Author Sanchez Sells New Book Direct to Retain IP and Customer Data
The Main Street Millionaire author bypasses traditional retail to control profits, ownership, and audience relationships through direct-to-consumer model.
Codie Sanchez, The New York Times best-selling author of Main Street Millionaire and founder of Contrarian Thinking, is selling her new book through a direct channel rather than pursuing traditional retail distribution, a strategy designed to preserve intellectual property ownership, profit margins, and customer relationships.
The move reflects Sanchez's stated philosophy around ownership and control. By circumventing intermediaries in the supply chain, the author retains full command over how her work reaches consumers and maintains direct access to reader data and transaction information. The direct model also eliminates wholesale markdowns, returns, and retailer fees that typically erode author economics in legacy publishing arrangements.
Sanchez is selling the book via Curios, a platform that facilitates creator-owned commerce. The announcement was made September 18, 2026, from Austin, Texas. The arrangement exemplifies a broader shift among established authors and IP holders who view direct sales channels as a mechanism to recapture value historically captured by distributors and retailers.
For licensing and IP professionals, the Sanchez model signals growing sophistication among content creators regarding ownership structures and customer data stewardship. Rather than licensing rights to publishers in exchange for advance payments and royalties, authors with sufficient audience reach can now operate as their own licensors and merchants. This approach also creates alternative paths for ancillary licensing—merchandise, adaptations, and subsidiary rights can flow through the creator's own infrastructure rather than a publisher's.
The shift has market implications for traditional trade publishing, which increasingly competes with author-direct channels for volume and mind share. Publishers that cannot offer superior distribution, marketing reach, or advance payments risk losing mid-list and bestselling authors to self-distribution models.
Sanchez's decision to retain ownership and customer relationships through direct sales may position her to expand her IP portfolio—including potential licensing opportunities in financial education, consulting, and consumer products—without ceding rights or audience data to third parties.