What Are Book Store Buyers LOOKING For?
A client recently asked me. What the %$#@! are book buyers looking for? He went on to say “My book is priced right, well-designed and exactly what older American’s are needing… what more can I do?”
I thought I would share my answer in the hopes that it might answer other questions out there.
If the book is well written, has a topic and message that will appeal to their customers, and is well designed, it has a good shot of getting a test order from a bookstore book buyer.
Keep in mind, there are more books published each year than could fit in 7 totally empty bookstores. (And as you know, bookstores are not empty!) Because of this, the buyers can only take a teeny fraction of what is presented to them. Also, the buyers are judged (read: get to keep their jobs) by how many times their section “turns” a year. The sales rate of their choices is closely monitored. So they will pick books that they feel have the best chance to selling off the shelf several times a year.
That is where demand and platform comes in. If an author has a good platform, is reaching out to thousands, or tens of thousands of readers, is showing sales online (seen in Nielsen Bookscan reports) and has a strong PR plan with potential for a lot of media – the buyer will be far more likely to take the book in.
If the book does NOT have all of those things, then the buyer needs to see some other proof that the well-designed, beautifully-edited, fantastically-written, much-needed book won’t just sit on their shelves. There is a chance that someone will see your title on the spine on a crowded bookshelf and pick it up. If they pick it up, there is a good chance that they might buy it. (If they need or want a book like yours). But a book buyer would much rather sweeten the chances of a “turn” by stocking books that will have browse-friendly qualities AND great press. There are enough books out there that have great demand AND are great books to choose from.
Does your book have everything it needs PLUS good PR? Is your book “All That” AND a bag of chips?
Math Lessons For Small Presses – Part 3
Lesson #3 – DISTRIBUTORS
Bookstores buy books from wholesalers and distributors. The major difference is that a wholesaler is publisher’s customer (wholesalers buy books from a publisher) and a distributor is a publisher’s employee (distributors sell their services to a publisher).
A distributor handles all of the après-production elements of getting a book onto a store’s shelves. Publishers agree to funnel all of their sales, warehousing, shipping, and billing through the distributor. They do this work for a percentage of the billing generated by the sale of the publisher’s books.
Like publishers, distributors sell a book to a wholesaler or bookstore at a discount of the retail price. That discount is usually between 45 and 55 percent.
So, if bookstores get about the same terms and about the same schedule, why do they go to a distributor instead of directly to the publisher? Some bookstores (especially bookstore chains) are not interested in setting up new, small, or regional publishers in their ordering and accounting systems for just a few books. They rightly weigh the benefits of a publisher’s book against the time and trouble necessary to order it, and if the balance does not come out in the book’s favor, they skip it. How do new and small publishers avoid this terrible fate? They sign exclusive agreements with a distributor.
A distributor’s cut varies from 25 to 35 percent of the net billing of each book. Just about every distributor has additional monthly fees, and most require an initial deposit for new clients.
Before you balk, keep in mind that it is very difficult, expensive, and time consuming to handle your own warehousing, purchase shipping materials, and learn how to ship exactly how each store wishes their shipments to arrive … and everyone is different. (It’s a little joke they like to play on publishers. I am convinced that bookstore owners get together every two years to devise slightly altered yet completely incomprehensible trafficking instructions.) Then comes the billing, monthly statements, handling claims for books damaged in transit, taking in returns, and reconciling the amount due with what the bookstore believes is due.
After that, consider the money and time it takes to tell the country’s thousands of buyers about your books. The sales reps working for distributors have long-standing relationships with the book buyers in your hometown, across the country, and in the major chains. You would not be able to start a fledgling relationship on your own with these buyers. What an experienced sales rep can often do with a phone call, you could rarely accomplish with six months and a great deal of research, e-mails, flyers, catalogs, paperwork, and free samples.
Back to the math!
A book priced at retail is $16.95
A distributor sells it to a wholesaler for $7.63 (55% discount)
The distributor will charge the publisher on average $2.15 to handle that order.
