Literally go anywhere that books are sold:
How often do you consider other places for book sales? When you travel, do you carry copies of your book? What about a sell sheet?
I encourage you to do both. Here is why:
While vacationing in the Outer Banks this summer, we visited The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras, North Carolina. They had a great gift shop full of books, ships, models, and toys, and a handful of children’s books. I immediately envisioned my picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab, on display.
I told the clerk about my book, and asked if she could put me in touch with the person who orders their books. I mentioned that it sells well in two other Outer Banks bookstores, the Ocracoke Historical Museum, and in the children’s section of a department store in Kitty Hawk. “I sell them wholesale. They always order more, every year,” I told her, handing her my business card. (Note to self: start carrying sell sheets again)
“Oh, Gee Gee carries it!” she said, referring to the owner of Buxton Village Books. “It would be great if you could leave me a copy of the book.”
So I did just that. Because I carry stacks of them with me when we travel, just in case.
When we returned home from our vacation, I received an email from the gift shop: We would love to order 10 copies of Gordy and the Ghost Crab! So off they went, with a bill for the books that included the cost of media mail shipping.
Why bother?
Derek Murphy on CreativeIndie.com will tell you that you’re wasting your time, and don’t bother to make sell sheets either, because:
…the days of making a book successful by hawking them from the trunk of your car are mostly over… If you push really really hard, you can sell a few hundred copies. If you’re insane and spend years, a few thousand. But you don’t want that. You want to hit several hundred thousand downloads of your book, by getting it featured on big sites, or tying it to some current event or news…
Yeah, that would be real nice. But I’ve been consistently earning money from my children’s book since it was published in 2020. The bookstores and museums that carry it reorder more every year. The lovely little museum on Ocracoke Island even lists the book in their online shopping store! A little thrill for me was finding my book on display for guests to read in a VRBO rental house in North Carolina in 2023! To me, that’s success, not necessarily hundreds of thousands of downloads, etc.
Sell it
So prepare a pitch. Carry the book and sell sheets with you. Everywhere you go.
A sell sheet should cover important details, including a picture of the book and you, a description, purchasing information, ISBN, price, blurbs, tagline, and your bio. Use both sides of the paper if you want.
Don’t hesitate to look beyond bookstores for book sales, especially if you have your own copies and can offer them wholesale. I believe small shops are more willing to buy wholesale than to sell them for you on consignment. Consider gift shops, hotels, museums, independent pharmacies, anyplace that may fit the theme of your children’s book, novel or nonfiction.
Go forth and sell! The world is waiting to read your book.
P.S. It’s now July 2026
Two museums–one on Hatteras and one on Ocracoke– continue to order the book, as well as two Outer Banks bookstores.
