How to Order Shearsman Book Titles
Trade Orders
With effect from from ISBN 978-0-907562-34-5 to 978-0-907562-99-x (and any ISBNs beginning 978-1-905700- or 978-1-84861- ), trade orders for our publications — which are produced on a short-run digital and print-on-demand basis — should be routed through Gardners Books, or Ingrams in the UK; Ingrams or Baker & Taylor in the USA. If preferred, we can also supply wholesalers ourselves. For all older, backlist publications, orders should be made direct to the press where possible.
We can supply most current titles ourselves within the UK from stock.
Retail Orders — Direct from the Press
UK domestic orders
Our online store accepts credit card payments via the Stripe system, and we retain no financial data here. All UK orders are post-free. Elsewhere in the world, depending on the postal zone you're in, it's free from £40 and up for a single order.
Overseas orders — U.S.A.
With effect from 2020, shipping to the USA has become punitively expensive, and our rates now reflect this. Since over 95% of our titles are available through the usual online retailers in the USA, we would recommend that buyers from the United States order through those channels. The $ retail price is higher than in the UK, but this difference is usually more than covered by the postage charges we would levy here.
While we obviously do suggest using the Shearsman online store, other online outlets also stock our titles: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com or Indiebound.
Overseas Orders — E.U.
We are no longer accepting orders from EU countries EXCEPT the Republic of Ireland, as the cross-border taxes have made it problematic and we have found shipments are being subjected to long delays in a number of countries, incur punitive import duties, or are returned to sender. Ireland is exempted from this as, like the UK, Ireland does not levy VAT on books. In order to handle such cross-border sales we would have to register for VAT in every single EU country, and make regular small payments to the tax authorities in each country where we do have a sale. Alternatively we would have to set up an EU-based subsidiary company and register that with the relevant local authority, and pay them VAT for the whole EU. Both options are much too onerous for a small operation like ours.
Would-be buyers who are E.U. citizens are recommended to use Amazon in their home countries (although we do often see them charging inflated prices — be warned), Abebooks (which is an Amazon subsidiary), or alternative retailers such as bol.com (Netherlands), Casa del Libro (Spain), FNAC (France), genialokal.de (Germany), thalia.de (Germany). Also we've just realised that the splendid German store, Dussmann, seems to have all of our output easily available in Germany, and at respectable prices. Go here to start shopping. All of these stores are able to source our books easily and quickly.
Ordering Shearsman titles elsewhere in the UK
Any bookseller in the UK can source books from us but, in practice, many will not order small quantities from independent publishers. Our books are available through their normal ordering channels, however, and don't let them tell you otherwise. If they say that the distributors are out of stock, tell them to order anyway: the system works very well and restocking happens very quickly—do not be brushed off by sales clerks who don't know what they're talking about, or don't have systems that clarify the supply situation.
99% of our list can also be sourced through online retailers such as Amazon in the UK or Waterstones (online as well as physical), or Wordery, which will assist those who wish to purchase by credit card and would prefer not to use our own online store. Most titles are available within 24 hours. To us it makes little difference whether you use our own store or other online retailers. A sale is a sale, and we all need retailers. Abebooks is also an option, as it's not only for second-hand books. We would love it if our books were easier to find at UKbookshop.org, but at the moment their database is so far behind that only our backlist appears there.
Ordering Shearsman titles elsewhere in the USA
All titles published in 2003 and later for which we have the US sales rights can be ordered through outlets such as amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, or Powell's (but the latter tends to charge a premium), as well as through normal US retail channels, provided they have a relationship with our wholesalers, Ingram Book Company or Baker and Taylor. For orders direct through the Shearsman online store we can ship larger orders direct to buyers from our US printers. Our new titles are often discounted just after release by Barnes and Noble.
The main wholesalers for Shearsman titles in the USA are the Ingram Book Company and Baker & Taylor. Please note that a number of titles are sold in the UK only, where we do not have North American rights. We used to use SPD for some titles, but they closed down in 2023.