This
is the fifth posting in my series summarizing my remarks in a panel discussion
on the “Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing” sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of Women's National Book Association.
In Parts One and Two of the series, I
discussed using a traditional publisher and self-publishing using
print-on-demand (POD) printing. In Part
Three, I discussed publishing via vanity or subsidy press and in Part Four, I
shared some self-publishing-via-subsidy press success stories. In this Part
Five, I discuss self-publishing by working directly with distributors and
wholesalers.
Wholesalers
fulfill orders from bookstores and libraries and (typically) do no promotion
for your book. Ingram is the largest bookstore wholesaler. Baker
& Taylor is the largest library wholesaler. Typically, they purchase your books at a 50 –
60%+ discount and pay in 90 days on a fully returnable basis; however, some
small publishers have negotiated more favorable terms. Your relationship with a
wholesaler is non-exclusive.
Exclusive
Distributors for self-publishers include Biblio, Independent Publishers Group
(IPG), Midpoint, and Partners Book Distributing. You deliver completed books to
them. They handle sales, warehousing, invoicing, and shipping and pass onto you
about 40% of the book’s cover price. The percentage you receive might
alternatively be expressed as a percentage of the distributor’s net sales.
Although distributors do some marketing (such as a catalog and sales visits to
chain bookstores), the self-publisher maintains primary responsibility for
creating demand. Working with a
distributor rather than a wholesaler removes some of the administrative tasks
(invoicing, processing orders and returns) associated with working with
wholesalers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor.
The
advantages to working with wholesalers and distributors is the potential of
better distribution. While it is fairly
easy to get your book into an online bookstore (e.g., amazon.com advantage program buys on consignment at a 55%
discount) without a distributor and/or wholesaler, it is difficult to get your
book into a retail bricks & mortar bookstore without them. However, even when your books land in the
bricks & mortar bookstore, you still have to work to get customers into the
bookstore to purchase your books.
Disadvantages
to working with distributors and wholesalers include the larger upfront
investment for an offset print run of 1,000+ copies. Another downside to going this route is
concerns about the long-term financial health of your distributor. Distributors typically pay 120 days after
sale of the book. If your distributor declares bankruptcy, it places your
receivables and potentially your book inventory at risk. It also leaves you in book distribution
limbo.
In
today’s publishing industry climate, distributor bankruptcy is a legitimate
concern. A number of distributors have experienced financial difficulty over
the last year: Publishers Group West
(PGW), which distributed books for more than 130 independent book publishers,
went under in December 2006. PGW was
actually doing well as a division. Its
parent company, Advanced Marketing Services (AMS), is the entity that declared bankruptcy. As a result of AMS’ bankruptcy, PGW's assets
were frozen which included its clients book sales for the last quarter of
2006. Ultimately, the Perseus Book Group
took over the majority of PGW's accounts, paying the publishers 70% of what
they were owed by PGW. Perseus’
take-over was a lucky break for the former PGW publisher clients who could have
lost all those receivables.
More
recently, Bookworld, a distributor for about 100 small publishers, closed its
doors and Biblio, the small press division of National Book Network, announced
that it will be downsizing and whittling down its list of 450 small presses over
the next several years.