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Do You Have a Book Distributor? Are You Sure?
I had so much fun talking with the authors and indy publishers at AuthorU earlier this month. Here is a snippet that explains in detail the difference between Wholesalers, Distributors and Fulfillment Houses.
Too often I get calls from authors/small press owners who tell me that they “have a distributor”… then they mention Ingram or Baker & Taylor. CLOSE! But no…. check out this 2 minute video to see why:
Book Distribution vs. Book Wholesalers
Your First Day as a Publisher.
The book is done. Congratulations! You have put your whole back into the huge task of writing, editing, polishing and finishing the book that has been your life’s work for ages.
Send the manuscript to the designer and pour yourself a well-deserved glass of ginger-ale.
Done.
Now, welcome to your new job as Publisher. (You may have the nagging feeling that you should have started this job months ago, but better late than never! Let’s get started!)
Now that you are no longer a writer, you can dedicate yourself fulltime as a publisher, marketer, sales rep, publicist and social media specialist. These jobs with all of their various elements and duties will take up the next year or more of your life.
So, how do you get started? What do you do first?
Here is a partial list of essential-do-not-skip job duties that every Publisher has:
1. Choose a Publisher name. Don’t make it anything that connects to your name or the title of the book. The publishing house name/imprint should be independent and professional sounding (example: Democracy Publications). There are many reasons to publish under your own imprint name:
a. Your book will be taken more seriously than if it is listed in all the databases as published by a vanity press or CreateSpace.
b. Bookstores will be much more likely to consider stocking your book if they do not have to purchase it from their biggest competitor, Amazon/CreateSpace.
c. You can control the costs and pricing and save money.
d. Reviewers will give your book a more serious consideration.
2. Sign your publisher name up with Bowker at www.myidentifiers.com. Name, address, phone, email, website (if you have one)
3. Buy set of ISBNs (Don’t buy one. You will need more than one soon and they are inexpensive in groups of 10) from www.myindentifiers.com.
4. Pull all of your book data into the ISBN management section: title, subtitle, price, ISBN, eBook ISBN, eBook price, trim size, page count, word count, category, age group– into book ISBN fields at www.myidentifiers.com (this will start the process of getting your book’s data out to the world and make it easier for the sales to be tracked.) Do not skip this!
5. Find at least 5 books that compete for your same readers and learn why your book is similar to them and why your book is better. You will need this when you are selling your book to stores or doing research or writing a cover letter to a reviewer. These 5 books will help you in numerous ways. Take your time with it and ask for help if needed.
6. Decide if you want to be in bookstores and libraries. (REALLY research what it takes to be in those venues… it is not as easy an answer as you would think) Do the math… how much money will you make per book after printing, distribution and shipping costs?
7. Decide how you are going to print and distribute your book. Should you use a Print on Demand service such as Lightning Source or CreateSpace? (there is nothing wrong with USING CreateSpace, I just recommend not putting their name all over your book.) So… POD or would it be better to print a few thousand copies and sell through a distributor? Look at the numbers, ask your local bookstore, find out everything you can.
8. However you decide to proceed , sign up with the POD company, distribution, or fulfillment company and provide them with your book data.
9. Get endorsements and marketing plan and executable PR program together.
10. Spend as much time in bookstores and online learning everything you can about your market and your book category.
This is by no means a complete list, but these are some ESSENTIAL items that should be completed as soon as you decide to take on the job of publisher.
All of these items should be completed before you are done writing the book.
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
“I want to sell a million copies”
I hear this sentence at least three times a day. A million copies. The magic number. Just thought I’d throw a few more magic numbers out there….
Here is a brief run down of Stephen King’s latest marketing program for his last book from an October 2011 Wall Street Journal Article.
Mr. King and his publisher, Scribner, face an odd challenge as they unleash an elaborate marketing campaign to promote “11/22/63.” How do you rebrand one of the world’s most famous and successful living authors? Scribner is targeting history buffs with book-giveaway promotions on bio.com and history sites. To reach news junkies, the publisher bought ad time on 11 p.m. news programs in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The 30-second ad, which will also run on the CNN airport network and on the A&E and Syfy networks, shows archival footage of Kennedy’s Dallas motorcade, with a voice-over that says, “What if instead of justwatching history, you could change it?” Mr. King’s book tour will include appearances at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, the site Oswald fired from. The Dallas museum is preparing to host 1,000 people.
So what do we take away from this?
Mr. King has a huge following and decades of New York Times Best Sellers behind him.
He was on the road for weeks doing events in high-profile locations.
His publisher purchased ads on CNN, A&E the 11pm news in major markets.
Scribner also launched a multi-platform online campaign that gave away over 3000 books.
The magic number since the book released last November? According to Bookscan, Mr. King has sold 576,361 copies across all formats.
One of the best-selling authors of all time spent over a hundred thousand dollars on marketing with his publisher and even with eBook sales included, did not reach a million copies.
What is the real magic number?
