Barnes & Noble Self-Publishing: How B&N Press Works in 2026

B&N Press (called NOOK Press until 2018) is Barnes & Noble’s own publishing platform: you upload your files, set the price, and B&N sells the book and pays you monthly. Every rule below was checked on B&N’s help pages in October 2026. To see all platforms side by side, compare every self-publishing platform.

B&N Press at a glance

B&N Press is a free, non-exclusive store for ebooks and print-on-demand books, with a $14.99 minimum price for print.

What B&N Press costs, and what it keeps

B&N Press charges nothing to publish. It keeps 30% of each ebook sale and 45% of each print sale, and the printing cost also comes out of your print share.

There’s no setup, file or yearly fee. You pay only for copies you order: author copies and proofs cost a little more than printing, plus shipping, earn no royalty and ship only within the US.

Here is where the money from one $14.99 paperback goes, using B&N’s own example of a 300-page, 6 x 9 black-and-white book on cream paper:

What you earn per copy on B&N Press vs KDP

B&N pays more than KDP on ebooks priced under $2.99 or over $12.99, about the same in between, and less on the same paperback.

Take Maya Ellison, a retired librarian who writes cozy mysteries. Her first book, Steeped in Secrets, sells as a $4.99 ebook, a three-book box set at $14.99 and a 300-page 6 x 9 paperback at $14.99. Here is what each sale earns her, as of October 2026:

Two things stand out. B&N’s flat 70% beats KDP on high-priced ebooks such as box sets, because KDP’s 70% band stops at $12.99 on Amazon.com. On paperbacks, KDP pays about a dollar more per copy, because B&N keeps a larger share and its printing costs a little more. Many authors sell where their readers already shop, so B&N is usually added alongside KDP rather than in place of it. If you plan to enroll the ebook in KDP Select, it can’t also be on B&N Press.

The $14.99 print minimum: which books it hurts

Since April 22, 2026, B&N Press won’t create a print listing under $14.99, and it began taking cheaper listings off sale on May 14, 2026.

B&N says the minimum helps authors cover rising printing and shipping costs. It hits short books hardest:

• Novellas and short nonfiction. A 120-page guide that would sell at $9.99 can’t be listed. On KDP the same book could sell at $9.99 and earn about $3.55.
• Low-content books and children’s paperbacks, where buyers expect a lower price.

If your print price must be lower, sell only the ebook on B&N Press and print through KDP or IngramSpark (see KDP vs IngramSpark). A listing taken off sale stays in your account and can return once it’s priced at $14.99 or more.

How to publish on B&N Press, step by step

You set up a vendor account, upload your files, answer the AI question, order a proof and then put the book on sale.

1. Create an account and complete Vendor Registration with your bank and tax details. Approval can take up to 15 business days, so start early; you can build the book meanwhile.
2. Upload the ebook as an EPUB, or as Word, plain text or HTML for B&N to convert, under 20 MB.
3. Build the print book: paperback or one of two hardcovers, 20 trim sizes from 4 x 6 to 8.5 x 11 and A4, black and white or two levels of color, 18 to 800 pages. Upload print-ready PDFs (Word works for the interior) and leave the barcode off; B&N adds it.
4. Answer the AI disclosure for the text, cover, images and translation: AI-Assisted means you wrote it and AI edited it; AI-Created means AI generated it, even if you edited it later.
5. Set the price: ebooks from $0.99, print from $14.99. Print price changes made by 11:59 PM ET on Thursday show that Saturday.
6. Order a proof. With standard shipping, a paperback takes about 11 business days, a hardcover about 16.
7. Put it on sale. Ebooks appear within 24 hours, print books in about 3 to 5 business days. The title can’t be changed afterward.

A dust-jacket hardcover, which KDP doesn’t offer, needs a cover with flaps, so plan it into your cover design. For the files themselves, see book formatting.

ISBNs on B&N Press: free or your own?

An ebook needs no ISBN, and B&N offers a free ISBN for print books, but that free ISBN works only on B&N Press.

• Ebooks: bn.com lists ebooks by B&N’s own 13-digit number. If you add an ISBN, it only shows in your sales reports.
• Free print ISBN: the “Publisher” line on your bn.com page then reads “Barnes & Noble Press” (not inside the book). It can’t be used anywhere else or transferred. B&N’s help page sets a limit of “5 per week (10 per month total).”
• Your own ISBN: the imprint you enter must match your Bowker record, and the ISBN must never have been used at another retailer, including bn.com through another platform.
• One ISBN per format: the paperback and each hardcover need their own.

The never-used rule matters if you also publish on KDP or IngramSpark: the B&N Press paperback needs a different ISBN from your other paperback. New to ISBNs? Start with what an ISBN is.

Pre-orders on B&N Press

Ebooks can go on pre-order up to 12 months ahead and print books up to 6 months ahead.

• Ebook: a cover is needed to open the pre-order, and B&N recommends uploading the final files at least 72 hours before publication day.
• Print: final files must be in at least 10 business days before publication, or you must push the date back. The date can only move later, never earlier.
• Both: Vendor Registration must be done first. Readers pay on publication day, and each pre-order counts toward your sales rank on the day it’s placed.

Plan these dates inside your book launch checklist.

How and when B&N Press pays you

B&N pays once a month, about 30 days after the month of the sale ends, as soon as you’ve earned $25 in ebook royalties or $25 in print royalties.

