The US Academic Book Market: Selling to the Trade

Publishing Workshop, Beijing, September 4, 2007

H. Dirk Koehler, Publisher, The World Bank, Washington, DC

This presentation is based on a presentation by Jose de Buerba, Distribution Manager, The Office of the Publisher, The World Bank, Washington, DC

Overview

Market Characteristics New Title Data Dissemination Wholesale Retail Sales Representatives Distributors Events and Exhibitions Useful Links

Market Characteristics

Two very clearly defined seasons: Fall: July to December Spring: January to June

The importance of the catalogue Strongly recommend publishing two per year Should mostly include new and forthcoming titles

(as far as six months in advance) OK to include popular backlist, clearly indicating

that fact, e.g. by “previously announced” Different catalogues for different audiences:

library market, trade accounts, individual and other direct customers

Market Characteristics (ctd.)

Not only/mostly for the trade, but important:

Web presence is absolutely crucial (“If it can’t be found on the web, it doesn’t exist”); most people now consider full text online as supporting – not cannibalizing -- print sales

Direct marketing through mail and phone has become less important in the last few years

Email, RSS, and other e-promotion very important

New Title Data Dissemination

Very important for trade accounts and very time consuming for publishers (but can be outsourced, e.g. see below)

Important to have good supporting systems for data retrieval (data should be ONIX compliant)

Trade accounts usually request data 6 months in advance

Each company has different specifications and asks for data in different formats

Bowker also feeds data to trade accounts (but publisher has to feed Bowker)

Screenshot BowkerLink

Screenshot Editeur: ONIX

The Wholesale Market: Baker & Taylor

Largest US academic wholesaler, includes YBP and Majors Main customers: academic libraries, international sales, trade Visit buyer at least twice a year (New Jersey) Important to prepare sales analysis Metadata VERY important (two files), include three BISAC subject

codes for each book plus other bibliographic information Submit data at least 3 months in advance of publication date, and

make sure all titles are in system when mailing catalogue Orders received via EDI (publishers warehouse EDI compliant) Co-Operative marketing opportunities available (recommended) Active continuations department for standing orders TitleSource3 & Pub Alley (more expensive) allows publishers to

track demands, upload data, compare sales of related titles…

The Wholesale Market: Ingram

Main customers: bookstores and other trade accounts, also strong in the library market (less so than B&T)

Also requires metadata, different format than B&T Visit buyer at least once a year (Tennessee) Strong in trade market: returns usually high (for WB

they supply Borders) Co-Op marketing mandatory (minimum $1,200) Lightning Source part of the group and located down

the road. Automatic supply of POD titles Online web for publishers also available (I-page)

The Wholesale Market: Blackwell’s Book Services

Specialized in library sales Funded in 1879 HQ in UK, USA and Australia Very strong export market and library tenders No electronic title feed required, send

information via e-mail, catalogues and sales kits

Publisher Online Service (POS) available

Other Wholesalers / Jobbers

Follet Library Services (also retail) The Book House Emery Pratt Brodart (public libraries) Eastern Books Rittenhouse (health titles) Matthew’s Book Company (health titles)

The Retail Market: Barnes & Noble

820 stores in the US nationwide Need to submit metadata to their distribution center Four different store categories:

National Chain, Academic Stores, Academic Text Services, online store (www.barnesandnoble.com)

National Chain Visit buyers twice a year (usually at the beginning of each

season) Small presses / niche publishers get to see only one buyer

for all subjects Need to persevere and have at least a few good trade titles

to get to subject buyers For each title need to submit a “new buy sheet” (in paper) Present titles 3 to 6 months in advance

The Retail Market: Barnes & Noble (ctd.)

Academic stores (around 30) Separate buyers, same process

Academic / text services No brick and mortar stores, only fulfill textbook orders by

universities

Online store: Need to provide metadata, upload digital covers for

each title Sales usually much lower than Amazon.com

Screenshot Barnes&Noble Publisher & Author Guidelines

The Retail Market: Others

Borders Inc. (HQ in Ann Arbor, Michigan) Buys for US, Latin American, and Asian stores

Follets Mainly academic stores (e.g. Stanford University) Also provide text book services to universities

Other independently run university book stores (e.g. NYU)

Powell’s Independent Bookstores:

E.g., Politics and Prose, Olsson’s, Cody’s, Modern Times

For online stores, particularly amazon, see separate session

Sales Representatives (“Reps”)

Sales reps are a good option to cover the retail (also call on wholesalers)

Call on all stores, including national chains Biannual sales conference to present new titles,

sales kit VERY important (blurb, key selling points, cross-marketing opportunities, audience, recommended stores, etc…).

Commission anywhere from 5 to 10% depending on customer (no commission on text book orders)

Distributors

The distributor should sell direct and to the trade, and do marketing. For publishers based outside the US he should also do fulfillment and keep adequate stock.

Downsides: An additional intermediary reduces margins for

publishers Marketing efforts have to be spread across other

publishers distributed Risk that he does not cover the retail market well

Upsides: Lower operational costs for publishers Cross marketing opportunities with other lists

Active North American distributors include NBN, RENOUF, BERNAN, Stylus, Boskage, etc….

Important Events and Meetings

Book Expo America Strong trade focus, less relevant for academic market

Meetings of ALA (American Library Association) SLA (Special Libraries Association) ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries)

Co-Operative stands are a good option to attend the above meetings plus other more specialized ones

Useful Links

Baker and Taylor Publisher’s Services http://www.btol.com/inf_details.cfm?id=193 Ingram Publisher’s Services http://www.ingrampublisherservices.com Blackwell’s Publishers Information http://www.blackwell.com/publisher_information Barnes and Noble Information for Publishers

http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_publishers/for_publishers.html

Borders Information for Publishers & Artist

http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/artists/publishers.htm