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Special
Sales: The Buck Starts Here Brian
Jud The term special sales is
commonly used to describe revenue opportunities outside of bookstores. Tales
of corporations buying hundreds of thousands of books whet our appetites and
generate visions of grandeur. However, after spending fruitless months or
years contacting corporations, most independent publishers learn that these
visions can be mirages. This doesn’t have to be so.
Non-bookstore marketing is made easier if you view it as consisting of three
segments. The first is Special Distribution. This utilizes a network of distributors
and wholesalers similar to that serving the bookstores. Second is the
Commercial Sales sector encompassing sales to corporations and others using
books as sales-promotional devices. And third are Niche Markets, comprised of
groups of people sharing an identifiable need for the information in your
book. 1. Special Distribution is similar to the way
most independent publishers currently market books, i.e., distribution
partner Ž
retailer Ž
consumer. Examples of this network are having Advanced Marketing Services
sell your book to warehouse-buying clubs, or Anderson Merchandisers reselling
to Wal-Mart or Baker & Taylor to libraries. Advanced Marketing Services is a
leading distributor of general interest, computer and business books and
books on tape to the membership warehouse club industry and other specialty
retailers. 5880 Oberlin Drive,
#400, San Diego, CA 92122-9653; (858)
457-2500, Fax (858) 452-2167 http://www.advmkt.com/
Anderson Merchandisers, 421 East 34th Street, Amarillo, TX 79103; Contact Ms. Debra McKirdy; Book
Purchasing Department at (806) 376-6251, x4489 Baker & Taylor is
the largest library wholesaler. Contact Sally Neher, Director, Publisher
Relations; nehers@btol.com, 908
541-7460; P. O. Box 6885; Bridgewater, NJ
08807-0885; www.btol.com Book clubs
also fit in this category. Not only the major clubs, but the many niche
clubs, too. These can offer increased revenue, credibility and exposure for
appropriate titles. There are book clubs that focus on children, religion,
foreign languages, teaching and more. Or, think of mail-order catalogs that
can move large quantities of books. Catalogs can also be segmented demographically
(for children, pet owners, lovers of individual sports, people of different
religions), psychographically (health, New Age and alternative) and
geographically. Examples include: The Baby Catalog of America and
The Baby Club of America http://www.babycatalog.com/
721 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516-3711.Call 1-800-752-9736 Catalog for books on religion and
spirituality: Ave Marie Press, 800-282-1865, P.O. Box 428 Notre Dame, IN 46556
Address submissions to the Editorial Coordinator: Karen Shannon avemariapress.1@nd.edu http://www.avemariapress.com/ There are other
similarities to the traditional bookstore distribution channels, such as the
fact that returns are common, the distributors’ discounts may reach 70%, and
payment terms may exceed 90 days. On the other hand, the rewards of immediate
national distribution can be significant.
2. Commercial sales. Corporations, associations,
foundations, government agencies and network-marketing organizations buy
books directly from publishers for use as premiums, incentives, sales
promotions or for educational purposes. They may also purchase books for
resale. The factor differentiating this segment from special distribution is
that you contact, negotiate with, ship directly to and bill the people
representing these firms. There are no distributors to deal with, you bargain
for the terms, returns are rare and payment is generally made in 30 days. To target this segment, search
online for the names of companies that might purchase your books. Locate
prospects according to their NAICS code (formerly SIC code). For example, if
you had a book of interest to toy or hobby stores, you could download a list
of prospective customers found in NAICS code 451120, and then contact each to
use your book as a promotional item or instructional tool. For a list of NAICS codes, go to
http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/naicod02.htm.