Shipping and other fees will cost about $1.30 cents a book (give or take)
The publisher gets $4.18 for the book from the distributor 6 months later when the payment comes in.
After the productions costs of $3.25 are taken into consideration, the end profit is about .93 cents a book.
(AND the distributor does most of the work)
So there you have it. Math by an English Major for Publishers. Let me know if you have any questions!
Math Lessons for Small Presses – Part 2
Lesson #2
WHOLESALERS and how they sell books:
Book wholesalers are companies that buy books from publishers at a deep discount and hold them in their warehouses so that Internet and “brick and mortar” stores can order the books from them. Bookstores like to use wholesalers for a number of reasons: namely speed, convenience, and less financial exposure.
Book Distribution is not easy!
When a bookstore orders a book from a wholesaler, they will usually get their order in twenty-four hours. Next-day service is the standard from the top wholesalers. The discount a store can usually expect to receive off the retail price of the book from a wholesaler is 40 to 45 percent. What the bookstore loses in profit margin, they often make up in convenience and risk reduction. A book ordered from a wholesaler can be combined and shipped with hundreds of other books.
Some stores hire wholesalers to stock, manage, and handle all aspects of their book departments. There are large “big-box” chains that happily hand their title selection and discount negotiations over to a wholesaler that will manage the entire department for them. The same can sometimes be true for libraries. There are many U.S. library systems dependent upon wholesalers for all their new books. People at the chain or library office work with the wholesalers and oversee the choices, but how closely that is managed depends upon each individual situation.
The difference between a wholesaler and a distributor is this: A distributor works FOR the publisher. A publisher hires them to handle the warehousing, shipping, order processing and sales of their book. A wholesaler does not work for a publisher, they are the publisher’s customer. They buy books from the publisher and resell to THEIR customers.
Most wholesalers have the word “distributor” in their name. This is to identify them as companies that distribute books to bookstores and libraries, but they are not the same sort of distributor that you need when B&N sends you a letter telling you to “get a distributor”.
If you want your book to have a chance at a bookstore chain like Barnes & Noble or BooksAMillion, and if you don’t want to hire a distributor, a wholesaler is your next best bet.
The two biggest book wholesalers for the book industry right now are Ingram and Baker & Taylor. You can find their application processes on their websites. Send your books in with the proper paperwork and try to get your titles into at least one of these wholesaler’s warehouses. Ingram and B&T do not usually take small presses, but B&T will sign up a small publisher if they have enough marketing and sales plans to support the book.
Ingram has recently partnered with IBPA and through them, a small press CAN get listed in Ingram’s system. However, only a very small fraction of those books get ordered and stock at Ingram. Only the books with strong demand get stocked, the rest are just listed and Ingram will order a book from the publisher when a store backorders one. (and the kicker? Most bookstores will not back order.)
Remember, if you get an order, you will be selling your books to the wholesaler at a discount of at least 55 percent. They will usually order only as many as they need to fulfill the demand coming in from their customers … stores and libraries. If they are overstocked or books come back from the stores, they will return those books to you for a full refund. (Having fun yet?)
So, back to the math:
A book priced at retail is $16.95
A publisher sells it to a wholesaler for $7.63 (55% discount)
The wholesaler has paid $7.63 for the book.
They then turn around and sell it to the bookstore for $9.83 (40% discount off of the retail)
The wholesaler pays for the overnight shipping and packing materials. The profit for the wholesaler is $2.20
Many of my clients want to know why they have to give so much of the profit to distributors and wholesalers. The short answer is: they don’t. It is possible to convince your local stores to stock your book on consignment or to sell them directly on Amazon yourself. However, the shipping costs, time spent and number of venues that will not take your book often turn out to cost publishers FAR more than a wholesaler’s cut….
2013 Book Contests and Book Awards – Deadlines and Details
Nicole Riley spent some time this week researching the deadlines and details for the 2013 book contests and book awards. A LOT of these contests and awards do not have the 2013 information up yet, but she put them all in a great spreadsheet for us and I thought it would be nice to share! We will keep updating this spreadsheet throughout the year, so check back now and then for an update!
