Morgenstern Books Local Author Program
Congratulations on the publication of your self-published or small press book! We are proud of our history of supporting local authors in our area. Since we receive dozens of inquiries from authors asking to carry their work, we decided to lay out a process that makes it easier for both the authors and our store. If you are interested in us carrying your book, please review the following guidelines to help understand our process.
Guidelines
If your book is available from a small publisher that we do not have an account with, we are still happy to review your book, but would need to bring the book in through Ingram's warehouses. There are a vast number of publishers and it’s just not possible to order directly from all of them.
Please note that due to a high volume and limited shelf space, not all books will be chosen. Unfortunately we are not able to respond to every submission. Sometimes we simply don't have space on our shelves. We appreciate your understanding as we try to curate the best selection for our stores. If you would like to have your review copy returned to you, get in touch with the contact to make that happen. We are happy to return them, but do not do so unless requested.
If your book is chosen to be carried in our store, please know it will be placed in our ‘Local Author’ section.
Terms
60% of the retail cost goes to the author and 40% to Morgenstern’s for wholesale purchases. All books must be returnable. We cannot order books from Ingram if they are not returnable or if they are on short discount to Morgenstern’s. So whether it’s Ingram or the author, the discount and returnable status are minimum requirements that must be met. If your book is with a small publisher, we will check the availability first to see if it’s possible for us to carry it.
Books will be carried for a period of 6 months. After that time a decision will be made to continue to carry the title or we will return it to make room for another author’s book. We refresh our title choices in the indie section every 6 months. During the end of the year from September – December is the quarter we cannot guarantee that we will have the time to rotate books in and out. If you have a holiday title, please get a preview copy to us about 6 months before the holiday.
Tips for success if your book is chosen:
How to Apply:
If your book meets these requirements, please follow these steps below to submit it to us for consideration:
Our contact email is:
morgensternbooks@morgensternbooks.com
*This email address is not necessarily checked every day, so please be patient if you have a question.
We look forward to the potential of working with you!
Guidelines
- We look first to see if you live near the store so you must live in Indiana. Preferably within an hour radius but not completely necessary.
- If you are not familiar with our store, then we strongly encourage you to visit and get a feel for the character and community we are in as well as the types of books we do and do not carry.
- This article (click here) has some great ideas and we highly recommend reading it before you contact us.
- We prefer not carry books published by Amazon or their subsidiaries, i.e. Createspace but will consider it on a case by case basis. There are many choices out there to help you publish your book. Consider Ingram Spark: https://www.ingramspark.com/. Please take that into consideration before you sign on with any publisher.
- Author and title on the spine is required with no stapled spines, especially since not all our indie published books get a chance to be faced out on the shelves (if customers can only see a blank spine or a staple, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will find your book).
- It should be professionally bound, finished, edited and have an ISBN. Exceptions may be made, but remember that your book will be compared to all the other titles in our store.
- Your book needs to be comparably priced to other titles of its size and genre.
If your book is available from a small publisher that we do not have an account with, we are still happy to review your book, but would need to bring the book in through Ingram's warehouses. There are a vast number of publishers and it’s just not possible to order directly from all of them.
Please note that due to a high volume and limited shelf space, not all books will be chosen. Unfortunately we are not able to respond to every submission. Sometimes we simply don't have space on our shelves. We appreciate your understanding as we try to curate the best selection for our stores. If you would like to have your review copy returned to you, get in touch with the contact to make that happen. We are happy to return them, but do not do so unless requested.
If your book is chosen to be carried in our store, please know it will be placed in our ‘Local Author’ section.
Terms
60% of the retail cost goes to the author and 40% to Morgenstern’s for wholesale purchases. All books must be returnable. We cannot order books from Ingram if they are not returnable or if they are on short discount to Morgenstern’s. So whether it’s Ingram or the author, the discount and returnable status are minimum requirements that must be met. If your book is with a small publisher, we will check the availability first to see if it’s possible for us to carry it.
Books will be carried for a period of 6 months. After that time a decision will be made to continue to carry the title or we will return it to make room for another author’s book. We refresh our title choices in the indie section every 6 months. During the end of the year from September – December is the quarter we cannot guarantee that we will have the time to rotate books in and out. If you have a holiday title, please get a preview copy to us about 6 months before the holiday.
Tips for success if your book is chosen:
- Encourage your friends, family and others to purchase your books at Morgenstern’s.
- The link to your book on www.morgensternbooks.com MUST be present on your website and any social media/online presence you have.
- Contact your local media, send out press releases and use social media to get the word out.
- Get involved with non-Morgenstern’s book clubs, libraries and any other organizations that would be a fit for your book.
How to Apply:
If your book meets these requirements, please follow these steps below to submit it to us for consideration:
- Fill out the form.
- Do not bring in any physical copies of your titles unless asked to do so.
- If your title is accepted, a contact will reach out to you directly.
Our contact email is:
morgensternbooks@morgensternbooks.com
*This email address is not necessarily checked every day, so please be patient if you have a question.
We look forward to the potential of working with you!