Publish and distribute
Book distribution services for Australian authors
Your title listed with Australian and international retailers, orderable by any bookshop, available to library suppliers, and printed locally for local orders.
What it is
Distribution is metadata, availability and patience
Being on sale is a technical problem. Being noticed is a marketing one. This page is about the first.
A book becomes available when its metadata is correct and its print or file source is connected: title, subtitle, contributors, ISBN, BISAC subject codes, price, territory rights, publication date, blurb and cover all agreeing with each other across every channel. Get one field wrong and a retailer either lists the book oddly or not at all.
We handle the listings and the print source, and we are honest about what listing does and does not do — it makes you orderable, not stocked. Marketing is a separate job, covered on our book marketing page. Registration comes first: see how to get an ISBN in Australia.
- Amazon, Booktopia, Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play
- Orderable by any Australian bookshop through the usual suppliers
- Available to library suppliers, with legal deposit lodged
- Print on demand in Australia so local orders print locally
In detail
The three channels, and what each is worth
They behave differently, pay differently, and need different things from you.
Online retail
Where most self-published copies sell. Amazon is usually the largest single channel in Australia, but Booktopia, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play together are not a rounding error, and ebook exclusivity closes them off.
- Paperback and ebook listed on each retailer
- Metadata consistent across all channels
- Pricing set per territory rather than auto-converted
Bookshops
Listing makes your book orderable by any shop; it does not put it on a table. Shops stock on local interest, sale-or-return terms and a trade discount, and that conversation is one you or a publicist has, shop by shop.
- Listed with the suppliers Australian shops order from
- Trade discount and returns terms set deliberately
- We will tell you what stocking actually requires
Libraries
Often overlooked and genuinely worth having. Libraries buy through suppliers, lend your book to readers who would not have bought it, and in Australia lending can earn you payments under the Lending Right schemes if you register.
- Listed with library suppliers, not just retailers
- Legal deposit copies lodged as the law requires
- Pointed at the Lending Right schemes so you can register
How it works
How distribution is set up
Four stages, about two to three weeks before a title is broadly available.
- 01
Metadata build
Days 1–4One master record: title, contributors, ISBNs per format, subject codes, blurb, price, territories and publication date. Everything downstream is a copy of this.
Your part: Approve the record. Changing it later propagates slowly.
- 02
Print and file sources
Days 4–8Print on demand set up so Australian orders print locally, and ebook files validated and uploaded for each retailer.
Your part: Nothing, unless a file needs a fix.
- 03
Channels opened
Days 8–14Retailer listings submitted, bookshop and library supplier channels enabled, trade discount and returns terms set.
Your part: Decide the trade discount. We will explain what each level means.
- 04
Live check and legal deposit
Days 14–21Every listing checked once live for correct cover, price, formats and blurb, and legal deposit copies lodged as required.
Your part: Nothing. We send you the list of live links.
You keep your rights
Full copyright and royalties stay with you
Fixed written quotes
The quote you accept is the amount you pay
Australian owned
Local team, AUD pricing, GST invoices
Work you approve
Nothing goes to print without your sign-off
Packages
Where distribution sits in our packages
Distribution setup is included in the Publish and Publish and launch packages. As a standalone service it is a fixed setup fee — there is no ongoing commission to us on anything you sell.
Manuscript
Get the writing right before you spend anything on design.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Written manuscript assessment
- One round of structural editing
- Line edit and final proofread
- Australian spelling and style sheet
- A call with your editor at each stage
Publish
Everything needed to turn a finished manuscript into a book on sale.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Manuscript
- Original cover design, print and ebook
- Typeset interior for paperback and ebook
- ISBN registration and legal deposit
- Retailer and print-on-demand setup
- A printed proof copy before you sign off
- You keep the rights and the royalties
Publish and launch
For authors who want readers to find the book in its first month.
for a 60,000-word manuscript
- Everything in Publish
- A launch plan with dates and owners
- Author website with an email sign-up
- Retailer advertising for the first 90 days
- Review and bookshop outreach
- Monthly sales reporting for six months
Every quote is confirmed after we read your manuscript. Prices in Australian dollars and include GST. Longer books and illustrated books cost more, and we will say so before you commit.
Related services
What usually comes next
Questions authors ask
Book distribution: questions authors ask
It will be orderable by them, which is the honest answer. We list the title with the suppliers Australian shops buy through and set trade discount and returns terms so stocking is commercially possible. Whether a shop actually stocks it depends on local interest, your launch, and usually a conversation with the manager.
No. Distribution setup is a one-off fee and nothing recurring comes to us. Retailers deduct their own share under their published terms and pay you the rest directly. Any arrangement where a service provider sits in the payment chain is one to ask hard questions about.
Amazon is usually live within three days of upload. Other retailers take one to three weeks to ingest and publish a new record, and library suppliers can take longer. Plan a publication date three to four weeks after setup so every channel is live before you announce.
They are the standard subject codes retailers and libraries use to shelve your book, and they matter a great deal. A novel filed under the wrong code appears in the wrong browse lists and is recommended to the wrong readers. We choose them from your actual content and the categories your comparable titles sit in.
Not while you are enrolled. KDP Select requires digital exclusivity to Amazon for the enrolment period, so the ebook cannot be on Apple Books, Kobo or Google Play during it. The paperback is unaffected. It is a real trade-off and we will set out both sides before you decide.
Yes, it is a requirement under the Copyright Act for material published in Australia. A copy of your book goes to the National Library of Australia and a copy to the deposit library for your state or territory. It costs you two copies and the postage, and it puts your book permanently in the national collection. We lodge it for you.
Still have a question? A real publisher will answer it.
Start your publishing journeyFree, no obligation
Get your book properly available
Tell us which formats you have. We will build the metadata record, open the retail, bookshop and library channels, and send you the live links.
- One metadata record, consistent across every channel
- Print on demand in Australia for local orders
- Library suppliers and legal deposit handled
- A one-off fee, with no commission on your sales
- 1. You send it
- 2. An editor reads it
- 3. You get a written price