Bridge Direct is EasyBooks' direct fulfilment service. You bring us your stock — as few as 5 copies — and we take it from there: listing your book on bridgebooks.co.za, keeping a copy on our Barbican shelf in Johannesburg, picking and packing every online order, and paying you what you've earned twice a year in July and February.

It's designed for authors with small or self-published print runs who want a real online presence and a real bookshop shelf — without managing the logistics themselves.

Our previous consignment arrangement was informal and commission-based with no fixed schedule. Bridge Direct is a proper service: a signed agreement, a flat retainer, a Shopify product listing, and payouts in July and February, every time.

• On bridgebooks.co.za — our online store, open to buyers across South Africa
• On our Barbican shelf at 89 Helen Joseph Street, Johannesburg — one display copy always stocked
• On Takealot (optional add-on, available from 2027)

Bridge Direct does not put your book into Exclusive Books, Bargain Books, or other bookshop chains. For national distribution, see the Protea option below.

The retainer covers your listing on bridgebooks.co.za, your display copy on our shelf, stock management, and twice-yearly reporting. From the second cycle, the retainer is deducted from your sales. If sales don't cover the fee, Bridge Books will invoice for the balance.

The per-order fee covers picking, packing, and dispatching each retail order. Shipping is paid separately by the customer at checkout.

For wholesale orders — purchases by bookshops, libraries, schools, or other institutional buyers — the R53 fee does not apply. Instead, Bridge Books charges 25% of your RRP per copy. The remaining 75% is yours.

Nothing extra. One display copy on the shelf is included in your retainer and does not attract any additional fee.

Retail order — customer buys one copy online:

Wholesale order — e.g. a library orders 10 copies:

Payments are made by EFT to your nominated bank account.

• A signed EasyBooks Author Agreement
• Your first six months' retainer (R450) paid by EFT
• At least 5 copies of your book, delivered to the Barbican at a time agreed with us
• A cover image (high-res JPG or PNG), a blurb, your author bio, and your RRP
• Your ISBN and a complete book info form

We'll have your listing live on bridgebooks.co.za within 5 working days of receiving your stock.

We'll contact you when your fulfilment stock drops below 5 copies. You're responsible for replenishing — just bring more copies to the Barbican. If stock reaches zero, your online listing is paused until you top up. The display copy is never used for online fulfilment.

If your display copy sells in-store, the same per-order fee (R53) applies. We'll contact you to bring a replacement copy. If your fulfilment stock is sufficient, we may pull a replacement from there — we'll let you know.

This is a wholesale order. The R53 per-order fee does not apply — instead Bridge Books charges a wholesale service fee of 25% of your RRP per copy. The remaining 75% of RRP per copy is yours.

Wholesale sales are included in the same six-monthly statement and paid on the same schedule as retail orders.

Online orders through Bridge Direct are sold on a non-returnable basis unless the book arrives damaged or is the wrong title. In those cases, we'll replace the copy from your stock and note the lost unit in your statement.

Either party can end the arrangement at the end of any prepaid retainer period by giving written notice before that period expires. You won't be charged for any period you've given notice on.

When the arrangement ends, we'll notify you to collect your remaining stock from the Barbican within 30 days. Any outstanding earnings will be paid within 30 days of the final statement.

EasyBooks' Bridge & Protea option is a subdistribution service. Bridge Books holds a distribution agreement with Protea Distribution — South Africa's leading book distributor. Under this option, your title is distributed through Protea's network under our account, and we manage the relationship, the reporting, and the administration on your behalf.

This is for authors and publishers who have a print run of at least 300 copies and want their book available in bookshops and libraries across South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia.

• Exclusive Books (all branches)
• Bargain Books (all branches)
• Independent bookshops nationwide
• Libraries and institutional buyers
• South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia

Protea typically works with established publishers who have a catalogue of titles and a trade track record. Independent and self-published authors usually can't get a direct Protea account.

EasyBooks gives you Protea's reach with Bridge Books as your point of contact — a bookshop that understands independent publishing and treats your book as we'd treat our own.

