Retail Distribution Program

Retail distribution utilizes Print-to-Order…What is Print to Order?

Utilizing state of the art digital printing equipment and proprietary technology, BookPrintOnDemand is able to deliver superior quality soft cover, perfect-bound books with full color covers and black and white interiors at a very competitive price. 

With a print on demand facility installed in Send The Light (STL) Distribution’s Elizabethton, TN facility, STL Distribution/Advocate Distribution Solutions can offer a “Print-to-Order” (PTO) service for distribution clients to the full spectrum of booksellers, e-commerce retailers and “big box”.  Books enrolled in PTO are printed in direct response to real customer orders and are filled in the same day in accordance with STL’s promise for same day shipping on orders received before 1pm. 

Key Elements:

1. Publisher signs distribution agreement with STL/Advocate for any titles the publisher wants on the list.
2. STL/Advocate feeds the product data to all of the key retailers in the country including B&N, Borders, Books-A-Million, Baker & Taylor, Ingram and all of the Christian trade (Family, LifeWay, Mardel, CBD, etc.)
3. Retailers place their orders with Advocate before 1 PM, and their order prints and ships in the same day
4. Advocate charges 22.5% of the gross retail sales receipt, subtracts the print cost from the gross amount and sends the balance to the publisher 90 days end-of-month.

Shared Revenue Model

Customer Type*                                                         Retail Discount for Books    STL Fee

1. Retailer – Returnable (independent bookstores)       45%**                22.50%***                  
2. Chain Retailer – Distribution Center/Returnable         51%                  22.50%                  
3. Wholesaler –  Returnable (Ingram; B&T)                    50%                  22.50%                  
4. Rack Jobber / Mass returnable (Amazon)                   55%                  22.50%                  
5. Catalog Distributor – Non Returnable (CBD)              60%                  22.50%                  
6. International Retailer                                                  55%                  22.50%                  
7. International Wholesaler                                             65%                  22.50%                  

Shared Revenue Example

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):             $20.00

Less Discount (i.e. 50%)                      -$10.00

Net Invoice Value:                               $10.00

Less Distribution (18.5%)                    -$1.85

Less Free Freight (4%)                        -$0.40

Net to Publisher:                                  $7.75 less print cost.

Print cost is deducted from this amount by STL/Advocate, and paid directly to BookPrintOnDemand. The remaining net revenue is remitted to the publisher per the PTO agreement with STL/Advocate.

*There are more customer types at STL/Advocate, but are infrequent buyers. For a complete listing of customer types and discounts, please contact STL/Advocate Distribution.

**Each publisher in the PTO program participates in each sales channel and the corresponding retail discount.
***The STL/Advocate discount is taken after the wholesale price has been deducted. STL/Advocate will own the accounts receivable from the moment the book ships to the retailer.

Who is this program for?

The PTO program is designed especially for publishers who are looking for these advantages:

1. Publishers who want access to the full spectrum of booksellers, e-commerce retailers and “big box” stores.
2. Publishers looking for a zero risk inventory model
3. Publishers who do not want to carry accounts receivable balances with hundreds or thousands of retailers
4. Publishers who do not want warehousing overheads
5. Publishers wanting distribution for slow moving trade titles
6. Publishers wanting distribution for formerly out of print titles
7. Publishers wanting distribution for niche titles

Sounds good – what next?

Step 1:
Log into your account. Go to the MY ACCOUNT tab, and click on the request distribution button.

Step 2:
Fill out the REQUEST DISTRIBUTION form and submit.

Step 3:
Once you click submit, your request will automatically be sent to STL/Advocate, and your account at BookPrintOnDemand will automatically be activated for retail distribution. Log back into your account, click on the SAVED BOOKS tab and you will find a box behind each title in your account. This allows you to control the titles you want in RETAIL DISTRIBUTION by simply checking the box behind each title you want to link to STL/Advocate.

A representative from STL/Advocate will contact you within a couple days to discuss the distribution terms and agreement. Once this is signed, you will be given access to PRODUCT MANAGER, which allows you to upload your product data. When this data is completed, your product data will be connected automatically with your BookPrintOnDemand  account.

Step 4:
Fill in these required SAVED BOOKS fields:

1. Complete title
2. Valid ISBN
3. Retail price

Once both of these items are completed, your book will connect with STL/Advocate automatically, after you have signed the distribution agreement and they have your account set up on their end. You may notice another number in the ISBN field called an SFBN. This is an internal number assigned to every book, and sits in the ISBN field in your account for internal tracking purposes...it always starts with a ‘20’. Simply overwrite this number with the correct ISBN.

Other contacts

Questions with new account setup, print file uploads and other printing related questions, please contact customer support.

Questions concerning distribution may be directed to your Client Relations Manager (Trish Hollman-Sluss at patricia.hollman-sluss@stl-distribution.com or Nina Hall at nina.hall@stl-distribution.com) or Darren Henry at darren.henry@stl-distribution.com