Tips for Writers
What is Distribution and Why does it Matter?
By Jerry D. Simmons | July 6th, 2008 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
One of the most crucial elements to a book’s success in the marketplace is the distribution. If a title has the wrong mix of retail, mass merchant, jobber and wholesale placement then it is destined to fail. Distribution and the proper placement of books in the correct mix of booksellers are absolutely necessary to obtaining a high sell-through.
Distribution is the process of selling books into the marketplace by obtaining orders long before the title is published then shipping into those accounts for sale to the public. The fact that a title is listed in the database of a book jobber such as Ingram or Baker & Taylor does not constitute distribution. When a distributor and their sales force take on the distribution of a group of titles and pre-sell those into the marketplace, then you have full fledged distribution for your book.
The key, is working with a publisher that understands the market and can position your title against the competition, which in turn makes it easier for the distributor to sell your book into their account base. The more understanding the publisher has the better your chances of having a high percent of sale, which is the basic requirement of the marketplace.
The upcoming distribution program that is being developed will do all these things. You will have your book pre-sold into the marketplace by a group of sales people, your title will be positioned and the distribution carefully evaluated for maximum exposure to obtain the highest percent of sale possible. All the requirements of a traditional distribution program in exactly the same way the big publishers do it with their list of books.
This is not some half baked fly by night program, this is the same model that all the big companies use, on a smaller scale in the beginning but a proven formula that works. This will be an introduction into the market of Independently Published Books from around the world. We are now accepting a query and synopsis from authors with published books and from writers with unpublished manuscripts.
Books and manuscripts will be evaluated the same way the big publishing companies evaluate books and manuscripts, we want the best of the best. Submit your query and synopsis today and let’s get this program started, I’m in your corner and with you every step of the way and you all know that it’s my goal to make this the best program possible.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Book Sales, Booksellers
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