If you searched NAICS code 411120, the top company is Toys "R" Us
Inc., 461 From Rd., Paramus, New Jersey, 07652; Tel: (201) 262-7800, Fax:
(201)845-0973; Warren F. Kornblum - Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing
Officer, James Feldt - Executive Vice President, Merchandising http://www.tru.com For a source of people who buy
books as premiums (and for agents selling them), contact Karen Renk at the
Incentive Marketing Association, karen@incentivemarketing.org,
630-369-7780. The Incentive Show (http://www.piexpo.com/),
another source of premium companies, is held in the early Spring in New York
every year. Buyers
for these organizations are generally aware of the value of books as
sales-promotional tools, but the sales process still requires an
understanding of successful selling techniques, numerous cold calls and the
ability to accept rejection. The selling period is long – sometimes a year or
more -- but the payback can be enormous when one customer buys tens of
thousands of non-returnable books. The Encyclopedia of Associations is a
comprehensive source of 144,000 detailed entries for organizations all over
the world including 23,000 U.S. national associations, 19,000 international
associations, and 112,000 U.S. regional, state and local associations. It
will provide you with a list of prospects to contact about using your book as
a fundraising item (1-800-347-GALE, E-mail: ea.national@gale.com). 3. Niche marketing entails selling to defined
groups of people that share a need for the information in your book. For
example, you could sell your book about healthy eating to beauty shops,
doctors’ offices, fitness centers and stores that sell clothing, cookware,
gourmet foods, groceries and health foods. A children’s book could be sold to
daycare centers, toy stores, pediatricians’ offices and children’s hospitals.
Niche
marketing results in relatively small orders from many customers. However, a
key to profitability is to find clusters of prospective customers, such as a
chain of daycare centers. In this case, you would reach the headquarters for
KinderCare’s 1250 Learning Centers at 650 NE Holladay Street, Suite 1400,
Portland, OR 97232; 800-633-1488 http://www.kindercare.com/home.php3.
Museums and national parks also
constitute a lucrative market. If you want to find out the contact
information for bookstores at many national parks, go to http://data2.itc.nps.gov/hafe/bookshop/index.cfm. If you
are proficient at public speaking you could sell your books at the back of
the room (or have other speakers sell your books) following a presentation,
at full list price. For extensive listings containing information about
experts, spokespersons and consultants in all fields, go to http://www.experts.com/. The
Internet also provides opportunities for niche sales, vastly reducing your
time and expense per sales call. For instance, when selling your children’s
book, you could contact online gift-registry agencies for babies to have them
use your book as a gift item or premium (www.webistry.com
) and submit to www.iBaby.com and online niche bookstores such as www.Just-For-Kids.com. You could
also offer your book as a sales-promotional item for companies that provide
baby-shower services such as that found at www.baby-showers.com. Some sites may
not sell books. Do not let that deter you. Seize that situation as an
opportunity to have your title the first selected for their site. Online
bookstores are considered a traditional sales outlet, but independent
publishers typically limit these sales to www.Amazon.com,
www.Books-A-Million.com or www.Barnesandnoble.com. In fact, there are many other niche stores
online, some of which may serve your needs. Examples of these include www.coffeetablebooks.com, www.DealPilot.com, www.BookNook.com, www.1Bookstreet.com, www.AdventurousTraveler.com and www.SmartBooks.com. On each site, go to the “About Us” or
“Contact Us” page for the means to contact the appropriate person. Special sales for fiction Special-sales marketing
is not just for non-fiction titles. There are many opportunities for fiction
too. For example, if you are marketing mystery titles, search Deadly Serious
Press whose primary product is the annual Deadly Directory, a
comprehensive international listing of businesses, bookstores, awards,
reviewers, publications, and organizations related to mystery, detective, and
crime fiction. They also sell mailing labels with the Deadly Directory
addresses, for use in direct mail book promotion. Search the Directory online
at http://www.deadlydirectory.com.
Similar sites exist for other fiction genres. Instead of
being intimidated by the nebulous market of special sales, divide it into its
three component parts. Then you can more easily find and contact hundreds, if
not thousands of prospective customers for your titles. Brian Jud is an author, seminar leader, book-marketing
consultant and creator of Book Market-Mapä directories for special sales. Contact Brian at P. O. Box
715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357;
fax (203) 729-5335, brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com,
http://www.bookmarketingworks.com |