Books sell when readers can pick them up. That simple idea is what the GMB Smart Shelf is built around, and today it's real: curated author books, placed on a smart-enabled shelf in busy local venues, where people can browse them, scan a tag, and buy on the spot.

Here's the part worth reading to the end of: we're opening 7 author spots in this first round in Sydney.

What the GMB Smart Shelf actually is for less than $1 per day per venue

It's a compact, well-made display that sits where your readers already are — cafés, clinics, salons, waiting rooms. Each shelf carries a small set of curated titles alongside a tablet checkout. A reader picks up your book, scans it, and pays on the tablet or their own phone through GetMyBook.Store. Staff hand the book over, and that's it.

You don't lift a finger on the logistics. We print, place, stock and restock every shelf, and handle the payments. What you get back is the thing most authors never get from a shelf in a shop: the reader's details, your share of every sale, and your book in front of people in the real world rather than buried on page nine of a search result.

Your book can come from anywhere in the world

This is the bit people don't expect. You don't need to be local, and you don't need to ship us a single box. Because we print and fulfil close to the shelf, an author in Manchester, Toronto or Auckland can have their book sitting on a shelf in our first venues without freighting stock across an ocean. Write the book, hold the rights, and you can be on the shelf.

We're starting small on purpose

The first pod of shelves is going into venues across Western Sydney, and we're keeping the launch group deliberately small so every author gets a proper run and we can prove the numbers honestly. That's why there are only 7 spots this round — not a marketing number, just how many slots the first shelves hold.

Where this is heading

Western Sydney is the start, not the plan. The whole model is built to travel, and we're already in early talks with distributors in the UK and the USA to roll it out there next. Getting in now means you're part of the proof — and first in line as the shelves spread to new cities and countries.

How to get one of the 7 spots

If you've got a book and you'd like it on a shelf where people can actually find it, put your hand up. We'll look at the fit, talk you through how it works, and get your title on the shelf.

Seven spots. Books welcome from anywhere. Apply to join the first Smart Shelf pod →

What's a Smart Shelf?