• A minimum print run of 300 copies per title
• A confirmed ISBN, barcoded on all copies
• A completed ONIX 3.0 metadata record (we can prepare this for R850)
• A trade information sheet for Protea's sales reps (we can prepare this for R600)
• 5 complimentary copies for Protea's sales representatives

The minimum is 300 copies — this is a Protea Distribution requirement, not an arbitrary rule. If you're planning a reprint, get in touch now and we can talk through the Protea option ahead of your print date.

In the meantime, Bridge Direct is available from as few as 5 copies.

Returns handling (SOR titles only): If you sell on a Sale or Return basis, Protea charges a returns handling fee of 4% of the credited value. This is passed through to you.

Old Stock storage: If a title has been in the warehouse for more than 12 months and fewer than 10 copies sold in the preceding year, Protea charges 0.5% of RRP per month. We'll flag this at the 10-month mark.

Add-on services (optional):

• ONIX 3.0 metadata preparation — R850 per title
• Trade information sheet — R600 per title
• Backlist bundle (10 titles, ONIX + info sheets) — from R4,500
• ONIX audit & repair — R3,500 flat fee

Your earnings depend on the RRP, the trade discount given to the bookshop, Protea's fee, and Bridge Books' fee. Here are two examples for a book priced at R300 RRP:

Sale to Exclusive Books (45% trade discount):

Sale to an independent bookshop (35% trade discount):

Discounts vary: Exclusive Books 45%, Bargain Books 50%, other retailers 30–40%.

Payouts are made within one quarter of Protea's own payout to Bridge Books.

You receive a monthly statement by the 15th of each month showing units sold, retailer categories, applicable discounts, and your cumulative net balance. You can request a copy of Protea's raw report at any time.

Firm Sale means once a bookshop orders your book, they own it. They cannot return unsold copies to Protea. This protects you from unexpected credits against future payouts. Firm Sale is the default for all EasyBooks Protea titles.

Sale or Return (SOR) means bookshops can return unsold copies to Protea within 3–6 months, in undamaged condition. Returns generate credit notes against your account. There is also a 4% returns handling fee. Some major chains prefer SOR for new or unknown titles.

If you'd like to sell on SOR terms, let us know before we submit your metadata to Protea.

• 12+ weeks before print: Contact Bridge Books, discuss your title, sign the EasyBooks MOU
• 12 weeks before print: Submit ONIX 3.0 metadata and trade info sheet (hard deadline)
• 12 weeks before print: Confirm cover, author bio, RRP, and SOR/Firm Sale decision
• Print day: Deliver 300+ copies to the Protea warehouse in Cape Town + 5 complimentary copies
• Within 2 working days of Protea receiving stock: Title available for bookshop orders
• Monthly, by the 15th: You receive your sales statement from Bridge Books
• Within one quarter of Protea's payout: Payout to you

Bridge Books sends you a monthly statement by the 15th of each month showing units sold, retailer categories, trade discounts applied, Protea's fee, Bridge Books' fee, and your cumulative net balance. You can request Protea's raw report at any time.

Firm Sale: Unsold stock stays with the bookshop or remains at the Protea warehouse — bookshops cannot return it.

SOR: Bookshops can return unsold copies within 3–6 months. Returned copies go back to the warehouse and are available for re-sale.

Protea classifies a title as Old Stock if it has been in the warehouse for more than 12 months and fewer than 10 copies were sold in the preceding year. Once this status is reached, Protea charges a storage fee of 0.5% of RRP per month, which Bridge Books passes to you.

We will flag any title approaching this threshold at the 10-month mark and discuss options: a price reduction, a marketing push, requesting return of remaining stock, or authorising pulping.

Bridge Books is an independent bookshop at 89 Helen Joseph Street (corner Rissik Street) in Johannesburg's CBD. We are a social-mission bookshop focused on African literature, local publishing, and making books accessible in the city centre. We also publish our own titles and operate EasyBooks as a service to the broader independent publishing ecosystem.

Registered as Bridge Books CC (Reg No: 1985/007205/23). Shop online at bridgebooks.co.za.

Email indies@bridgebooks.co.za with the subject "EasyBooks enquiry" and tell us about your title and roughly how many copies you have.

Or visit us at the Barbican, 89 Helen Joseph Street (cnr Rissik), Johannesburg. Open Monday to Saturday.