Where writers (and others) sell books -- and more...

Get Ready to Run Your Webstore!

This page will serve as a checklist for all the things you'll need to do in order to set up your AuthorSales.Com Webstore. The number of tasks might be a little overwhelming at first glance, but it really shouldn't take much more than an hour or two to enter all the information you'll need to run your Webstore -- and that includes the time you'll need to spend before sitting down with the forms. Print this page out and use it to help you collect the information you need.

Two important points:

1. During our initial phase of operations, we will only be able to accept a very limited number of applicants. If you are turned down, it is likely that it is merely a question of the available slots being used up. It might well be that we'll invite you to reapply later on, once we're fullly up and running.
2. During this initial phase, we are waiving the sign-up fee.

All that being said, let's take a quick look at what you'll need to do in order to apply.

Important Note: Several of the forms you'll fill out will request a password. Obviously, you will not have been assigned one yet.  Just enter "pending" until your application is approved and you have received a password.

First you'll need to fill out the Vendor's Application Form.  You'll need this information:

• A Private Email address that we can use to contact you.
• A Public Email address that will appear on your website. While we'll take some basic anti-spam precautions, an address on a public website is going to be visible to the general public, and thus to spammers. You might or might not want to use your regular email address for this purpose.
• A name under which you want to do business. This might be your own full name, or an exisiting business name, or just something appropriate to what you're selling.
• Your street address, phone, and (if you have it) fax contact information. We won't post this on your website, but we'll need it to contact you.
• You'll need to work up a Welcome Message that will appear at the top of your Webstore page. This should only be a paragraph or two at most.
• You'll have to decide on what colors to use for your Webstore's background and headlines. See our ColorDemo page to try out various combinations.
• Decide what form of possessive your Webstore's name will take. You have three choices: Normal: Fred's Website.  Plural: Boston Bookstores'  Website. None: The Conglomco Corporation Website.
• Decide if you can offer autographing on at least some of the items you sell.
• Enter the sales tax data for the physical location of your store. In most cases, this will just be your state's sales tax, but your county, city, or town might also charge sales tax.
• A Reseller's Certificate Number (which might be called something like Sales And Use Tax License, etc). Just about every state calls it something different. It is how you are registered to collect sales tax and pass it on to the government in question. If you don't have one yet, you need to get one -- but for the time being, you can enter "pending."
• Finally, just tell us something about yourself and your store -- what websites you have, how many products you plan to offer on your Webstore,  and whatever general information you like to provide.

Once you've completed the Vendor sign-up form, you'll be shown a page where you can double-check your answers. Once everything is the way you want it, you can click on an approval button, and see an auto-generated version of our Memo of Initial Agreement, filled in with the data you have provided. Accept the agreement and you'll be taken to a thank-you screen. Click the submit button there, and you're done. Be sure to click that last submit button!

Important Note:

Next  comes your Shipping Setup.  This could be where you spend the most time -- or, if you're ready to accept the default settings, maybe the least!

Shipping is complicated. You'll need to decide if you want to ship to the U.S. only, or to all destinations worldwide. You'll have to select which shipping rates to offer your customers -- and what to charge them for the rates. The good news is that, if you're selling books, or items roughly the size and weight of hardcover books, you likely can just go with our default settings and do just fine. If you're shipping something of drastically different size or weight, you might have to make some changes. There's a lot of information -- and a lot of links to useful pages on the USPS website -- under the Shipping Setup Info link in the left-hand navigation menu.

Next, you'll have fill out the Policies Page. Review our standard policies for Payment, Shipping & Returns, and Privacy. You may use the standard policies, or else rewrite them -- but if you alter the policies, we'll have to review them to make sure they are acceptable to us. These policies will appear on your Webstore. If you have selected the autographing option, you should also review the standard Autographing policy.

If you wish to enclose a photo of yourself, or of a storefront, or a business logo, you can Upload Images to us. Images should be good quality GIF or JPG files.

That's just about all there is to doing your initial setup!  Now all you have to use our Title Setup (for items like books, DVDs, CDs, etc. wherein you'll want to include the name of the author or artist, etc.), or the basic Item Setup for other items, entering the information for each item you wish to sell. You must use the Title Setup for anything that has an author, artist, etc. Aside from that, it really doesn't matter which form you use. The Item Setup form simply omits data that doesn't apply to non-title items.

You'll need the following information:

• Item Name or Title
• for books, DVDs, CDs, etc -- Author/Artist Credits, and any additional Credits ("introduction by Joe Zilch," "also starting Fred Ferd," etc.)
• Price
• A first (short description) paragraph and second (long description) paragraph describing the item.
• Weight
• Dimensions
• For books, the number of pages.
• The binding type, item type, or (on the Item Setup page) the item size -- "larger" or "smaller." This will allow you to have separate quantity-based shipping rates for larger and smaller items.
• You'll need to know if the item in question can fit in a USPS Priority Mail envelope. If it can't, you should label it "oversized." If our rate calculator knows this information, it will compute shipping rates a lot more accurately.
• You'll need to know whether or not the item is eligible for Media Mail or BPM rates (see the Shipping Setup Info page for more information on this point).
• For "title" items, please indicate whether or not you are able to offer autographing for the item.
• And, finally, whether or not you wish to assign special shipping rates for this particular item, and if so, what the rates should be.
• We strongly urge you to include a product photo for each item you sell. Once again, use the Upload Images page to send the pictures to us.

And that's really all there is to it. We'll contact you regarding your application within three business days. Assuming you've been accepted, we'll send along the exact web address for your new store.  All you'll need to do is provide links to it from wherever seem best to you.