Gardner’s is the main wholesaler for the UK and also deals with some other European countries, notably the Republic of Ireland. All main retailers in the UK have a relationship with Gardner’s. Gardner’s can get our titles to retailers in three to five working days so in turn retailers can get books to customers, including libraries, in five to seven working days.
So, yes, our books are available through Gardner’s.
There are a few caveats here however:
Retailers can only get a 10% discount form Gardner’s, so though they will accept orders from a customer they tend not to stock books unless they have a relationship with the author and are arranging an event.
We do not accept returns. ‘Return’ actually means ’destroy’ and we consider that criminal. So, bookshops and Gardner’s themselves may be a little wary about stocking too many books. We get round this for author events by getting the author to pick up any ‘returns’.
We use print on demand (POD) and proudly so. More about that in an answer to another FAQ? So, a customer orders a book, the retailer raises the order with Gardner’s, Gardner’s informs our distribute Ingram’s who asks the printer to print it. Yes, this can all be done within three to five working days. Do not let a retailer tell you any different.
Our printer does huge print runs every few days for Gardner’s. Sometimes Gardner’s and some retailers – e.g. Amazon take a punt on our books and keep a few in stock.
