1. Understand how schools and daycares buy books
Schools, preschools, and daycare centres buy books through a mix of routes. School libraries often order through wholesalers on established accounts, while individual classrooms and daycare rooms are frequently stocked with direct purchases made by a teacher, a director, or a parent committee.
That split matters. A school library needs your title to be orderable through their supplier, while a daycare director may simply buy a few copies directly if the book fits their storytime collection.
- School libraries and district media centres, which order through wholesalers
- Individual teachers and classroom collections, often bought directly
- Daycare and preschool directors, who buy for read aloud collections
- Parent teacher organisations, which sometimes fund book purchases
- Curriculum coordinators, for titles tied to a subject or theme
2. Show the fit before you show the story
Educators evaluate a book against a practical need: a reading level, a theme they are teaching, a classroom moment they need to fill. A pitch that leads with plot leaves them to do that work themselves.
- Age or grade range stated specifically
- Read aloud time, which decides whether a book fits a storytime slot
- The theme or need addressed, such as starting school, friendship, feelings, or routines
- Any curriculum or classroom discussion angle you can support honestly
- Comparable titles already used in classrooms
3. Make the book easy to buy
An interested educator with no simple ordering route will not chase one. Solve that before you pitch.
- Availability through a wholesaler for school library accounts
- A retail listing that a teacher or director can order from directly
- A unique ISBN for each format, and durable binding options where possible
- Accurate juvenile BISAC categories and a stated age or grade range
- Clear pricing, including any bulk or classroom set option you genuinely offer
4. Prepare an education focused sell sheet
One page, factual, forwardable, and answering the questions educators ask first.
- Cover image and one or two interior spreads
- Age or grade range, reading level if you have one, and read aloud time
- Themes and classroom or storytime uses
- ISBN, format, page count, price, publication date, and where to order
- Verifiable reviews, awards, or teaching credentials only
- Direct contact details for ordering and visit enquiries
5. Contact a named role, not a general inbox
A message to a school's general address rarely reaches anyone who buys books. Daycares are usually flatter, and the director often makes the decision themselves.
- School librarians and district media specialists
- Curriculum coordinators, for subject linked titles
- Grade level teachers, for classroom collections
- Daycare and preschool directors and owners
- Early learning program coordinators
6. Consider author visits and readings
An author visit gives a school or daycare a reason to buy copies in quantity and gives you direct contact with the buyers. Virtual readings remove the travel constraint and make outreach beyond your own region practical.
Only offer what you can genuinely deliver, and be clear about format, length, and whether there is a fee.
- State whether visits are in person, virtual, or both
- Give a realistic session length appropriate to the age group
- Be clear about any fee, or say plainly that readings are free
- Offer a simple way to book, since coordinators plan far ahead
7. Run outreach at a workable scale
There are a very large number of schools, preschools, and daycare centres across North America, and any single campaign converts a small share of them. Reaching enough of them is a data and deliverability problem as much as a writing one.
Sending volume email from a personal address is the usual failure. Without a dedicated sending domain, authentication, and inbox warm up, messages land in spam and the campaign fails silently.
- A verified, current contact database rather than scraped addresses
- A dedicated sending domain kept separate from your personal email
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication configured correctly
- Gradual inbox warm up before volume sending
- Personalisation at the organisation level rather than one identical blast
- Reply handling, since interested educators respond with their own process
- Timing that respects the school calendar, since term start and budget periods drive buying
8. Common mistakes to avoid
- Leading with the plot instead of the age range and classroom use
- No simple ordering route for a teacher or director
- Emailing a general school inbox rather than a named role
- Offering visits you cannot actually deliver
- Ignoring the school calendar and pitching during the busiest weeks
- Sending volume email from a personal address with no authentication
- Treating one round of outreach as a complete campaign
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get my book into schools?
- Make the title orderable through the wholesalers school libraries already use, prepare a one page sell sheet stating the age range and classroom use, and contact named roles such as school librarians, curriculum coordinators, and grade level teachers rather than general inboxes.
- Do daycares buy books directly from authors?
- Many do, because classroom read aloud collections are often bought outside library wholesaler systems, which makes direct outreach to directors a practical route for children's titles.
- When is the best time to contact schools about a book?
- School buying follows the academic calendar and budget periods, so it is worth planning around term start and avoiding the busiest weeks, and expecting decisions to take time once budgets are set.
- Should I offer free author visits?
- Free virtual readings can open doors and often lead to book purchases, but only offer what you can genuinely deliver and be clear about the format, the length, and any fee.
- How many schools or daycares should I contact?
- Response rates in any outreach are modest, so authors typically contact a large number of organisations rather than a handful in order to see meaningful results.