Alibris for Publishers: New Seller How-to Guide
Welcome to the Alibris Authors and Publishers program! Thank you for becoming an Alibris seller. We look forward to a rewarding partnership as you get your published works into the Alibris catalog.
Please familiarize yourself with our Policies and Procedures in order to understand our day-to-day operations and the terms by which we'll be doing business together.
This How-to Guide explains the Alibris program for authors and publishers, starting with instructions on how to get your publications into the Ingram catalog, and hence the Alibris catalog. Having your bibliographic data and cover art in our catalog will assist potential buyers in identifying and purchasing your book(s). Please save and print this tutorial to use as a quick reference as you get started. You will be well on your way to becoming a successful seller once you review the following information and perform each step in order.
Step 1: Obtain an ISBN for each of your books
You will need a 13-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for each book that you intend to list through Ingram and Alibris. ISBNs are explained and can be obtained at www.isbn.org. Once you have an ISBN for each book that you intend to list, follow these steps to send get your covers and bibliographic data to Ingram for inclusion in their cataloginto Ingram's catalog.
Step 2: Choose your book-cover image format
You'll want to include a cover image with each of your listings. If you cannot supply a digital image of your book cover, please contact Alibris for assistance at authorsupport@alibris.com.
Submitting digital images of book covers
All digital images must be supplied in JPEG or TIFF file format with the following characteristics:
- Clean, clear, and sharply defined
- 72-300 dpi
- RGB color
- At least 648 pixels on the longest edge
IMPORTANT: All images must be named by ISBN. Images must be named by the 10 or 13 digits of the ISBN, plus the file extension (for example, "123456789X.jpg" or "123456789X.tif"). Hyphens and other characters must not be included. If an image can be used for two separate ISBNs, please save the image once under each ISBN. Images named in any other manner will be rejected.
Images are reviewed for quality and format. All book images must be a two-dimensional (flat) scan of the front cover without borders or drop shadows. We will not accept and display images that do not meet all of these requirements.
Step 3: Provide your covers and bibliographic data to Ingram
Displaying book cover photos and uploading bibliographic data for your published works will increase their appeal to potential buyers—and result in increased sales too. Now that you have completed preceding sections you can upload such information to Alibris. We will send the information to the Ingram Book Group, our wholesaling partner and provider of much of our catalog data. Follow these steps to do so:
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Download Ingram's template. Ingram requires the following document to facilitate uploads:
- Fill out the bibliographic Excel template completely. You must use the Excel template provided, without modifying any of its original formatting, as it is designed for the Ingram upload system.
- ISBN: Please enter the ISBN (10 digits) with no hyphens or characters
- Title: Please enter the exact title. DO NOT USE ABBREVIATIONS.
- Cont 1: Enter the main contributor (typically, the author) in the format of Last Name, First Name Middle Initial (e.g., Doe, John S.).
- Cont 1 Role: Identify the role of this contributor; you must use one of the codes shown below:
- A01: Author
- B01: Editor
- A12: Illustrator
- C01: Compiled by
- B06: Translator
- A13: Photographer
- A06: Composer
- E08: Recorded by
- D01: Producer
- E07: Read by
- Z99: Other
- Imprint: Imprint name shown on product, or publisher name if no imprint.
- Pubdate: Publication Date. Use format MMYYYY (e.g., August 2010 would be 082010).
- Status: Please use the following codes, if applicable. (Typically, IP would be used most often for Active Listings.)
- AB: Canceled
- IP: Active
- MD: On demand
- NP: Not yet published
- OI: Out of stock indefinitely
- OP: Out of print
- TP: Temporarily out of stock
- Media: Please select the appropriate media type for this item. Please note that the next field, "Binding," must map back to this field as well. For "Media," please use one of the following codes:
- A: AudiProduct
- B: Book
- C: Calendar
- D: Digital Carrier (e.g., CD-ROM, Computer DVD, diskette)
- J: Journal
- K: Map
- V: Video Product
- Binding: Please select the appropriate Binding:
- If you chose A for Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- AA: Analog Audio Cassette
- CD: Compact Disc
- DV: DVD
- If you chose B or J as Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- BD: Board Books
- BX: Boxed Set
- FB: Fabric
- LB: Library Binding
- LE: Leather
- MM: Mass Market Paperbound
- P: Printed Paper Over Board
- SP: Spiral
- TP: Paperback
- TC: Hardcover
- VB: Vinyl Bound
- If you chose C as Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- DK: Desk
- MN: Mini
- PD: Page A Day
- WL: Wall
- If you chose D as Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- CG: Game Cartridge
- D: MSDOS
- MC: Macintosh
- MX: Hybrid
- WX: Windows
- If you chose K as Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- FF: Folded
- GG: Globe
- NF: Not Folded, Rolled
- If you chose V as Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- DV: DVD
- VD: VHS
- VK: Video Disk
- If you chose A for Media Type, select one of the following codes:
- List Price: No dollar signs. List US list price only.
