I wrote a book! Will you carry it?

Congratulations on completing your book and thank you for considering our small Children's bookstore for the placement of your book(s). Writing and publishing a book is a major undertaking, and we applaud your effort. 

The Yellow Door Bookstore supports Texas writers and Illustrators by stocking your books in our store and by hosting online events at which Texas authors are featured. Because we are a micro bookstore and can not possibly carry every title we love, it has become necessary to develop a written policy so that all expectations are clear.

If your book(s) is traditionally published and available through Ingram at a standard discount, with returnable terms, you can email us at theyellowdoorbookstore@gmail.com . Let us know of your connection to the Brazos Valley region and why your book is a good fit for our store, and we will consider ordering it.

Technology has made publishing easier, often without traditional professional editing, proofreading and evaluation of marketing and distribution. Consequently, the number of books being printed every year has risen dramatically. No bookstore can carry every published title, whether from a major publisher’s list or self-published by a local author. 

Many factors influence a bookseller’s decision; the most important is whether the book will sell at this store to our customers. As with all books, when deciding whether or not to stock, we consider the subject, production quality, retail price and discount available from our sources.

We review many titles  professionally developed and developed within the indie world.  We decline many books, including those by well-known and award-winning writers if we determine that they are not a good match for our store. We have only a limited amount of space and must devote that to books we feel will sell to our customers. 

It is never a pleasant task to decline when dealing directly with an author rather than simply reviewing a catalog.

Due to the increasing volume of requests and the time involved to properly review books, it has become necessary for us to adopt the following policy. Please do not be offended by what you might consider its impersonality. 

In order to determine a book’s potential success in our store, our buyer must receive a written presentation via e-mail including what is being proposed (a book signing, stocking the book, etc.) When emailing us information about your book please include your name and if you’re local, the book title, publication date, the ISBN, a link to a website with info about your book (not Amazon or their affiliates, please), what your local target audience will be here in Brazos Valley, and how you plan to promote your book here at The Yellow Door Bookstore and in Calvert, Texas.  Do not call us to tell us about your book.  Only books submitted via an email presentation/ proposal will be eligible for review. If you come to the store first without an appointment , a decision will not be made at the time of your visit. If you choose to leave or mail a copy of your book without consulting the buyer first it will be considered a free review copy.

If you want us to carry your book(s), please be sure it:

• Has an ISBN and barcode
• Has the title on the spine
• Is priced competitively with similar titles and similarly formatted books
• Is of a genre we carry and will be of interest to our customers
• Looks professional (consider hiring a professional editor, illustrator, graphic designer, and professionally bound)
• Will fit on our shelves
• Does not promote Amazon or encourage potential buyers to find or review it on Amazon

Due to the economics of carrying and selling books by independent authors, if it is determined the book is a good fit for our store; it is our policy to take such books on consignment contract. 

If we decide to carry your book, we will ask you to sign a contract that includes the following terms:

1)  Books may be left at The Yellow Door Bookstore on consignment for the period of up to six months.

 2)  Being a small store with limited shelf space, we will ask that we start with two copies of each books at a time. Unless otherwise spoken about.

3)  During these six months, the author may contact The Yellow Door Bookstore by email (theyellowdoorbookstore@gmail.com subject: your name) at the end of each month to check the stock status and may invoice us at the end of the quarter for any books sold.

4) If at any time the Author is rude, belligerent, or disrespectful to any member of our staff, the contract will be terminated immediately without warning and pickup of inventory must be done within 7 days or products will be donated to the local library.

5)  In the case that the book is selling steadily, the author may be given the opportunity to sign a new contract. 

6) Author must restock any sold out inventory within 7 days after the last day of the month.

7)  After six months, the author may retrieve any unsold stock and provide us with a final invoice if necessary.

8)  The Yellow Door Bookstore retains 40% of retail price and the author receives 60%.

9) Unfortunately, The Yellow Door Bookstore cannot be held responsible for lost or stolen books. We do have lots of cameras with many views of our store but unfortunately we do miss some of the mischief.

10)  PLEASE NOTE THIS CAREFULLY If the author does not pick up their books wtihin 7 days after their six months contract does not renew, the book becomes the property of The Yellow Door Bookstore to donate at our discretion. It is up to the author to keep track of their book in our store.