Book Trends from 2009 till 2012 by Bob Spear

The following is a breakout of the market shares of book formats between 2009 and 2012.

2009:

Hardback= 35%, Trade Paperback= 35%, Mass Market Paperback= 18%, Other= 9%, E-Book= 2%, Audio= 1%

2012:

Hardback= 25%, Trade Paperback= 31%, Mass Market Paperback= 12%, Other= 7%, E-Book= 23%, Audio= 2%

This shows the rapid climb of e-books.

Source: Publishers Weekly

Book Buying Trends by Bob Spear

It’s the end of the year and time for my wife, Barbara, to sum up our bookstore’s sales. There are some interesting results that I’d like to share with all of you.

First of all, the typical customers are in their forties and older. The younger people are, the less likely they are to buy books. Of course some younger people still do, but overall, the book buying populations tends to be older.

The preponderance of children’s book buyers are grandparents. The parents tend to buy electronics. One interesting factor is how many grandparents want to buy books they read when they were kids. Although a few are still in print, they don’t hold the interest of the younger population.

Another interesting fact: 55% of young adults books are bought by adults who prefer reading that genre. So many adults do not have enough time to read as much as they would like. They find young adult books are easy and quick reads with fast developing plots. They are easier to fit into their schedules.

My last article addressed the trends of ebooks, which are having a definite impact on shopping habits. Internet sales are also taking their toll. The current group of young readers, our potential future group of shoppers, are actually being given tablets or readers by their schools. There are some youngsters who have never read a printed book. This does not bode well for bookstores or major publishers.

One interesting trend has been major publishers who have insisted on charging as much for ebooks as they do for printed paperbacks. To me, that is simply greed, because it costs much less to publish an ebook than a printed version, especially since they are producing a printed version anyway. One device they have invented is the “Agency” model, where they dictate to bookstores a 30% rather than a standard 40% discount rate and no discounting the standard retail price. This has come under fire by the Federal Trad Commission in several court battles.

Yes, the book industry is in turmoil. The only easy prediction to make is that the ways to publish and market books will be changing drastically. It is my guess that the days of independent bookstores are numbered. Oh well, I’ve been trying to talk my wife into retiring for several years now.

Latest Status of EBook Usage by Bob Spear

Today Publishers Weekly sent out the latest figures for ebook vs print book usage and readership in general between last year and this year based on a survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project:

Adult readers fell from 78% to 75%.

16 year old and up readers of ebooks rose from 16% to 23%.

Print book readers fell from 72% to 67%.

Owners of readers/tablets rose from 18% to 33%.

Library borrowers of ebooks rose from 3% to 5%.

Library users aware that ebooks are available to borrow rose from 24% to 31%.

We’re headed toward the inevitable future of ebooks. As the owner of an independent bookstore, this does not bode well for us. I am beginning to feel like I’m sitting in the middle of a buggy whip factory in 1900. All this points out the importance of self-publishing authors learning facility in turning their works into the ebook formats and environments. More than ever, authors must become self-promoting business people to get their products seen and accepted.

May 2013 become a successful year for you!

 

Comparing the Tablet Devices by Bob Spear

There is always an interest in acquiring new technology at Christmas time. This year brings a lot of interest in e-readers/tablets, so I thought a comparison of what’s available would be helpful. The following is based on a combination of information from Publishers Weekly and The Motley Fool. Info is not available for all aspects:

Tablet                             Price       Mkt Segment          Camera        Battery Life

Apple iPad—             $499-$829     Full                                 front/back        10 hrs

Apple iPad Mini—  $329-$659       Small                             front/back        10 hrs

B&N Nook—           $129-$299         Full                                none                  10 hrs

Galaxy Tab—          $250-$400                                               front/back        7-10 hrs

Google Nexis 7—   $199-$299         Small                             front

Google Nexis 10—  $399-$499      Full                                 front/back

Amazon Kindle Fire HD—  $199-$264  Small                   front                    11 hrs

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9″—  $299-$614  Full             front                     11 hrs

Kobo ARC—              $200                                                      front                     10 hrs

Microsoft Surface RT—   $499     Full                                 front/back          6-7.5 hrs

Novo 7  Flame Android Tablet—  $189                              2 on front

These comparisons come just in time for Christmas. Enjoy!

 

Writing Question by Bob Spear

A member of my writing group sent me an excellent question:

“I’m working on a story and wondered what the difference really is between a preface and a prologue. Also, how does a forward compare with those two? Can you use more than one of these in a story? Actually I’m combining parts of what three people have written – a true story, so am not sure I know how to handle this whole thing at all.”

