank you for your interest in placing your book at Story on the Square. If your book has been published by an established publisher that we order from on a regular basis, and we decide to carry it, we will purchase it directly from that publisher. If that is the case, you are welcome to send us notification of your book’s publication to katlin@storyonthesquare.com.
If your book is self-published or not readily available through our normal wholesalers (Ingram) or is only available on a non-returnable basis, we offer you the opportunity for us to sell it on a consignment basis. On consignment, the book remains the property of the consignor until sold. Story on the Square is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged merchandise. If you would like your book considered for stock, please follow our consignment guidelines:
If you choose to publish with any other company than Amazon, we are happy to consider your book. However, if you publish with CreateSpace, Amazon, or any Amazon owned company, we do not carry any Amazon products for three reasons:
1) We are a party in several legislative actions designed to force Amazon to change some of its more egregious business practices. For legal conflict-of -interest reasons, we do not do business with Amazon
2) The business practices in question above are ongoing and put us at a moral obligation not to fund those practices.
3) Even if all of the above were not the case, it is not an intelligent business move to put money into the pockets of a direct competitor whose stated mission includes the intent of causing our business to fail. If you choose to publish by other means, please let us know. We would be happy to reevaluate then.
- For books that are accepted on consignment, a $10 non-refundable fee (cash, check or Paypal or Venmo) is required for us to review each book. This fee helps pay for the extra labor involved in reading each title, tracking inventory and payments for each title. For an extra $15, we will put your book on our website. We require a signed Consignment Agreement form.
- We prefer that consignment requests be made in writing, via email. We are unable to accommodate walk-in visits or telephone inquiries prior to acceptance.
- Our standard consignment terms are: We take a minimum 40% discount (i.e., 60% of sales go to the author/consignor) and we keep consigned books in stock for a minimum of 180 days (depending on sales). Payment is made twice a year in June and at the end of December. It is the author’s responsibility to deliver new inventory and pick up unsold inventory. Please review our consignment form for our specific consignment terms.
- To submit a book for consideration, please fill out our consignment sales agreement and also email a one-paragraph letter including your contact information, book title, ISBN, and price information, along with promotional materials, publicity plans, target audience, and any connections to the McDonough area. These materials should be sent to katlin@storyonthesquare.com. If we feel your book may have a market with our customers, we may request a review copy. Please do not drop off or mail review copies to the bookstore without our permission. Any review copies submitted to us become property of Story on the Square. Due to the large number of consignment submissions, we are unable to mail review copies back to authors.
- Due to the heavy volume of submissions, the consignment review process can take several weeks. We will notify you by email of our decision. Please keep in mind that we do not usually accept consignment books during the busy holiday season. If you would like us to review and carry your book for the holidays, please make sure you have submitted your consignment application several months prior to December.
- The decision made by our buyers is final. As with all inventory we carry in the store, we retain the right for any final decision not to carry a book if we believe it doesn’t fit the store philosophy or our market.
We are proud to support local authors through our consignment program. We do our best to provide shelf space for consignment books, while still keeping in mind our inventory needs and the interests of our customers. We look forward to reviewing your work and thank you for your interest in Story on the Square.
Questions? Email katlin@storyonthesquare.com We do not accept phone calls for consignment questions. Please make sure you have reviewed our consignment form before sending us questions.
