Book distribution in UK?

[memophonics]

Hello, I'm not sure that I'm posting in the right place but I'm looking for some advice. I live in France, I've written a bilingual book for children (3-7 years) that's going to be published in Oct 2015 by a small independent publisher here. As the book is also in English, the plan is to distribute it in English-speaking countries too, starting with the UK but they have no experience of this. Can anyone give me advice on where to get some information? My publisher doesn't want to use Amazon, for the French distribution they want to work with independent bookshops. I'm going to be in Scotland in July and August, so I'm planning to go into bookshops and ask, but if anyone has any knowledge or experience, I'd be really grateful to hear it!

If you're going to be in Scotland in Aug, contact the edinburgh international book festival organisers and see if you can get one of the free children's sessions.

It's quite a niche market and, honestly, unless your publisher already has great contacts with independent bookshops/the relevant market in the UK I think that not going with Amazon is a mistake. Most people who buy a book like yours won't do it on impulse - they'll want a very specific sort of book and Amazon is where most of them will look for it.

If you know an independent bookshop with a strong tradition of children's and foreign-language books then absolutely ask them. It's a long shot but if you are v. persuasive and the book is v. good then you may be able to convince them to take a few copies.

Oh dear that's a bit depressing...Thanks for your replies.

i think there is an independent book shop network called Hive, where you can order books online and purchase from your local bookstore. Might be worth a look?

Thanks hoedown that's really interesting!

I agree that Amazon is the way to go, as it's quite a specific thing.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. It's also made me realise that I need to stop saying that it's a bilingual book, which I think might be putting it into a niche...At the end of the day it's a story that we wrote in English and in French, in the same book - two versions for the price of one! And my four year old daughter did the drawings! Thanks again for your thoughts!