Indie Sacred Cow #1… 2026

Killing the Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing 2026

Myth #1… You Can’t Get Your Books into Physical Bookstores

Or put more clearly, indie writers can’t get their books into regular brick and mortar bookstores or B&N physical stores.

Fact: Of course indie writers/publishers can. And here in 2026 it is stupidly simple.

And, of course, there is the question of why bother to even worry about it? In 2026 physical bookstores are few and far between thanks to the pandemic and economic factors, and there are real dangers pushing to B&N because of returns. And we all have our own bookstores in Shopify, and our ability to sell our electronic books all over the world in online stores.

But this myth continues full on as if getting into the remnants of brick and mortar bookstores is critical. It is not, at least not in 2026.

First Some History

As with all these publishing myths, to really grasp the myth and get past it, an indie publisher must know where the myth came from and why there used to be a little truth to the myth. Not much, but a little. Myths in publishing are often formed from half-truths of the past. But just as if you don’t need a buggy whip to start your car, you don’t need an agent to sell a book, or a traditional publisher to make a living at fiction writing.

And traditional publishers can’t magically block you from going into brick and mortar bookstores. They can’t even try, to be honest. And what is really fun is that in 2026 the big four traditional publishers don’t even care we are out here. They ignore all surveys that say indie writers and publishers sell four times the number of books traditional publishers do. And that is growing.

Imagine you trying to tell a child something and they stick their fingers in their ears and go… “La La La La.” That is anyone involved and lost in traditional publishing when they face an indie publishing truth.

So where did this myth start? Most of it came from the old days of warehouse publishing and vanity press publishing. Writers (often horrid writers, but not all) would spend thousands and thousands of dollars through a scam vanity press to get a garage full of really ugly books. Then these poor writers would wander the roads and the streets peddling their books to any unsuspecting store who let them in the door.

Before this Vanity Press movement started, back in the 1800s and first have of the 1900s, indie writers started companies all the time and many became the names you still hear as company names. But magazines, often the digests of the 1950s through the 1980s had this beautiful picture of the courthouse in Colfax, Washington on an ad on the back cover leading writers to believe that was their office. It was all a scam on writers who were in a hurry and didn’t want to learn. They paid to have their book published.

These scams still exist and now the writers in a hurry who don’t want to learn think they can use AI to write. Just as stupid.

Store owners hated these vanity-press people almost as much as they hated a young traditionally published writer with a handful of bookmarks. Sometimes a vanity press book had a local interest and the bookstore owner would take a few. (Young writers with bookmarks who demanded to have a signing were just flat annoying.)

Also, in those vanity press days, traditional publishers seemed to have a stranglehold on the book distribution network.

Of course, that wasn’t true either, but it seemed that way.

In 1987, Kris and I started an indie publisher (called a small press back then) named Pulphouse Publishing. We got our books and magazines into traditional distribution systems just fine. Our magazines were on newsstands. And the company lasted for nine years selling to bookstores. Go figure.

WOW!!! Have Things Changed in 10 Years!

In this first Killing the Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing ten years ago, from here on out I went on for over 5,000 words about the distribution channels, trade channels, and so on. And not a bit of that applies here in 2026. Not a bit.

Stunned me how far things have come. Wow, just wow. And so cool!

So, as I tend to do, let me be blunt…

There is zero reason in 2026 for indie writers and publishers to care at all about their books making it into one of the few remaining brick and mortar stores.

And if the book does get there, it will be tucked on a shelf spine-out and returned in 6 weeks if the owner remembers to clear his shelves.

This is now an electronic world. You need to have your electronic books in every store you can get them into all over the planet. Period.

But I do believe you still should do paper books. And those paper books should have the option of getting to a bookstore if a customer requests it, or a store owner spots it on their own.

Today, here in 2026, that is just stunningly simple. Do your paper and hardback (and electronic) through Ingrams. (Used to be called CreateSpace before it was bought by Lightening Source that was then bought by Ingrams in their Sparks program.)

Make sure your book price allows for you to make a few bucks and still have a 55% discount. That will be your book price everywhere. That will open up all brick and mortar stores to your work. And allow Ingrams or other distributors to stock your book in warehouses for fast delivery. That simple.

And make sure your book is full copy returnable. (Yes, you will end up with extra copies to use for promotion or resell as signed/limited editions. Be creative with the returns and don’t bitch at me, it is how what is remaining of the brick and mortar stores do it. Left over from the 1930s depression.))

You can also get your physical books in your own Shopify bookstore by also printing them in BookVault which connects to Shopify. Ingrams is threatening to connect to Shopify, but don’t hold your breath. Just use both Ingrams and BookVault. Price them all the same which means you will make a ton more money selling the book through BookVault and your own Shopify store.

Amazon print for paper is now pretty much worthless. Ingrams distributes to Amazon and a billion other places.

And Ingrams now has a great library distribution for electronic books, so make sure your electronics are there as well.

That’s it. Here in 2026 I suppose I should not have included this myth because it is so simple to get books into brick and mortar bookstores. But I still hear the myth regularly, so I am including it. If an indie publisher can believe a myth that will slow them down, they will. I guess that is what this book is all about, killing those myths.

Maybe by the 2036 edition, this sacred cow won’t be needed. I can hope.