Important:
- Google Play Partners can sell eBooks in certain countries/regions. The features described here aren't available in every country/region. Currently, selling audiobooks on Play is available to some partners. Google isn’t currently accepting new audiobook partners. Check back for updates.
- Pre-orders allow customers to order, but not read, your book before its release date. On the release date, customers who pre-ordered your book are charged for the purchase and they gain access to the book.
- Due to regulatory requirements, Google can't offer pre-orders in India. Your book will open in the Play Store in India on the on-sale date.
How to enable pre-orders
Your book can be available for pre-order sales if you specify a future on-sale date up to a year in advance and you provide all other necessary settings and files. You can provide an on-sale date either on the Metadata/Book info tab. You can also use a spreadsheet.
This setting doesn't affect your book's preview availability on Google Books.
- Sign in to the Partner Centre.
- On the left, select Book catalogue.
- Select the title where you want to make the change.
- On the left, select Book info
Settings
Show advanced settings.
- Under 'Allow preview before on-sale date', select No.
Due to variable process time and other factors, Google can't guarantee that a book will be available for pre-order sales during a specific time range. We recommend that you send us your book as soon as you can as it can take up to 48 hours to process a .pdf or .epub file.
Status of pre-orders within your account and on Google Play
When your book is available for pre-order, its status displays as:
- 'Live on Google Play' in your book catalogue
- 'Preorderable on Google Play' in spreadsheets and on the 'Summary' tab for the book.
When you view the book on Google Play, you'll find a pre-order button with the price. Note that potential buyers won't have the option to read a sample of the book until the on-sale date.
Pre-orders are tracked in your Google Play sales reports. There you can find out if a pre-order has been placed, fulfilled or cancelled. Because customers aren't charged for pre-orders until the release date, these purchases only appear in your earnings reports once the books have been digitally delivered to the customers.