Sell your books through the History Victoria Bookshop

ARE YOU AN HISTORY AUTHOR? OR HISTORY PUBLISHER?

WE CAN HELP YOU.

 

“Great selection of books at their quaint bookstore. Staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. What’s more is they were conveniently located opposite the Flagstaff Gardens – perfect place to sit down and read your new book!” Review by Lachlan on Google reviews.

LEGAL DEPOSIT

Before you even think of selling your book through the RHSV make sure you’ve met your Legal Deposit requirements.

Legal deposit is a law that has existed in Australia for over a 100 years. It ensures that the nation’s published heritage is collected and preserved for future generations.  Legal deposit applies nationally, and in each state and territory.  It means that a copy of anything published, electronically or in print, should be given to the National Library, and to the state or territory library in which it was published – some states have some additional requirements.   You can read more about legal deposit at a national level here and at a state level here

The National Library of Australia has produced a short video to raise awareness about legal deposit. The video explains the history of legal deposit, how it works, and why it is important for preserving the history of Australia’s written word.  You can watch the video on the National Library’s website here: Write Yourself into History with Legal Deposit. You can also see the video on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj9WbUOsE3w

SELLING YOUR BOOKS THROUGH OUR HISTORY VICTORIA BOOKSHOP.

Our History Victoria Bookshop has both a physical presence at 239 A’Beckett St, Melbourne and an on-line presence through our website and is a valuable outlet for any and all publications which touch on Victorian history. We sell both hard-copy books and digital books (note that digital books have to be in PDF format not ePub or other formats) and new books and secondhand books. We do not sell new historical fiction.

We mostly sell books on consignment and you can download a Consignment Agreement  here. We usually ask for 3 copies for the bookshop.

However, if you are sending us 3 books for the bookshop, we ask you to kindly adding one more copy and make it 4.  The extra copy is a donation to strengthen our collection of Victorian history – the largest and most important collection outside government bodies. Before we add it to the collection we send the donated book for review in History News.

We are happy to sell books from other historical societies and have great success in helping these publications reach a wider readership.

Our bookshop deducts a 30% commission on your recommended retail price (RRP). Should there be demand for more copies the Royal Historical Society of Victoria will contact you to order more. At this point we will also ask you for an invoice.

If you are unsure about invoicing please read this document which explains how to invoice and what are the essential items needed on an invoice. If you need to complete a Statement by Supplier form you can download it from the ATO here. 

VICTORIAN COMMUNITY HISTORY AWARDS:

Each year, in partnership with Public Records Office Victoria (PROV) we run the Victorian Community History Awards – the eligibility period for projects runs from 1 Jul to the following 30 Jun – this means that a book should be published or an exhibition or app launched within that period. Keep an eye on our website for information on when the VCHA are launched.

The awards ceremony is held at the Victorian Arts Centre and the peak award is the Premier’s History Award. There are 10 different awards in total covering all aspects of community history. These awards are not just for published history but include podcasts, exhibitions, articles, oral history, multi-media presentations etc. The total prize money is close to $20,000.

For more information and entry forms.

 
MARKETING

We have 1,250+ members – 350 of which are other historical societies across Victoria which usually forward our newsletters to their members so our total reach is up to 20,000 history enthusiasts across Victoria. The community history movement in Victoria is strong and well organised. We have 4 regular avenues for publication:

  1. The Victorian Historical Journal (VHJ) which is a substantial peer-reviewed journal of articles, papers and long book reviews which comes out twice a year for our 1250+members. It is also digitally available through the State Library of Victoria website, Informit (University Libraries) and Web of Science (educational libraries). It also has a small subscription list of libraries across Australia and around the world. The editors choose the books to be reviewed. VHJ also accepts advertisements and articles for publication.
  2. History News is our 16-20 page newsletter which is delivered both electronically and / or in hard copy to our 1250+ members. This is published 6 times per year. History News carries both short book reviews and information about new titles to be found in our History Victoria Bookshop. All books on Victorian history (fully or partially on Victorian history) sent to us are reviewed in History News. Some are then chosen by the VHJ editors for longer reviews. History News also accepts advertising.
  3. Old News is our eBulletin which is a much more informal document that goes out to our members and other interested parties fortnightly. This does not carry book reviews however we are happy to do book giveaways for new publications.
  4. Social Media. We have a strong active presence on Facebook (currently ~8000+ followers and growing at 15%pa). Facebook is used to promote our events and services including books for sale through our History Victoria Bookshop. Our Instagram audience is building rapidly and we have 4,000+ followers on this platform. We use other social media including Twitter and LinkedIn though they have smaller followings. We find that different social media platforms suit different types of books.
BOOK LAUNCHES

We often hold very successful book launches at the RHSV. These can be private launches or can be opened up to our membership in which case they get publicised through our History News, Old News and Facebook.

AND FINALLY …

 

Don’t forget, when you publish, send us 4 copies – 1 for review (and then it gets added to our collection) and 3 for the bookshop. And then make sure you enter the Victorian Community History Awards.

And remember, finally, when you start researching your next book, that our Collection of Victorian history (manuscripts, maps, ephemera, books, images, objects etc) is the best place to start.

If you have any queries please contact Rosemary Cameron.