Here is my answer:

In my opinion, a prologue brings you into the book. It’s an introduction to the story wherein lies the hook to keep the reader’s interest.

A preface is an introductory statement, also an introduction, but centered on why the author is writing this book or what the reader needs to know before getting started reading.

A foreword is introductory remarks about a book generally written by someone other than the author.

If you think about it, none of this has much to do with how convoluted a story might become, unless it’s the preface. I hope that helps some.

Selling Yourself to the Book Industry by Bob Spear

My bookstore’s writers group has asked me to tell them what is needed to present themselves to agents and publishers. What I came up with for an answer was a sample of short bios and elevator synopsis for a fiction and a nonfiction book and a press release. Bios are like good resumes. They are written from the perspective of the agent’s or publisher’s needs, not the author’s.

Here are two samples:

Bio for Senior Citizens’ Self Defense (Nonfiction sample)
Bob Spear, a 67-year-old retired martial artist, holds an 8th Degree Black Belt in the Korean art of Hapkido. An American pioneer in this battlefield defense system, Bob was the first American to obtain a 3rd Degree Black Belt and Instructor’s Certification in Korea. He has trained over 11,000 students throughout the world and eight people are known to have been saved from death or serious injury by his instructions, videos, and books. Now a physically handicapped elder, he understands the concerns of older people and how there are still things they can do to protect themselves.

Bob is well known with a Twitter following of 3,907, a FaceBook following of several hundred, and a Book Trends Blog with 14,080 hits.

Bio for Quad Delta (Fiction sample)
Bob Spear, a Leavenworth, KS resident since 1981, is a retired Military Intelligence professional of twenty-five years. He has written 17 books, five of which are a series of mysteries set in Leavenworth, Kansas. He is Internationally known as a self defense author. Owner of a bookstore located in downtown Leavenworth, he has a keen interest in the underground complex beneath the downtown which provides the setting for his first mystery, Quad Delta.

Bob is well known with a Twitter following of 3,907, a FaceBook following of several hundred, and a Book Trends Blog with 14,080 hits.

Note: Note how the bios are written differently to support the books’ themes. Also, each mentions your platform size in social media.                                                                                                                                           
Imagine walking onto an elevator and finding an agent riding with you. What do you do if he asks, “What’s your book about?” You are getting off at the 10th floor, so that’s how long you have to tell him. These are short explanations that you should have memorized.

Elevator Synopsis for Senior Citizens’ Self Defense (Nonfiction sample)
With a rising crime rate set against an expanding senior citizens’ population, what is an elder to do when suddenly faced with a violent confrontation? This DVD/Training Manual explains the dangers of the streets and the simplest, most effective ways to counter these threats which can be done by anyone, even the handicapped.

Elevator Synopsis for Quad Delta (Fiction sample)
A PTSD suffering retired Military Intelligence Lieutenant Colonel, Enos Hobson, is dragged into the private investigation world when an old military friend asks him to save his mother and their family fortune from a diabolical Satan worshiping cult that hides its unholy chapel underneath the streets of Leavenworth, KS.

Finally, here is a sample press release. Remember to put the most important things up front.

Sample Press Release for Senior Citizens’ Self Defense

“Old Folks Can Be Deadly”
Local author and self defense trainer Bob Spear says the elderly can defend themselves. With a rising crime rate set against an expanding senior citizens’ population, what is an elder to do when suddenly faced with a violent confrontation? Spear’s DVD/Training Manual program, Senior Citizens’ Self Defense, explains the dangers of the streets and the simplest, most effective ways to counter these threats which can be done by anyone, even the handicapped.

Spear uses true stories to illustrate his program. One describes a confrontation an 83-year-old woman experienced in her rental-assistance apartment in Leavenworth with a night time intruder. He tells about how she used a screwdriver and her common sense to survive the ordeal. Spear says such illustrations are meant to entertain and give confidence to his readers and viewers that they are not helpless.

Bob Spear, a 67-year-old retired martial artist, holds an 8th Degree Black Belt in the Korean art of Hapkido. An American pioneer in this battlefield defense system, Bob was the first American to obtain a 3rd Degree Black Belt and Instructor’s Certification in Korea. He has trained over 11,000 students throughout the world and eight people are known to have been saved from death or serious injury by his instructions, videos, and books. Now a physically handicapped elder, he understands the concerns of older people and how there are still things they can do to protect themselves.