It starts with the amount of time you spend getting the package of your book right
It is followed by the number of months you spend planning and orchestrating your launch
Right behind that is the number of ads and programs you participate in.
But that last number does not count much unless the ads and programs are in top venues (USA TODAY, PEOPLE, CNN…)
Next up is the number of PR and marketing professionals you are working with.
Then is there are the amount of reviews you get
A BIG number is how many retailers are getting your marketing and PR information to convince the buyers to buy your book.
Finally, there is the elusive “tipping point” number. How many people have to love and recommend your book before it takes on a life of its own?
So what is the answer to the question “what are the right numbers for my book?”.
It is different for everybody, but start with THOSE numbers and THEN tell the world how many you plan on selling. If you are going to spend 20 hours and $4000 on sales and marketing, your book will not “catch fire”. The stories of books that grow from nothing and become huge successes have enormous numbers behind them. Numbers of hours, numbers of dollars, numbers of supporters…. the ratio varies, but the totals are the same. At least a million….
Vocabulary Friday
Offset Printing – Traditional way of printing using big presses for big print runs. Offset printing makes sense for non-traditional trim sizes or any printer run of over 1,000 units. The cost per unit is a lot cheaper but the upfront investment is much higher. (Inventory must be managed – make sure you have a warehouse!) Print on Demand (POD) – POD uses digital print technology to print just in time inventory (JIT). All publishers have some form of POD program. POD is only to manage inventory. (If small press or self-published author decides to POD, it should be an inventory decision not a financial decision!)
Vanity Presses – Vanity Presses are companies that specialize in self-publishing programs. In recent years they have co-opted the term POD term to give themselves more credibility. Most Vanity Presses will provide your ISBN and have the capability to take your book from manuscript to finished book.
Co-Publishers – Co-publishers design their programs so they are “sharing costs”. For most Co-publishers, the term “co-publishing” is actually just a fancy way of not calling themselves a vanity press. However, there are several quality co-publishers out there that can help a new author get their book packaged and ready for sale.
Distributor – Distributors are companies hired by publishers that will warehouse, fulfill and sell your book. They will take a percentage of your sales and a percentage against your returns. Most distributors have a sales team that actively sells your title (IPG, NBN, etc.)
Fulfillment House – A fulfillment house will pick, pack and ship your book. They will also ensure your book is available at the major wholesalers (Ingram, Baker & Taylor) and Amazon as well as the .com sites (bn.com, target.com, wal-mart.com, etc). They will also handle all of your billing and collections.
Warehouse – A warehouse picks, packs, and ships your book only. Some warehouses handle billing but many do not. Major publishers tend to have their own warehouse services.
Wholesalers – A company used by retailers and libraries to supply books in a timely and efficient manner. The number one place any self-published author needs to be! If you’re not listed at Ingram and Baker & Taylor, you cannot be ordered easily by bookstores and libraries.
What if it doesn’t work?
I make a living at being helpful. I am incredibly lucky… my day to day duties center around showing authors and publishers how they can achieve their goals. Talking to authors and publishers is not actually part of my job description, but it takes up most of my day. I love helping people figure out how to best focus their efforts and balance their expectations with the realities of the book world.
Being of service to clients and non-clients alike is actually written into our mission statement. Most of these conversations do not result in new business for The Cadence Group, but it does result in the feeling that we are helping others, steering authors away from being taken advantage of and doing some good for our industry. And during those early conversations, I look like a real hero. People LOVE me…- Start with a tried and true, modern, marketing campaign (reviews, online, bookstores, libraries, media)
- But not rely on a marketing plan if the plan is clearly not working
- Pull back the scope and focus on regional and author-based sales
- Send out copies of the books to those who can make a difference (booksellers, freelance writers, bloggers)
- But above all else, keep pushing. Don’t give up. Keep participating in discussion groups, keep calling book clubs and volunteering to speak to the group, keep contacting local stores and libraries, keep pushing.
A Game of “Chicken”
I got a call from a publisher pal the other day asking me to help him rework his 2009 sales estimates.
Book #1? 1500 units. Book #2? 1000 units Book #? 2000 units….
As I go through the list it becomes clear that he cannot afford to publish most of his Fall line.
Looking over his list again, I see wonderfully written, smart, quirky books that in 2006 would have charmed the socks off of the media. At least one of them would have become a minor sensation and carefully nurtured by a score of pr and marketing people. The books would have sold between 5000 – 10000 in the first year to the bookstores and libraries who support new authors and small presses.
Today, the books are not going to receive any pr or marketing outside of the author’s efforts and a few press releases from the publisher’s office. In addition, while the publisher is realizing he has no money to promote, bookstores are realizing that they have no money to risk on smaller books without promotion.
It is a vicious game of chicken… publishers lament the lack of distribution and bookstores bewail the lack of promotion. And more and more consumers go on line. How are small publishers going to get the word out about new authors with print media crumbling in on itself and the online cacophony rising with each passing day?
D5 Creation