• Threshold: $25, counted separately for ebooks and print. Smaller amounts roll over to the next month.
• Pay day: the last Wednesday of the month after the sale month. April sales are paid on the last Wednesday of May.
• Bank: a transfer to a traditional bank. B&N can’t pay online-only banks such as Wise, Revolut or Payoneer.
• Currency: since March 2, 2026, authors outside the US are paid in US dollars.
• Taxes: US authors get a 1099-MISC once they’ve been paid $10 or more. Authors outside the US file a W-8BEN form, or up to 30% is withheld.

Can B&N Press get your book into Barnes & Noble stores?

No. B&N says publishing through B&N Press doesn’t place a book in its stores, because print-on-demand books can’t be returned, and stores only stock books they can send back.

Here is what can work:

• Special orders. B&N says readers can ask any Barnes & Noble store to order your print book, which then ships to them.
• Your local store. A local Barnes & Noble may carry your B&N Press book on consignment or host a consignment event. You contact the store yourself. A launch event at a local store is often the easiest way in.
• A returnable edition. To be considered for shelves, a book must be set as returnable in B&N’s system. That usually means printing through IngramSpark with returns allowed, which means you pay for copies that come back. You then submit the title for B&N’s placement review, which takes 4 to 6 weeks and promises nothing. Our Global tier sets up the IngramSpark editions.

One warning: B&N says it will never contact authors offering in-store placement for money, and never charges for placement or editing. Treat any such offer as a scam, and see book publishers to avoid for others.

B&N Press direct, or through a distributor?

Going direct earns more per ebook, while a distributor saves you managing one more account. Either way, pick one route for each format.

• Ebooks: direct, a $4.99 ebook earns $3.49. Through Draft2Digital, which keeps about 10% of the list price, it earns about $2.99. Read our Draft2Digital review for when that trade is worth it.
• Print: if a paperback already reaches bn.com through IngramSpark or KDP Expanded Distribution, that platform pays its royalties. A B&N Press account can’t claim them, and that ISBN can’t be reused on B&N Press.
• Switching an ebook to direct: turn off the Barnes & Noble channel at your distributor first, so only one version is on sale.

Rules that can take your book off sale

Four B&N Press rules, most of them new in 2026, can remove a book from sale, on top of the $14.99 print minimum:

• No public domain books since April 22, 2026. Accounts that keep posting them may be closed.
• 100 titles per account since May 14, 2026. The ebook and print editions of one book count as one title.
• Minimum sales. B&N’s May 2026 update says titles that don’t meet minimum sales requirements may be removed. It doesn’t give the number.
• The content policy, including copyright: you need written permission for anything you didn’t create.

Promotions changed too: since May 7, 2026, ebook coupons run from 10% to 75% off, and Buy One Get One Free is gone.

Is B&N Press worth it?

For most authors who sell wide, yes: it’s free, it pays 70% on every ebook, and it reaches readers who don’t shop on Amazon.

It suits authors who want the full 70% outside Amazon, price ebooks below $2.99 or above $12.99, want a dust-jacket hardcover, or have readers who buy from Barnes & Noble.

Skip it, or use it for the ebook only, if your print book must sell below $14.99, your ebook is in KDP Select, or your goal is store shelves. For shelves, a returnable IngramSpark edition does more.

When to get help

Each store you add means another account, tax form, ISBN plan and file check. If you’d rather not run them all, our setup service handles publishing to every major store, with every account in your name.

Barnes & Noble Press questions authors ask

Can I publish on Barnes & Noble Press and Amazon KDP at the same time?

Yes. B&N Press is non-exclusive, so the same book can sell on both. The exception is an ebook enrolled in KDP Select, which must stay exclusive to Amazon in digital form during each 90-day term. Paperbacks and hardcovers aren’t covered by that rule. Your B&N Press print edition needs its own ISBN, because B&N won’t accept one already used at another retailer.

Can authors outside the US use Barnes & Noble Press?

Yes, in 12 countries: the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. As of October 2026, everyone is paid in US dollars to a traditional bank account, not an online-only bank. Authors outside the US file a W-8BEN tax form, or up to 30% is withheld. Author copies ship only to US addresses.

Does Barnes & Noble Press publish audiobooks?

No. As of October 2026, B&N Press sells only ebooks and print books. B&N points authors to partner services instead: its June 2026 newsletter promotes Author’s Republic, which distributes audiobooks to B&N Audiobooks and other stores. Check any audiobook distributor’s terms, rights and royalty share before you sign up, and see how to make an audiobook for the production steps.

Do I need an ISBN for a Barnes & Noble ebook?

No. B&N lists ebooks on bn.com by its own 13-digit number, so an ISBN is optional and shows only in your sales reports. Print books for sale do need one. You can use B&N’s free print ISBN, which works only on B&N Press, or your own from Bowker. Either way, the ISBN must never have been used at another retailer.

Can I move my book to B&N Press from IngramSpark or Draft2Digital?

For an ebook, yes: turn off the Barnes & Noble channel at your distributor, then publish the ebook on B&N Press so only one version is on sale. For print, B&N Press won’t accept an ISBN already used elsewhere, so a B&N Press paperback needs a new ISBN. Sales of the edition that reached bn.com through another platform keep being paid by that platform.

Related reading

• Self-publishing platforms compared
• Draft2Digital review: fees, royalties and when to use it
• How to publish an ebook on Amazon and every other store
• Amazon KDP vs IngramSpark
• Self-publishing companies by job