- Language: Enter the language of this item. Values are based on ISO language codes. Some examples are shown below; you may find a broader list at sites such as http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php.
- ENG: English
- SPA: Spanish
- FRE: French
- GER: German
- ITA: Italian
- CHI: Chinese
- JPN: Japanese
- MUL: Multiple Languages
- RUS: Russian
- POR: Portugese
- HEB: Hebrew
- LAT: Latin
- BISAC Subject: Enter a BISAC standard subject code.Contact the Book Industry Study Group (http://www.bisg.org) for a list of codes. Some general codes are listed below to help you in your classification:
- ANT000000 ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES / General
- ARC000000 ARCHITECTURE / General
- ART000000 ART / General
- BIB001000 BIBLES/Christian Standard Bible/General
- BIO000000 BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General
- OCC000000 BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / General
- BUS000000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General
- CGN000000 COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / General
- COM000000 COMPUTERS / General
- CKB000000 COOKING / General
- CRA000000 CRAFTS & HOBBIES / General
- DES000000 DESIGN / General
- DRA000000 DRAMA / General
- EDU000000 EDUCATION / General
- FAM000000 FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / General
- FIC000000 FICTION / General
- FOR000000 FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY / General
- GAM000000 GAMES / General
- GAR000000 GARDENING / General
- HEA000000 HEALTH & FITNESS / General
- HIS000000 HISTORY / General
- HOM000000 HOUSE & HOME / General
- HUM000000 HUMOR / General
- JUV000000 JUVENILE FICTION / General
- JNF000000 JUVENILE NONFICTION / General
- LAN000000 LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / General
- LAW000000 LAW / General
- LCO000000 LITERARY COLLECTIONS / General
- LIT000000 LITERARY CRITICISM / General
- MAT000000 MATHEMATICS / General
- MED000000 MEDICAL / General
- MUS000000 MUSIC / General
- NAT000000 NATURE / General
- PER000000 PERFORMING ARTS / General
- PET000000 PETS / General
- PHI000000 PHILOSOPHY / General
- PHO000000 PHOTOGRAPHY / General
- POE000000 POETRY / General
- POL000000 POLITICAL SCIENCE / General
- PSY000000 PSYCHOLOGY / General
- REF000000 REFERENCE / General
- REL000000 RELIGION / General
- SCI000000 SCIENCE / General
- SEL000000 SELF-HELP / General
- SOC000000 SOCIAL SCIENCE / General
- SPO000000 SPORTS & RECREATION / General
- STU000000 STUDY AIDS / General
- TEC000000 TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / General
- TRA000000 TRANSPORTATION / General
- TRV000000 TRAVEL / General
- TRU000000 TRUE CRIME / General
The following fields are required, if applicable (that is, if your item does not have a subtitle, this is not a required field):
- Subtitle: Please enter the exact subtitle, if applicable. NOT USE ABBREVIATIONS.
- Edition: If applicable, enter the edition.
- Edition Description: Enter the appropriate code; you must use one of the below codes shown below, or leave it blank:
- ABR: Abridged
- ANN: Annotated
- ENL: Enlarged
- LTE: Large Print
- REV: Revised
- STU: Student Edition
- TCH: Teachers Edition
- UBR: Unabridged
- Series Name: Please enter the exact series name, if applicable. DO NOT USE ABBREVIATIONS.
- Series Num: The issue number in the series for this title
- Cont 2: Enter a secondary contributor name (if applicable) in the following format: of Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (e.g., Doe, John S.).
- Cont 2 Role: Identify the role of this contributor using the following code; you must use one of the below codes shown below:
- A01: Author
- B01: Editor
- A12: Illustrator
- C01: Compiled by
- B06: Translator
- A13: Photographer
- A06: Composer
- E08: Recorded by
- D01: Producer
- E07: Read by
- Z99: Other
- Cont 3: Enter an additional contributor name (if applicable) in the following format: of Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. (e.g., Doe, John S.).
