The print on demand author does not have to fill in any forms, since their provider will have already done this. All you need do is contact Peter, who will verify that your book(s) is/are acceptable, he will then email you a spreadsheet of contact details for all stores. Then all you need to do is get ringing!

Note that some branches may ask if they can order direct from you as the author. It is not Waterstones policy though to do this, since you may have problems getting paid! It is always preferable to ask stores to order direct from Gardners or another wholesaler or distributor.

When a book sells in one of their branches, it will come up on a report the following day. It is then the buyer's decision whether to re-order it. If the book has been on the shelves for less than 3 months, in 90% of cases it will be re-ordered. If it has been there for between 3 and 6 months, then the buyer will decide whether it is worth ordering more. Generally speaking, a book needs to sell at least 3-4 times a year to remain in stock.

Borders are not so easy to get into. You need to send a copy of your book(s) together with the usual information (information sheet, reviews, sales figures if appropriate, press coverage, press releases etc) and a detailed marketing plan - this part is very important as they do not take on titles that are unlikely to sell and it is your job to show them that you are going to work hard at finding and/or creating that market. Send the information to their New Press Department, attention Claire/Dorindar to Stillerman House, 120 Charing Cross Road, London WC2 H0JR.

After that you can telephone their stores in the same way as Waterstones. Unlike Waterstones, Borders do not supply you with a list of contact details, so you have to get all the details from their website. This is easy enough, since the stores are all listed on there anyway, broken down into various areas - i.e. London, south east etc. They have a small number of stores compared to Waterstones, so it shouldn't take long.

The other way to get listed with Borders is to get booked to do a talk or book signing at one of their stores. Be careful though that they do not list the book as local interest as it is likely to end up on the wrong shelf, and other stores further afield may be reluctant to order because of this.

It is easier than you think then to get accepted by these stores. The really hard work begins after acceptance, as you have to get out there and tell the stores about your book, persuading them to order. Nevertheless, this is something that the serious self published author has to grit their teeth and get on with. The key is to know your market, understand how the supply chain works and be professional and courteous at all times.

I spent five months telephoning every book store I could, and aimed to ring at least 10 stores a day. It may seem like hard work, but is worth the effort, after all, even if stores only order just 2 books apiece, this still adds up to to several hundred sales over a couple of months.

How should one approach the book stores when do you get round to ringing them and is it really worth the time and effort that this entails? Personally I have found it to be the most worthwhile piece of marketing I ever undertook.

Begin by deciding how many calls you wish to make each day. You will also need some means of recording what has been said and who needs to be called next. The spreadsheet of Waterstones details that Peter sends you is read only so you will need to copy this into a format that can be edited. I added several columns entitled contact name, date and what was said, and then follow up columns with dates as well. Remember that sometimes you may need to contact a store several times before you get a result.

It is best to start with local stores, within say an hour of home, and then gradually branch out across the country, alternately you can do what I did and simply work down the list from A-Z. If you stick to 10 calls a day, the whole process should take around 4-5 months to complete.

Who you need to speak to will depend on the size of the store you are calling, and unfortunately it is difficult for you to know this until they pick up the phone and tell you! The best approach is simply to explain who are and ask who the right person to speak to is. I used to say something like this "Good morning/afternoon, my name is June Austin and I am the author of a mind, body and spirit book entitled Genesis of Man, I was wondering who the right person would be to speak to about getting it stocked in your branch." Note that it is important to use the word branch, as otherwise they will assume you mean the company as a whole and give you a spiel about how you need to go through Head Office first, which actually isn't true.

The book seller will do one of several things - put you through to the right person, tell you they are not in or ask you send some information. Sometimes they will also try and tell you that you have to go through Head Office. If they do this, then politely explain to them that you have already spoken to their independent author advisor (mention the name as well as this always impresses upon them that you know what you doing), who said that you are free to contact any store that you choose direct.

When you do get to speak to someone, make sure you get their name and their position within the store (manager, book seller or whatever). Also make sure that you know exactly what to say (have it written down as a rough script if necessary) and that you have the ISBN close at hand, as they are bound to want to know this so that they can look it up. If you are very lucky and say the right things, they may agree to order some copies then and there, but they are more likely to request further information. Whether you choose to send this by fax, email or letter is up to you, but email is by far the quickest and cheapest method.

If you do send emails make sure they are not overloaded with attachments as they will not get through the system. I sent a standard email which could be personalised to each store, with a copy of my information sheet and a link to the book trade page on my own website which contains reviews, sample chapter etc should they wish some more information.

Make a note of whom you spoke to and sent the information to, and call them a week later to make sure if was received and see what their interest is. You can use Works Calendar or similar in conjunction with your spreadsheet to record this information. It is a useful tool since if it happens for example to be the persons day off when you call, then you simply make a note to call them on the next available day, which you will see when you open the calendar on that day.

If you speak to a manager or book seller and they say that they will mention the book to the section manager of your genre (children's or whatever), see if you can get that persons name. When you call to follow up, ask for the section manager direct. Store Managers are busy people and nine times out of ten when they tell you they are going to do something they don't, because they forget or get distracted. Talk then to the section manager direct, who makes the final decision to buy and save yourself a lot of time.

It is good practise when you do get orders to send a confirmation email thanking the store for their custom and providing a link to your website should they wish to use reviews etc for promotional purposes. Stores get very busy and sometimes they may tell you they are going to order copies and forget, so sending an email also serves to remind them.