Please click button to access the New Shelves webpage that has the current book contest deadlines.
She did a great job researching this, but we cannot be held responsible for inaccurate information given by the sites or changed data after she pulled the details. Please use this as a starting place for your own research and verify all information on the sites!
Merry Happy Holidays!
Amy and Nicole
Math Lessons for Small Presses
Lesson #1
PUBLISHERS and how they sell books:
If a publisher wants to get their books into a bookstore or library, they will have to sell their book to a store or a wholesaler at a deep discount. That discount is usually between 40 and 55 percent off of the retail price. It can sometimes be 60 percent or more if the store is part of a chain or a wholesaler that has a central warehouse and has extra costs associated with getting the books to THEIR customers.
The book buyer for the wholesaler or store will contact the publisher, place a purchase order for books, and expect to receive them in five to seven days. They expect to be billed for these books, but will usually require at least ninety days to pay.
If you want to become a publisher, here are a few things you should think about. You have to plan and budget carefully. Small presses usually aren’t paid for three to four months or longer. Plan for not getting paid for 6-7 months.
You will have to pay to ship the books to them. They rarely will pay a small press for shipping. If you want to take a stand, I applaud you! But it will cost you some sales.
Now, are you ready for the big hit? Publishers may not even see the money they think they are owed because the books are bought on a returnable basis. Fully returnable. One hundred percent. (Or as we used to say when we were kids: backsies!) After a publisher has shipped a book to a store, the bookstore has the right to ship it right back for any reason.
So, a book priced at retail is $16.95
A publisher sells it to a wholesaler for $7.63 (55% discount)
The publisher then waits sometimes 6 months for the $7.63 or for the book to be returned.
If the book’s printing and design/editorial costs are in line with what they should be, each book should have cost the publisher approximately $ 3.25 per unit to produce.
The shipping and distribution costs of GETTING a $16.95 book to the wholesaler is usually around $3.50 a book. (this factors in calls to stores and wholesalers, sample copies or flyers sent to buyers, shipping of books, materials, returns… it assumes that you are doing everything yourself.
That leaves the publisher .88 cents a unit in profit.
Where does all the rest of the money go? Why does a wholesaler take so much? That leads us to next week’s Lesson #2
What Does an Author Website Need?
— By Amy the Meanie —
There are a few different ways that you can handle your website plan. If you are an author with a great deal of expertise, create a website that will last beyond just the publication of your book. Create a website that has your entire brand under it. In that website that handles everything, you can then have a series of pages and subpages for your books.
For example. Karen Kang has created a company called Branding Pays. http://brandingpays.com/
On the webpage is a sub page for the book: http://brandingpays.com/book/
On THAT page is another level of subpages with details and content to educate and entice the reader to buy her book:
- EARLY PRAISE
- CONTENTS
- AUTHOR
- EVENTS
- WEBINARS/COACHING
Here is another example of an author who has a great brand and consulting business and uses his website to draw attention to all he offers. The book page is important and easy to see, but only used as a part of what he is offering.
What I like about this site is that when he has a new book come out, he highlights it right away on the top of the main page. But when other projects take precedence, he highlights those instead. He has a terrific drop down menu for all of his books and each page is clear, persuasive and very visual.
http://eosworldwide.com/traction/eos-traction-book/
He also cross-sells his other seminar and consulting services on each page. Subtle, not pushy, but effective.
There are a number of good reasons to create a website that highlights the book only. I have a client in a very regulated industry who will not allow him to cross-sell any services. His industry constraints make it necessary to separate the book from his business completely. He has done a terrific job on his website:
http://dollarsanduncommonsense.com/index.html
This is a wonderful example of a simple site that hits all the basics:
- A page that lists the media hits and tells the media how to get in touch with him
- An author bio
- A button/page that allows media and buyers to download samples.
- A good contact page.
- His front page shows him on TV as an expert and gives the browser a good idea of what his book and message is about.
- Several locations where folks can “Buy the book”
This is an extremely simple website that has all the “must haves”.
