Sample cover — replace with client asset
The Harbour Line
From$6.99
Global Book Distribution
Getting your book listed, orderable and fulfilled across online retailers, wholesalers and library suppliers.
- Price From $290 setup, from
- Typical timeline 4–8 weeks to full availability
Distribution is the least glamorous part of publishing and one of the most consequential. It is what stands between a finished book and a book anyone can buy.
Most of the work is metadata — the structured record that describes your book to every retailer's system. Title and subtitle exactly as they should display, contributor records, BISAC subject codes deciding which shelves you appear on, keywords, audience and reading level, territory rights, prices per currency, publication date, trade discount and returns policy. Retailers ingest this record automatically; if it is wrong or thin, your book is hard to find and nobody tells you why.
We prepare that record properly, submit it through the distribution channels, and monitor until listings appear correctly across territories. We also set up wholesale availability so bookstores and library suppliers can order through the channels they already use — which is a genuinely different thing from being listed online.
Two things we will always be straight about. First, retailer availability depends on each retailer's own catalog policies and can change without notice; being distributed means orderable, not stocked. Second, a wholesale listing means a bookstore can order your book, not that any bookstore will. Physical shelf placement is a buying decision made store by store, and no distributor controls it.
What you receive
Deliverables
Exactly what lands in your inbox, listed the same way it appears in your written scope.
- Full bibliographic metadata record with BISAC codes and keywords
- ISBN registration and assignment per format
- Online retailer listing submission
- Print-on-demand fulfilment setup across territories
- Wholesale catalog listing for bookstores and library suppliers
- Per-currency pricing and territory rights configuration
- Listing verification report once live
What we need from you
Requirements
Having these ready before we start is what keeps the timeline honest.
- Final print-ready interior and cover files
- Final title, subtitle and contributor details
- Book description and author biography
- Your pricing decisions per format and territory
Production timelines are estimates. Actual schedules vary with manuscript length, revision rounds, author response time and third-party retailer processing.
How it works
Global Book Distribution, stage by stage
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1
Metadata build
We compile the full record with you: categories, keywords, audience, description, contributors, rights.
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2
ISBN assignment
An ISBN is assigned per format, with you recorded as the rights holder.
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3
Channel submission
The record and files are submitted through the distribution channels for each territory.
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4
Listing verification
We monitor until listings appear and check each one displays correctly.
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5
Ongoing management
Price changes, description updates and new editions are handled through the same channels.
Examples
Browse the bookstore
Books this service has shaped
Sample catalog titles. Replace with a real portfolio of work you have permission to show before launch.
Sample cover — replace with client asset
The Second Tide
From$6.99
Sample cover — replace with client asset
The Evidence Gap
From$9.99
Sample cover — replace with client asset
Decision Debt
From$11.99
It will be orderable by them, which is what distribution provides. Whether any individual store stocks it on a shelf is that store's own buying decision, based on local demand, returns terms and shelf space. No distributor can promise physical placement, and you should be sceptical of anyone who does.
You are recorded as the rights holder and publisher of record. If you already own ISBNs, we will use yours instead.
eBook listings usually appear within a few days. Print listings typically take two to six weeks to propagate fully across territories, and some retailers are slower than others. We monitor and tell you when each channel is live.
Yes, at any time. Changes propagate through the channels in a few days, though some retailers take longer to reflect them than others.
Often bought together
All services
Related services
Production
Printing Services
Print-on-demand setup and offset print run coordination, with a physical proof before anything is committed.
Production
eBook Conversion
A properly built EPUB that reflows cleanly, navigates correctly and passes retailer validation first time.
Marketing
Book Marketing
A defined 90-day campaign of listing optimization, reader outreach and launch assets, reported on activity delivered.
Talk it through
Not sure whether you need global book distribution?
Send us the manuscript. If this is not the service that would help your book most, we will tell you which one is.
Your manuscript stays confidential. We claim no rights in your work at any stage.