How to Sell Autographed Books on Amazon

How to Sell Autographed Books on Amazon

Why sell autographed book copies? For any author, successful bookselling relies on creativity—and the
flexibility to offer buyers multiple book formats and several easy ways to purchase. One option many
authors don’t consider is selling signed author’s copies.

In addition to being a wonderful keepsake for readers you know personally, here are other benefits to
selling autographed copies:

• Readers like something that is, or could someday be, more valuable with a signature
• A signed copy is ideal for promotional purposes
• Selling autographed copies as a third-party seller gives you another venue through which to market

and sell your book, or to upsell your book
• Gift-givers can have the book personalized for the recipient
• The author’s personal signature is often the final nudge a buyer needs to make a purchase decision

When deciding on whether to offer this option, you should not only think about what value a signature
brings to your book, but the value the book brings to your signature. Status as a top-selling or lauded
author means your signature holds more value for readers.

So, how do you know if the time is right to sell signed copies?

• Have you received multiple requests for a personally signed copy of your book?
• Are you consistently selling multiple copies each week or month?
• Have you received a positive review from a prestigious book reviewer, multiple positive reviews

online from readers, and/or high-profile media coverage as the author?

If the answer to any of these questions is “YES!” then it is time to sell personally autographed copies of
your book on Amazon. How do you do it? The answer is simple: Amazon Marketplace.

Amazon Marketplace has two plans available to sellers, both of which are appropriate for booksellers:

• Individual – free account for smaller sellers with only a few items to offer
• Professional – subscription service for experienced and volume sellers

Unless you are already an established merchant on Amazon, we recommend you start with an Individual
Account. There is no monthly fee for an Individual Seller account, but Amazon will charge a $0.99 fee on
each sale. As an Individual Seller, you will have available to you a basic set of tools for listing your book and
managing orders.

If your volume of autographed book sales justifies a Professional Account, you can upgrade from your
Seller Account settings to the tune of $39.99/month in subscription fees, payable to Amazon. For the
purposes of this tutorial, we’ll focus on getting you started via the free Individual Seller account. For more
information about fees, visit Amazon’s Fees and Pricing page.

Step-by-Step Amazon Seller Instructions

Have a copy of your book, or your book’s sales sheet, on hand before you begin. Log into your Amazon
account then visit https://services.amazon.com and click on “Pricing” for a side-by-side comparison
between the Individual Plan and the Professional Plan. Click on the “Sell as an Individual” button
underneath the comparison chart.

There’s some paperwork to complete online, including the Seller Agreement, setting up your Seller
Information, and providing Amazon with payment details (so they can pay you, and charge you their
service fees). The steps are all straight-forward. Simply follow them step-by-step online.

Then it’s time to “Add a Product.”

If your book is already for sale on Amazon, simply type the title or ISBN in the box to search for it. Your
book should appear in the search results. If so, click the “Sell yours” button next to your book to let Amazon
know that you are selling your copies of this item.

Click “Advanced View” to reveal all the fields you need to fill out for your listing. If you were able to find
your existing listing in the search results, Amazon will autofill some product information for you. Fill out
as much of the remaining vital information about your autographed book as you can.

Note that when you expand the view, there is a box that allows you to designate your book as being signed
by the author. Be as detailed and thorough as possible to get the most out of your selling forum.

Before finishing your listing, be sure to check “I want to ship this item myself to the customer if it sells” on
the Fullfillment Channel option.

Make sure you have plenty of author copies on hand before listing your book for sale. When someone
orders, you will be obligated to sign a copy and then ship it to your customer in a timely fashion—you don’t
want to be caught without inventory!

Similarly, be sure to order plenty of shipping supplies beforehand: padded media envelopes, shipping tape,
shipping labels, a shipping scale (or accurate kitchen scale), and perhaps pretty stationary for a personal
note to each buyer.

You may wish to list your autographed copy at a higher price than regular copies, or offer it for a limited
time at the same price as a promotion.

Consider limiting the number of autographed books you will sell. Cut off this option at 100 or 500 copies
or so, and note the number of the personal signature in each signed copy. This lets the reader know that
this feature is relatively rare, and provides them extra value.