Barnes & Noble Press

Publishing terms

Formats

EPUB, Paperback, Hardcover (printed case or dust jacket)

Distribution

bn.com, Barnes & Noble app, NOOK devices and NOOK app (ebooks)

Territories

Open to authors in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium; print-on-demand runs in the continental United States and Hawaii

Exclusivity

Not requiredThe help centre says plainly that B&N Press is non-exclusive and that a book already published elsewhere can be published here too, and the grant of rights in section 7 of the Author Membership Agreement is non-exclusive. The restriction sits on the identifier rather than the book: a print edition needs an ISBN that has never been submitted to any other retailer, bn.com included, so the same print ISBN cannot be on B&N Press and on a distributor that already feeds bn.com.

ISBN

Free ISBN supplied: YesAccepts your own ISBN: YesPrint: B&N Press issues a free ISBN, registers it with Bowker’s Books In Print and shows “Barnes & Noble Press” as the publisher on the detail page. That ISBN is usable only on B&N Press for Barnes & Noble and bn.com, cannot be transferred, and is limited to five a week and ten a month. An ISBN you own is accepted only if it has never been submitted to any other retailer, bn.com included, and once used on B&N Press it cannot be used with another publisher. Ebooks: no ISBN is required — bn.com lists ebooks by EAN, and an ebook ISBN appears only in sales reporting.

Royalties

• 70% of list priceEbook royalty70% of the List Price the author sets, on ebooks priced at $0.99 or more. The Royalty and Payment Terms state the 70% without a band; the help centre adds the $0.99 floor. The terms also require the ebook List Price never to exceed the price at any other retailer, or the price of the book’s own print edition.
• 55% of list pricePrint royalty55% of the List Price, minus the per-copy printing cost. Since 22 April 2026 a print book listed for sale must carry a List Price of at least $14.99, and listings below it were removed from sale from 14 May 2026.The per-copy printing cost, which depends on format, trim size, page count, paper colour and whether the interior is black and white, standard colour or premium colour.

Fees

• Account, upload and distribution — freeThe help centre states there is no cost to use the B&N Press platform. Author and personal-use copies are priced slightly above printing cost.

Payment schedule

Monthly, about 30 days after the end of the month of sale, once ebook and print royalties together have accrued to the threshold — $25 in the current Royalty and Payment Terms and help centre, which pay on the last Wednesday of the following month by electronic funds transfer. Section 6B of the Author Membership Agreement, last modified 30 April 2021, still states $10; the newer, more specific figure is recorded here. Since 2 March 2026 international authors are paid in US dollars.

Returns

Section 6B allows Barnes & Noble to offset a royalty already paid against future royalties if the sale is later refunded or returned, or to require repayment, and to withhold all royalties for three months after termination to cover such offsets.