Build the outreach lists

Build bookstore and event targets

List the bookstores, libraries, festivals, and venues where an event or a stocking conversation makes sense for this book, with the right contact and the right ask for each.

RecommendedOwner: Publisher and Author and PublicistYou: Do itFreeAll publishing paths

Why it matters

Bookstores and libraries are where a book meets readers in person, and a store that hosts you is a store that stocks you. Events also produce the local media coverage, photographs, and community connections that feed the rest of the campaign. A target list with contacts and lead times keeps the asks timely and the follow-up organized.

Your part

What you do: Do it. You normally do this yourself.
Who normally owns it: Publisher and Author and Publicist. Publisher and publicist handle tour and trade outreach; author builds local and specialist targets
When: 3 to 5 months before publication; many stores book events 2 to 4 months ahead (Build the outreach lists: six to three months before publication)

How to build bookstore and event targets

Start local: the stores near where you live, where you grew up, where the book is set, and where you have a professional community.
Add subject-specialist stores, libraries with author programs, festivals and conferences in your field, and venues that are not bookstores at all but whose audience matches the book.
For each target, record the events coordinator or buyer by name, how far ahead they book, and whether they sell books at events or expect you to bring them.
Write the specific ask beside each one: an event, stocking the book, a signed-stock visit, or a consignment arrangement.
Ask your publisher which stores its sales and publicity teams are already contacting, and whether a tour is planned, before you approach anyone.
Confirm wholesale availability, the discount, and returnability before any store is approached, because those are the first things a store will ask about.
Keep the number realistic. Five well-chosen events with the right audience beat twenty with three people at each.

More detail

Bookstore and event targets are the places you could physically or virtually appear, and the stores that might stock the book because of a connection to you or the subject. The list is local first: the stores near where you live, where you grew up, where the book is set, and where you have a professional community. Then subject-specialist stores, libraries with author programs, festivals and conferences in your field, and venues that are not bookstores at all (a museum, a professional association meeting, a cooking school) but whose audience matches the book.

For each target, record the contact (events coordinator or buyer, by name), how far ahead they book, whether they sell books at events or expect you to bring them, and what the ask is: an event, stocking the book, a signed-stock visit, or a consignment arrangement.

Traditionally published authors should coordinate with the publisher's sales and publicity teams, which may already have relationships with stores and may be planning a tour. Hybrid and self-published authors approach stores directly and should expect questions about wholesale availability, discount, and returns, which is why the one-page book sheet comes first.

Be realistic about the number. Five well-chosen events with the right audience are better than twenty events with three attendees each.

Common mistakes

Approaching stores before the book is orderable through their wholesaler.
Asking every store for an event when some would rather just stock the book.
Ignoring libraries, festivals, and non-bookstore venues with better audience fit.
Booking events with no plan for who sells the books.

Identifiers for Build bookstore and event targets

Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.

Book and author identifiers
My status	Identifier	Why this matters	Cost	Yours
Not reviewed	Ingram The wholesale catalog most bookstores and libraries order from, plus IngramSpark, the self-publishing platform that feeds into it.	This decides whether a bookstore or library can order your book through the channel most of them use, and on what terms, so when a shop says it cannot order your book this is usually where the answer sits. Ingram's data also reaches many retailers and library vendors, so an error in the record can surface in several places. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether the title is in Ingram wholesale, at what wholesale discount, and whether it is returnable, since those are the two terms a bookseller checks before ordering; if you publish the book yourself, you set the discount and the return policy in IngramSpark, and both have real money attached. Get the discount and return terms in writing, then check that the title record matches the other major listings.	No cost to a traditionally published author. IngramSpark charges printing costs per copy and may charge setup or revision fees; check current terms.	Nothing to record

A template for this

Bookstore event inquiryA courteous inquiry to a bookstore's events contact proposing a specific event, with date options, the reason it suits the store's customers, and ordering details.

When to use it: Use this when you have a real connection to a store, or the book has a clear local or subject audience, usually three to four months before the dates you propose. Do not use this when the store publishes an event request form. Use the form and adapt this text for it. Do not use it at all for a store whose customers have no particular reason to want this book.

Subject: Event inquiry: [Book Title] by [Author Name]

Hi [Recipient Name],

I'm [Your Name], the author of [Book Title] ([Publisher], [Publication Date]). [Your Connection To The Store Or Community] I'd love to know whether [Store Name] might consider an event for the book and how you prefer authors to approach requests like this.

What I have in mind: [Event Format, For Example A Reading And Signing, Or A Conversation With A Local Author]
Possible dates: [Event Date Options]
Why it may suit your customers: [Relevance To The Store's Community Or Customers]
How I would help spread the word: [Your Promotion Plans, For Example Newsletter, Local Groups, Or Social Posts]

Ordering details:
ISBN: [ISBN]
Formats: [Formats]
Publisher: [Publisher]
Available through: [Wholesaler Or Distributor]
Returnable: [Returnability]
Publisher events or publicity contact: [Contact Name And Email, If Any]

If there is an event form I should use instead, please point me to it. And if an event is not possible, I would still be glad to stop in and sign any stock you carry.

Thank you,
[Your Name]
[Your Phone]
[Your Email]

What done looks like

A list of stores, libraries, festivals, and venues, grouped by location and by audience.
The events or buying contact for each, by name, with the store's lead time and book-sales arrangement.
The specific ask per target: event, stocking, signed stock, or consignment.
Coordination with the publisher on which stores it is already contacting.
Wholesale availability, discount, and returnability confirmed before any store is approached.

Ask your publisher

Copy this into an email. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.

Hi [Name], is the sales or publicity team planning any events or store outreach for [Book Title]? I am building a list of local and subject-specialist stores, libraries, and venues to approach and want to coordinate rather than duplicate. Thank you.

Sources and last checked

Official source: No single official page for this step.
Last checked: Not checked against its source yet.
How confident we are: Verified