Booksellers Return Program

Power Your Book Sales With Returnable Books

Encourage booksellers to stock your book by allowing them to return unsold titles. Your book will be classified as returnable in the Ingram Title Database. When you purchase the program, bookstores can oroder your title with the ability to return it. This program makes your book more attractive to booksellers and retailers. Download program details.

Benefits of Booksellers Return Program Encourages bookstores to order your book Improves chances of scheduling book signings and appearances, especially with hometown bookstores Allows book returns yet will not reduce author royalties Participating authors have the opportunity to purchase returned books at a discount

Return Program Details

• A copy of your Ingram database iPage. The iPage is the same page viewed by bookstores and includes availability and returnability information for your book, verifying for the author and retailer the book's returnable status.
• A letter addressing the most common retailer questions that also provides them with contact information for the AuthorHouse Book Order department
• Special returnability notation on the Ingram Title Database
• One-year contract, which allows for up to 18 months of book returnability

"As a new author, I wanted to make sure that bookstores would be comfortable taking a chance on me. And since the returns don't reduce my royalties, this program is good for everyone!" Gary McKenzie, The Gingerbread Kingdom

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Bookseller's Return Program do for me?

The Bookseller’s Return Program makes it much more likely that a bookstore will be willing to stock your book. If a book does not sell well, bookstores want the ability to return unsold books to publishers for a complete refund. Because traditional publishers always take returns, AuthorHouse has developed the Bookseller's Return Program so that bookstores are able to return unsold books to AuthorHouse for a refund. The best part is, AuthorHouse authors receive their retail royalty for every book sold in the Booksellers Return Program, whether the book is returned or not. When a book is returnable, the bookstore has no risk of losing money on unsold inventory and will be far more likely to stock the book.

Can I buy more than a year of Returnability?

A one-year renewal agreement is available for purchase at the same time or just prior to the expiration of this agreement. Authors who purchase a one-year agreement will be notified 60 to 90 days before the expiration date.

How do the bookstores know where to return the books?

The return process is the same as it is with traditional publishers: booksellers return books to the wholesaler from whom they made the purchase. When a book becomes returnable, a notation is made in Ingram's automated Title Information Database that your book is returnable.

What is Ingram?

Ingram Book Group is the world's largest wholesale distributor of books. AuthorHouse uses Ingram Book Group for the distribution of all AuthorHouse titles.

What is iPage?

iPage is Ingram's database that is used to transmit book information to retailers. Through iPage, Ingram submits the ISBN of each book published by AuthorHouse to all of the bookstore chains who use Ingram.

Why do some retailers have accurate information about my book but others do not?

Not all bookstore chains, regions, or individual shops are online with real-time data. Many bookstores must periodically download new books and new book information from the iPage database into their databases. If a bookstore is not using real-time iPage, and their download is not kept current, a book may appear to a bookstore as non-returnable, even when it is.

Can AuthorHouse make a store stock my book?

No. Bookstore chains and independent bookstores are private businesses and AuthorHouse has no control over their business operations, which includes their decisions regarding which books to order, stock, or feature.