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Distribution

Get your book to market! Whether you're selling direct on Amazon, or placing your book in stores, we have strategies for effective distribution.

Distribution Decisions

  • Direct or distributor?
  • Communicating with vendors
  • Sales reporting
  • The global market
 

Audiobooks - An Amazing Untapped Market for Self Published Authors

by Arthur Q. Gutch
Bowker | Fri Apr 4, 2014

First there was hardcover, then there was paperback, and now there are eBooks. Books are always evolving for the needs and desires of the readers. Along the way, somewhere on the side, the concept of audiobooks continued to grow. First on cassette tape, then CDs, they now exist in a digital form for audio only MP3 players and computers of all shapes and sizes.

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When negotiating a large book sale, focus on what the buyer wants to accomplish

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Thu Mar 27, 2014

Corporate buyers want to solve their problems, not yours. As a consultant, your job is to show them how they can use your content to improve their circumstances in some way. For a marketing director this could be increased sales, revenue or profits. An HR manager may seek a better trained, informed or motivated workforce. Focus on minimizing their troubles as a means to solving your own.

How can you discover their problems? Ask questions about their objectives. What do they want to accomplish with a promotional campaign? What went right (or wrong) with their previous promotional campaigns? One question that can elicit that information is, “If you could wave your magic wand, how would you describe the ultimate sales promotion?” 

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Distribution
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How to Get Your Book in Brick-and-Mortar Stores

by Steve Elizalde
Bowker | Thu Mar 13, 2014

As distribution manager for Greenleaf Book Group, one of the questions I’m asked most frequently by authors is “How do I get my book in Barnes & Noble or my local grocery store or even my favorite indie bookstore”? It seems like there would be a simple answer, but there are many industry challenges to navigate before a book finds its way onto the shelves of a brick-and-mortar store and I’ll shed some light on those challenges today.

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Courting Catalogs and Bulk Sales

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Wed Mar 5, 2014

Have you ever dreamed of selling your book to a catalog or large corporation? A sale like that would register several thousand copies of non-returnable product on the book sale meter. The trick is knowing who to pitch and when.  

Distribution
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Vook Releases Free Daily Sales Tracking for Any Author, Any Book, and All Major Retailers

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Tue Mar 4, 2014

Leading ebook technology company Vook today launched Author Control, a daily market intelligence dashboard that allows authors to track the sales and unit downloads of their books in Amazon, Amazon KDP, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Nook Press, Kobo Writing Life, CreateSpace, Smashwords, Google, and Samsung, and display their results in a secure, easy-to-use online and mobile-accessible dashboard. Learn more about the new service at http://vook.com.

“Author Control is the next step in our vision to empower authors with the best digital publishing services and the right data,” said Matthew Cavnar, co-founder of Vook. “For the first time, authors can get the complete picture of their sales across the major retail channels in one dashboard, helping them take control of their publishing initiatives.”

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Who Is Your Customer?

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Fri Feb 28, 2014

Who is your customer? Are you sure?

Your first response is probably, “That is a pretty silly question.” Of course, your customer is the person who buys your books. But if you interpret the question differently, your answer could have significant impact on your business future, since it determines your business model and where you will invest your resources. 

In a retail setting, your customer could be the retailer who ordered your book to place on the shelf. And, it could be the distributor from which the retailer ordered your book. In non-retail segments people buy books not for resale, but to use as tools to sell more of their products, motivate their employees, generate more members for their association or educate their students. Couldn’t they all be considered customers?

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Getting Started
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Project an Image of Success and Sell More Books

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Wed Feb 26, 2014

Before you enter a negotiation, talk yourself into success. It sounds like a cliché, but it has proven to work. The key is to not-only say the right things to yourself, but use your physical appearance to reinforce your self-confidence. Here are Ten Ways to Project a Winning Personality in a Sales Situation.

 

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Looking For Clues In A New Market

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Mon Feb 17, 2014

In the world of self-publishing, one critical component that's been missing has been reliable data about how self-published books are selling. Last week, the self-published author Hugh Howey released some data on 7,000 ebooks on the Amazon bestseller list, from the mystery/thriller, romance, and science fiction genres. He posts his report here:

The other eye-popper here is that indie authors are outselling the Big Five. That’s the entire Big Five. Combined. Indie and small-press books account for half of the e-book sales in the most popular and bestselling genres on Amazon.

 Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller's Futurebook blog, provides the following caution here:

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Embracing the Metadata That Powers Your Book Sales

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Mon Feb 10, 2014

What do we mean by “metadata” and why is it so important?

Can it really make the difference in sales of your books?

In an eye-opening webinar on Wednesday, February 12, from 1-2:00 Eastern time, Rebecca Albani from Bowker will explain the basics of metadata, including the key things authors should be monitoring in their own data stream.  You’ll learn why the tiniest details can make the biggest difference and why the metadata that you choose to upload about your book to distributors, retailers, and libraries dictates who discovers your work, when they find it, where, and how easily. Poor data can keep your book from ever being found by readers – even if you’ve written an award-worthy piece of work.

This webinar is sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and produced by Bowker.

Marketing & Publicity
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Top Ten Causes of Poor Sales

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Mon Feb 3, 2014

Hundreds of thousands of new titles are published every year in various formats (printed, ebooks or audio books), yet less than ten percent sell enough books to be considered profitable. While there are many causes of these circumstances, here are the Top Ten Causes of Poor Sales:

1.      Content that is poorly written and/or unedited

2.      Poor production quality in terms of cover design or page layout

3.      Too little or poorly implemented promotion

4.      Obsolete or inadequately researched content

5.      Bad timing of introduction or promotion

6.      Meaningless or confusing title

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  • Obtain ISBNs (click here!)
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  • Purchase a QR code (click here!)
  • Register your copyright (click here!)
  • Find out who you write like (click here!)
  • Promote your book online (click here!)

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

Thu, November 13

FAQs about ISBNs

Fri, October 24

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, September 10

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, September 05

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Wed, September 03

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