How do you do it? Libraries too. I have two Christian bookstores in my area. There's the local library. The libraries of all the surrounding counties. There's a Barnes and Noble in Bowling Green.

But I can't figure out what it is I'm trying to say to them. I don't know if I should ask about book signings and story hour in the same e-mail to the library. I'm not sure what I should tell Barnes and Noble to get them to take me seriously. What is their policy on self published authors? How do I find out?

And what about the bookstores? Do they buy the books from me or do they just put them on their shelves and pay me if they sell?

With local bookstore owners, it's up to you to strike a deal... that's the fun part.

With chains, like Barnes a Noble, they aren't as free to do stuff like that, even if they wanted to.

Increasingly, authors are finding that publishing on Amazon works best, for Kindle, and then all sorts of offers may be given to successful writers through them.

And it also depends on how much you trust your book.

Finally, a killer cover design always helps.

For libraries, I plan to ask at the desk to speak to the children's/YA librarian (since my book is YA), scheduling a meeting time if need be. I will start by offering to donate a copy or two of my book and asking them to put out a stack of bookmarks; I'll save events for further down the road as opportunity arises.

For bookstores I plan to go armed with sufficient materials and ask to speak to a manager, again scheduling a time if need be. I want to ask them about taking books on commission, so I'll need to run up some numbers before I go... how much does it cost me to print each book, etc.

Of course, I'm mostly making it up as I go along, but I'll share my experiences.

I looked up Barnes and Noble. They have accommodations for small presses, unfortunately it would require me redoing my cover formatting, and then my dad pointed out that I might not be able to meet their requirements. Applying to participate in an author events appears to be much simpler, but I'm not sure if there's any point until my book is available to be carried in their stores.

*sigh*

Carry it on your person at the author event. xD

Newspapers love to feature local authors... and civic clubs of every stripe love to have them speak. Ditto with libraries.

Something that's come up on an email list I lurk on (and in blogs I follow) several times is that ebooks and paper books have different needs as far as titles go. Paper books (or, rather, books sold in a bookstore) need an eye-catching cover to attract reader attention from several feet away. what an ebook cover (or the cover of a book sold in an online store) primarily needs is to "look good" and be readable at just about any resolution---the reader should ideally be able to tell at least the title of the book and the author's name from just the "thumbnail."

Good thoughts.

I have actually talked to people about this when I was deciding which camp I was going to end up in.

I've gotten the same answer from everyone I've talked to, even people in the publishing world. Major bookstores (as in the ones not privately owned) are almost impossible to sell self published books through. As a general rule, they will turn you down every time, for multiple reasons.

Unless of course you sell thousands of books. Then they'll follow the money.

As I understand, though, you have a lot better luck with local, privately owned bookstores, which are usually very eager to shelve your books.