Waterstones eBook Distribution

eBookpartnership is recommended by Waterstones

Waterstones do not offer a self-publishing platform for eBook  authors and only accept ePUB submissions from publishers and aggregators who are VAT registered and have a number of titles.

We act as an aggregator for Waterstones (and other retailers) and can publish your eBook to waterstones.com. To distribute your eBook to Waterstones you will need a valid ePUB version of your eBook, and an ISBN registered with the UK ISBN agency Neilsen’s PubWeb system. (If you do not have either of these, we can help – please complete our Request a Quote form and we will get back to you with a cost and timescale.)

Our Waterstones eBook Distribution Service

Pricing, Royalties and Payment

  • The recommended selling price of your eBook will be determined by the details of your Neilsen PubWeb ISBN listing.
  • Waterstones pay royalties of 60% after VAT.
  • We will pay your royalties on a monthly basis.
  • We do not charge commission – you will receive 100% of the royalties earned.
  • You will be given access to our online sales reporting system, which gives weekly updates of sales through Waterstones.

ISBN Guidelines

  • Your eBook must have a unique ISBN (separate to the print version)
  • The ISBN must be registered via Neilsen’s PubWeb system. View details (PDF) on how to register your ISBN with PubWeb.
  • ISBN numbers that list Smashwords or Lulu as the publisher cannot be used.
  • Waterstones will only display a synopsis for your book if it has an enhanced listing on PubWeb. See Neilsen for more details

View full details of our eBook Distribution Service »