- Cont 3 Role: Identify the role of this contributor; you must use one of the below codes shown below:
- A01: Author
- B01: Editor
- A12: Illustrator
- C01: Compiled by
- B06: Translator
- A13: Photographer
- A06: Composer
- E08: Recorded by
- D01: Producer
- E07: Read by
- Z99: Other
The following fields are optional:
- EAN: Please enter the EAN or ISBN-13 (13 digits) with no hyphens or characters.
- UPC: Please enter the UPC (12 digits) with no hyphens or characters. Leave blank if you have entered an EAN or ISBN.
- CAD Price: No dollar signs. List Canadian list price only.
- Disc Perc: Discount percentage. Please leave this field blank.
- Ctn Qty: Carton Quantity (optional).
- Pages: Read from the last printed page of the book (optional).
- Product Description: Brief product marketing copy. Let readers know about what is covered in this book; create a brief synopsis and summarize the plot and/or contents, etc. (maximum of 1,000 characters). Do NOT include any HTML or author biographies.
- Audience: Please use one of the following codes:
- 01: General/Trade
- 02: Children/Juvenile
- 03: Young Adult
- Submit your book cover images. Refer to the "Step 2: Choose your book-cover image format" section above.
- Search for the book you have in hand by entering the ISBN (or the title and the author's last name) and clicking the Search button.
- Select the matching title and enter your conditional information. If no exact match is displayed, then your Ingram catalog item is not available yet. (See the "Step 3: Provide your covers and bibliographic data via Ingram" section.)
Figure 3: Describe your listing via the Add Item to Inventory page.
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Once you have found a matching item (Figure 2), check the bibliographic data pre-populated in the form from the Alibris catalog to ensure that it matches the book in hand. Make any necessary edits and add additional descriptive information.
IngramBiblioExcelTemp.xls: Complete the fields in this document with the bibliographic data pertaining to each book you're planning to upload through Ingram. A guide to completing this is listed below.
The following fields are required:
Email your files to Alibris. Send the completed Excel template and the book cover image(s) to authorsupport@alibris.com. Please allow up to 30 days (though it may happen within 14 business days) for your submission to be processed and for all data to populate our catalog. Successful submissions will automatically be uploaded into the Alibris catalog without notification. We will notify you of rejected submissions via e-mail or phone.
Step 4: Manage your inventory on the Alibris Seller Hub
As an Alibris seller, you have access to inventory management tools when you log in to the Seller Hub, the home of our global network of independent sellers. Through the Hub, you can upload listings, manage item prices, confirm and cancel orders, and administrate other aspects of your seller account. However, this How-to Guide mainly focuses on getting your inventory listed for sale, so once you have completed each of the preceding steps and have verified that your book covers and bibliographic data have been processed by Ingram, please then list your inventory via the Alibris Seller Hub.
Using inventory management tools
Sellers can add items one at a time using our online inventory-management tools. To add individual listings to Alibris inventory, click My Inventory Manager and select Add Items or do so directly from the navigation menu.
Figure 1: My Inventory Manager: Add An Item is highlighted to add an individual listing.
Figure 2: Add listing items one at a time via the Add Items page.
Beginning on the Add Items page (Figure 2), follow these steps to add an item:
Uploading a preexisting database
If you already have a database of for-sale items, you can upload it to the Seller Hub for inclusion in your inventory. You may choose to download our template file for a sample format. Please note that our sample template file is similar but different than the one you will use or have used to send your listings to Ingram. This is not the same process as adding your items to your inventory for sale on our site.
Once your inventory file is ready for upload, select Upload Listings in the Seller Hub left-hand navigation menu.
Figure 4: Upload inventory files from your own database via the Upload Listings page.
Click the Browse button on the Upload Listings page (Figure 3) to locate and select your file for upload to Alibris. The Upload Listings page will explain the options for how our inventory system will process your upload file. For information on other methods, or if you need upload assistance, please see our upload help section.
Contacting Alibris for assistance
We care deeply for our sellers. Your success adds to our own success. Therefore, our dedicated client services specialists are available to assist you. Contact us with your questions that aren't answered by this How-to Guide.