The prolific bookstore closures and the increase of e*book readers means my team and I are readily on the receiving end of the question – what does this mean for your business? Never fear, as much as we feel for the book trade (Redgroup’s collapse saw the closure of 96 Australian Borders and Angus and Robertson stores), it actually doesn’t really affect our business model.

You see, seven years ago we entered an age old traditional industry. However as many of you know, we came to the game without an iota of publishing experience. What we did bring was years of sponsorship, marketing and PR knowledge and it was this acumen we applied and our mandate has very much always been that we are a marketing company who just happens to produce books as the primary tool.

So bookstores have always been a part of our mix, but a very small part – more a PR exercise to appease societal perception that you’ve “made it” when your book is in a bookstore. What’s really been going on behind the scenes was a much more strategic play by us and our clients and for that reason it goes a little something like this.

Bookstores – we’ve always talked about traditional (bookstores) and non-traditional (everything else) channels. Our real purpose has been to help clients to create engaging, amazing content that provides value to the reader in the form of a book (which we then disseminate across multiple other channels). Our primary objective is to get the book into the hands of as many people in their target market as possible (essentially an expensive business card acting as a lead generator, credibility piece, door opener). We’ve never focussed on sales of the $30 book (which when sold through a bookstore equates to about $9 less production costs… ie vertially a big fat zero) but encourage people to look at the $30,000 client they can pick up as a result. So for us it’s not so much about small bookshop sales where you sit amongst a lot of clutter screaming “pick me”. It’s more about bulk deals (sales or giveaways) where we collaborate with like minded non competing corporations with similar customer profiles and BIG databases.

So, as sad as we are for the bookstores (frankly though they could have been a bit more on their game, innovated, been more experiential, destinational and ramped things up a few notches… the writing was on the wall…they could have embraced it with a bit more enthusiasm and morphed and moved with the times to quickly adapt and capitalise on the trend…), it was never our primary (or even secondary) mode of distribution.

E*Readers – we love e*readers – big fan. I just spent three weeks abroad and used my iPad prolifically for everything. Again though, not a threat but very much a complimentary tool to our model. Our objective though largely is to surprize and delight and so we’re kind of reversing the current trend. When everything is online and digital – and I mean pretty much everything (how often do you receive a hand written card or invitation unless its from us ) there is something really unexpected, tangible and with high perceived value about receiving a physical book. It is for this reason (and a few others) that we keep doing it. People feel really special when they receive a book.

I know this and am testament to this as I’ve even been caught at my own game – not once but a couple of times. When I went to my vets a while ago and they gave me a book on how to look after my puppy I was over the moon… even though and despite the fact that I knew exactly what the higher motivation of the pet food company that produced the book was. It was still of value to me and I might just be all the more loyal to that brand because they’ve actually thought about my needs and provided me something of value.

At the risk of sounding hard nosed and commercial (I haven’t talked about how much I loved browsing for hours in bookstores for most of my life – that’s a whole other tangent…), I hope this goes some way to explaining our current thoughts on the demise of bookstores and the ever changing technology that see’s a number of books going online.

My final word on this really traverses any industry. Watch the trends, stay ahead of the curve, challenge the status quo and be able to move and morph quickly depending on where the market is going. With this in mind, I strongly believe, you can enter any industry, flip it on its head, make it commercial, profitable, fun and have higher purpose.

If you hit the right target market and get the right number of books printed, self-publishing has got to be one of the most profitable business propositions ever invented. There are several ways to set your price and a wide variety of factors to consider. You can lead with price, but there is no point being the cheapest if no one is interested in your book. On the other hand, if your book is incredibly specialist, you can capitalise on the exclusivity and charge more.

Remember, as a self-publisher, the higher the price, the higher the margin you have to offer distributors and retailers which is a good incentive for them to sell your book. Of course, if you are self-publishing, you have greater potential to reap higher margins, so it’s important not to become greedy and overprice unnecessarily. 

A key to determining your price is deciding whether you want to go high volume low price, or low volume high price. Roughly 15% of your RRP should account for manufacturing costs. Obviously this will be less for subsequent print runs because you have already worn most of the fixed costs. When determining your price, look at similar books in similar genres, plus similar books of size, paperweight and design. These will all be good indications of what the market will pay.

Do your homework. Research every distributor on offer and approach the best. Then work down your list if you have to. Some specialise in specific genres, others will take anything they perceive as commercially viable. It is best to find a distributor who has titles similar to yours. They’ll have existing relationships with the types of stores that will want to take your book.

However, this is not the only qualifier. You also need to look at their performance record as well as the stability of the company. Find out which books they have sold; the ones that have worked and the ones that have flopped. Do not be afraid to contact them about the details.

Most distributors want to see a synopsis, your author bio and perhaps a few chapters of the manuscript before they will meet with you. Some will refuse to meet with you altogether. To stand out from the crowd (for every 50 enquiries received, distributors take on about one book) with your powerful sales document. If you’ve done a good job they’ll be impressed. Then, when you do meet or chat over the phone, ask them about:

• Fees, charges, discounts – what will be the exact financial arrangement between you and them? How much of the RRP will land in your pocket?
• Contracts – can they show you an indicative contract?
• Arrangement – when do they pay?
• Reports – will you receive reports on how many books have sold to bookstores, which bookstores they have sold to and how many have sold from bookstores to the public? How often will you receive these reports? (These are crucial in the initial sale-or-return period.)
• Distribution map – who do they sell to, how many stores and in which locations? Are there any stores or chains they do not sell to?
• Exclusivity – do they want exclusive rights or can you sell through multiple distribution channels?
• Insurance – are your books insured while they are in transit or in the distributor’s warehouse?