But what are the other possible elements an author/book site should include? Here is a list.
- Home page with a brief, short, just-a –few-sentences about why someone should buy the book. Not a description of the book, but a promise of what reading the book will deliver.
- “Buy the book” buttons on every page that link to all the major places from where you want them to buy your book. (indie bound, Amazon, B&N.com Books-A-Million.com) Don’t just use Amazon, be fair to everyone.
- About the Author. Author bio, short form and long form. Author photo and a link to allow media to download a high res version of the author photo. For non-fiction authors, credentials, CV, list of awards…. Etc.
- An Event page with press releases, event photos, calendar of events, contact information for those wishing to host an event.
- It is nice to start and maintain a list of reviews and endorsements right from the beginning. What are people saying about your book? Put it on the webpage!
- Your blog (even if it is a duplication of another blog address)
- Your Table of Contents and a sample chapter
- If you have a media page (and you most likely should), make sure you make thing easy for the poor reporter. Headshot, bio, press releases, sample chapters, front cover, full cover spread, and contact information should be very easy to find. Make sure everything is high resolution.
- If you want to make a page that shows where you have been, put a few on the front page too to impress browsers. Use the logos from the stations you have been on and newspapers/blogs you have appeared in.
- Link to EVERYTHING you can on line (most TV and radio shows now have online links. Find your clip and link it). If you write an article for another blogger or for a news outlet. Link it!
- Links to other authors/books/sites you find helpful. Links help search engines find you
- Have at least three levels of pages. Main, Secondary and Tertiary. SEO works better with three levels of pages and make sure you link all three levels on each page. (Third level links to an article on the second level. Second level always links to the main page and a tertiary page as well.)
This is by no means a complete list, I am sure there are things other authors have done that are extremely cool, but this is the list of what has proven to be helpful and effective for many of my clients.
Which PR Efforts Turn Into Book Sales Take two…
— By Amy the Meanie —
For several years now, I have watched authors focus their PR efforts on TV and Radio. TV and Radio are wonderful tools for advancing the author’s name and message. They are a great way to get the author “out there” and help them become an acknowledged expert in their field.
But very little TV and Radio turns into book sales. Local morning shows are perfect for the author trying to get national media and speaking engagements. Local morning TV and radio shows showcase them beautifully.
But in my experience, they do not sell many books.
Readers read. If you want to really move books, go where folks are reading. Magazines, newspapers, newsletter, online, blogs, news sites, etc. These are the sites where a reader sees an author’s potential and message, can write down or click over to the book mentioned and either buy it or file it away for a future purchase.
How many folks in their cars on the way to work can write down an author’s name?
There are exceptions of course! Imus, NPR, Ellen, Oprah… but let’s take a look at some numbers.
Below are some stories and numbers in my recent experience that support my opinion about print and online vs. TV and Radio. Each of the books mentioned below are beautifully designed, appropriately priced for the marketplace, well written and professionally edited non-fiction books. They look like any other book on a bookstore shelf. They are all published by micro-publishers or self-published.
Last year, a New York Times bestselling author/client in my distribution company roster self-published a non-fiction book. He had the pedigree, the press. He was on 60 MINUTES. That week, he sold 113 books. He was on NPR. That week, he sold 121 books. He was in the New York Times and sold 567 books.
Another client of mine was on the 700 Club last month. She sold 3 books. 3. Two months before, another 700 Club guest who was an author in my distribution company sold 6.
I have had over a dozen clients on local morning talk shows this summer. None have sold more than a 21 books that week.
This is not to discourage you from hiring and working a strong PR plan. Just the opposite! Let’s look at a few other numbers.
An author with a personal finance book was in the Roanoke newspaper a few months ago. Sold 57 copies THAT DAY.
Another author (business leadership book) was in the Louisville Courier last week. She sold over 40 books that day.
Readers read. If you are trying to launch your media and speaking career, than please focus on TV and Radio. But if you trying to sell books, please consider an on-line and print heavy focus to start.
Readers read. You’re reading this aren’t you?
