Because there are still too
few smaller bookstores out there.
Not exact matches
There are quite a
few ways to get your physical book into
bookstores, just by starting
small.
Smaller than the average
bookstore, this is done on purpose: Amazon Books carries
fewer options but has curated them in such a way as to introduce readers to new — but popular — books that they might never have found in the larger chains.
Most independent or
small bookstores will let you put a
few books in their shop on consignment, meaning you give them the books and they will pay you if they sell, then order some more.
I have heard from a
few bookstores, off the record, that Kobo offers a very
small affiliate fee for any of the users who continues to buy e-books from Kobo for a limited amount of time.
Yes, as I have said, some print market will persist but what size and shape that will have in twenty years time is anyones guess, what we DO know is that it will be
smaller and because of that we'll have
fewer physical
bookstores, but how that shakes out we can not be sure.
Because
few indie and
small publishers can afford to offer returns,
bookstores rarely stock their books.