Village Books & Paper Dreams - Fairhaven
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Consignment Program

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Shelf of books with the prominent book's spine reading "Your book here"

Village Books is proud of our long history of supporting local authors through our consignment program. This program allows us to carry and showcase a wide variety of self-published and print-on-demand titles that we would normally be unable to stock.

Your book may be a candidate for consignment at Village Books if:

  • It is self-published or not readily available from our Ingram, our wholesaler (or if the wholesaler discount is 35% or less).
  • You live in Washington State.
  • The title and author name are printed on the spine.
  • It is proof-read and contains no typographical errors.
  • It is paperback, hardcover, or board.

If your book meets these requirements, please read our terms and important information listed below.  If these terms are acceptable, please fill out our Author Agreement Form below to be kept on file for each different title (not each book) you will be consigning with us.


1. We are committed to supporting local authors and our local community. Books from outside our community will not be accepted if we feel we cannot sell them successfully. You must receive confirmation from us that we will carry your book before shipping your books to us.

2. Consignment is very labor-intensive: setting up records, tracking sales, and managing the inventory must be done individually and by hand. We collect a non-refundable service fee of $25 for each different title (not each book); service fee for local poetry, music, or children’s books are $10. We offer an Events Package that includes the consignment service fee plus an author event for $80; consignment service fee and local poet, musician, or children’s author event for $60.

3. Our pricing terms follow the book industry standard of 60/40, where 60% of the retail price (set by the author) is payable to the author, and 40% is kept by Village Books.

4. Authors will be paid royalties twice a year. These periods will be: October-March (with payments going out in April), and April-September (with payments going out in October). Royalties amounting to less than $10 will be held during October payments, but all outstanding royalties will get paid out with the April payments. Your book’s sales will be itemized on the check you receive so that you can see which sales were from open distribution and which were via consignment at Village Books. If at any time you’re curious about how well your book is selling, you can check in with any Village Books staff member.

5. We stock no more than three to five books for a new title. When we sell these and need more, we will contact you. If you are scheduled for an author presentation, you will be asked to bring more books to sell during your presentation.

6. We review sales performance every three to six months. If, after a minimum three-month trial, we feel sales are too low, we will discontinue carrying your book(s), and ask you to pick them up at the bookstore. Books will be held for pick-up for two months, or until the consignor picks them up (whichever comes first). If the consignor fails to respond at the end of two months, books will be donated to Friends of the Bellingham Library.

7. It is the author’s responsibility to notify us of any changes in mailing or contact information. It is the author’s responsibility to deliver new inventory and pick up any unsold inventory.

8. All marketing and promotion is the responsibility of the author.


If these terms are acceptable, please feel free to drop off a completed, signed agreement form, the service fee, and three to five books at the Used Counter at the Fairhaven Location. Village Books reserves the right to make any final decisions on accepting a book; if we feel we cannot successfully sell your book, we will notify you within 14 days and hold your books to be picked up. It usually takes five to 10 days for books to be processed and put out on the shelves.

If you should have any specific questions not addressed by these terms, please feel free to contact our Consignment Coordinator at consignment@villagebooks.com.