According to Costco, I was the first POD publisher allowed to sell books in Costco back in 2012. My writing partner and I got our book into eight Costco stores across North Carolina and Arizona, selling approximately 400 books. Each store was initially allotted about 70 copies because we were first-time authors. But getting there was quite a journey—and there are some lessons I'd do differently today. How It Started: My journey began with a childhood friend who had written a children's story. At the time, I was an Apple developer creating interactive children's books. He asked me to publish and illustrate his story, and we agreed to split all revenues and expenses. This was before AI, so everything was considerably more labor-intensive. Unfortunately, the experience ultimately destroyed our friendship. That's probably lesson number one: Never go into business with a friend without a very clear written agreement. Define ownership, expenses, responsibilities, royalties, decision-making, and what happens if one person wants out. How We Got Into Costco My partner knew a Costco manager in North Carolina, and the original plan was simply to have a book signing at that store. I decided to see if we could do more. I contacted Costco Corporate and eventually connected with their overall buyer. I proposed a multi-store signing program across North Carolina and Arizona. The buyer told me that at the time, the only way to get our book into Costco was through a distributor. That created a problem. Most major distributors wanted established publishers with multiple books already selling. I had one book—and it wasn't even published yet. Eventually I found Ingram, who was willing to work with me, provided I met their requirements. Where It Got Expensive One requirement involved large promotional posters. Originally, I was looking at approximately $400 per store for two posters. I negotiated that down to about $50 per store using POD. Lesson: Negotiate everything. The bigger problem was shipping.