For more information and guidance on how to affect book sales, please visit www.newshelves.com or email info@newshelves.com
See how that worked? Couldn’t do that on the TV!
Distributors vs. Wholesalers
What is the difference between WHOLESALERS and DISTRIBUTORS?
A Distributor will sell and promote your books to the bookstores and libraries. They will have reps contact the stores and wholesalers who are most likely to want your book and pitch them the merits of your title.
A wholesaler has a warehouse and is a passive company that will purchase books from you, and then resell the books. They do not pitch your books, they wait and handle incoming orders only.
A distributor also has a warehouse. But they are not passive. They will store, pick, ship, invoice and collect on your behalf as well as handle customer service and most likely offer sales and marketing services as well. They are not your customer, they work for you. You give them money in exchange for the services they do for you.
A wholesaler is your customer. They buy books from you. Some of the bigger ones are called Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Bookazine, Brodart, New Leaf and Quality.
Ingram and Baker & Taylor are two of the largest book wholesalers in North America and they have warehouses all over the US. These warehouse hold book and when a retailer (bookstore or library) asks for a book, Ingram or B&T will send it to them. Both Ingram and Baker & Taylor offer distribution services as well, but only to a certain group of publishers and even though they have the word DISTRIBUTION in their names, they are most likely not distributing your books.
When a bookstore asks who your distributor is, you should be using names like NBN, IPG, New Shelves Distribution, Atlas Books or Book Hub. Ingram and B&T are not your distributor, but the bookstores will be happy to know that your book is available at those wholesalers.
Hometown Book Sales
– By Nicole Riley
Once you have a completed book in your hands, it’s time to get out there and show it to your hometown.
The first step is to be vigilant. The key to direct selling is to look for opportunities everywhere. Very few places will be as excited about your book than the area where you live.
Remember, people in your hometown will be more receptive to hearing about your book than those that have no connection to you. Sell your book to friends from church, work, local bookstores, local places you shop, the local gym. If your town holds any festivals or fairs, rent a booth there to promote your book as a local author. If people from your area like your book, they’ll tell their friends and a ripple effect will form. You might want to volunteer with organizations with whom you identify. Get involved and your customer base will grow. Civic Organizations are often looking for speakers in various topics.
Try not to be scared of giving copies of your book away.
Donating is a great way to build a name in the literary community. If appropriate, give copies of your book to local schools or reading organizations. Those who get a copy of a book for free may enjoy it and recommend that their friends buy it. Some customers may be reluctant to buy a book they don’t know. Word of mouth is a valuable effect of direct sales.
-
There are a few suggestions for you to follow when visiting your local bookstore.
-
Visit your local store between the hours of 10-11 or 2-5. Avoid busy traffic times such as lunch time.
-
Identify the shelf your book may fit on. Is there a section for your category? Is there a local author section?
-
Each book store and buyer will have its own personality. It is important to evaluate and adapt to the stores culture before speaking with the person in charge of ordering.
-
When dealing with retailers always remember to look and act professional.
-
Identify the person you may need to speak with. In Independent bookstores it may be the owner or the book buyer. In a chain store such as a B&N you may want to ask for the Community Relations Manager or the store manager.
-
Have promotional material and a copy of your book at your fingertips. Promotional material may include a Sales Sheet or a Press Release. Make sure any material being given includes correct contact information.
-
After identifying the appropriate person to speak with introduce yourself as the author, and offer a copy of the book and materials for review. Be confident but not pushy. You will be asked where your book is available. You will need to provide availability and ordering information.
-
Ask if the store participates in any type of author events or book signings.
-
Ask when and if, following up with them would be appropriate. Making a follow up connection is much different than being overly harassing.
-
Be considerate of a store’s right to turn you down, and simply move on to your next location.
Now that you have the basics to selling to your hometown, please do not be discouraged if you are not receiving desired feedback. New Shelves Publishing Services is dedicated to being a resource for you throughout this process. We can sit down and brainstorm ideas that will help you stick to your goals and stay focused. Good Luck!
D5 Creation