This timely training package is available at The Book Barn at 410 Delaware, Leavenworth, KS 66048.

###

I hope you find these tools helpful.

Writers Aids by Bob Spear

This blog article features various software packages from one company, Mariner Software, Inc. It’s not meant as an advertisement but an evaluation of tools I use because I find them to be the best out there. They deliver what they promise. I decided to write this because I’ve been asked to be a beta tester for a new upcoming package called “Persona.” Here is what they intend for it to do:

With Persona, you will be able to:

• Create the cast for your story
• Explore the relationships and interactions between each of the characters
• Categorize each character into one of 32 archetypes and 64 styles
• Create Smart Groups of characters based on attributes like tags, type, sex, or any word or phrase from your notes
• Create adhoc groups of characters without a defined relationship so you can explore their interactions
• See the relationships between archetypes, for example, if your hero is corrupted and becomes a villain

This is the best answer I have seen for an old warhorse of a writers aid called “Dramatica,” which is based on a complex, almost incomprehensible writing theory. Persona is a combination of a character data base and a collection of archetypical types and their motivations and typical actions. It is, as I said, still in beta testing, but should be out soon. Here are some other products that I use which you should find helpful:

Contour—$49.95 Mac/Windows

This was designed for screenwriters, but I have found it to be extremely helpful for novel writing. It starts out by asking these 4 questions: Who is the main character? What is the main character trying to accomplish? Who is trying to stop the main character? What happens if the main character fails? From there it goes on to ask questions throughout the structure of a typical story that, if an author answers the questions, will give him or her a logical progression of the story. Contour, the proven story development system developed by Emmy Award-nominated Jeffrey Alan Schechter, is designed to take your idea and turn it into a solid outline – the same kind of character-based structure used by many of the biggest blockbuster movies. In the company’s words: Unlike other story development systems which are either so complicated that you don’t know where to start or so light-weight as to wonder, “why in the world did I buy this?”, Contour is a must-have for every screenwriter. Taking your idea and using a fill-in-the blanks and intuitive approach, Contour guides you as to what elements need to be part of your story outline – you’re never left to wonder, “what comes next?”

StoryMill 4.0—$49.95  Mac

I love this aid and use it a lot. Here are the company’s description of what it does:

The Easiest, Most Complete Novel Writing Software Ever.

Writing a great novel doesn’t just happen, it is designed. It is thought out. It takes a writer who has discipline, creativity and open-mindedness. Writing is a creative process and like all creative processes, sometimes it’s hard to get started. But ask any writer, once you get into “the zone” you can write forever.
Take your idea for mystery, romance, adventure, action or science fiction and turn it into that novel you know is within but just needs a little help getting out. Developed to ease a person into the writing experience, StoryMill 4 is purposely designed to include all the essential writing elements, while at the same time maintaining an intuitive user interface.
StoryMill is incredibly flexible – use it as your no-nonsense place to write and revise using its distraction-free full screen and powerful annotations, or as your complete database of every character, location and scene that makes up your novel. You can set a daily writing goal and keep track of it using the Progress Meter. There are handy things to help you keep track of cliches and monitor how many times you use a word. There’s a single place for all your research – add pictures, tags, files and links, or make notes to any item in your project. It’s all right there within easy reach.

Have Timeline, will travel
The Timeline View is all new. You can group the scenes so you can see the relationship between them. Change the unit of time measurement all the way from minutes to centuries. Insert scenes or events and view the list of untimed scenes. No matter what passage of time your story takes, the Timeline View will give you a perspective unique only to StoryMill.

Conclusion

If you need writing software that can help you think through the creative process, develop the elements of your story, its characters, its scenes, its time lines, and its research, these packages are invaluable. Their costs are reasonable.

 

Writing About Yourself by Bob Spear

There comes a time in our lives when some of us get the urge to leave a legacy. Who would like to read about our lives? Will our writings pass the Who Gives A SH– test? Perhaps just our families would be interested in our stories. Maybe our friends, or perhaps many people would have an interest in us. What should we write about and how should we write it?

Perhaps you could break your life up into time lines or you could write about topical areas such as my outline of my life below:

Mea Culpa (appology for tricks of memory or lack thereof)
Family Roots
Down on the Farm
Vagabond Years
Move to Lafayette
Middle School
High School
Indiana University
Army Years
Marriages
Civil Service Years
Music
Martial Arts
Writing, Publishing, and Reviewing
Patriot
Teaching
Book Barn and Other Businesses
Spirituality
Health
Kids and Grandkids

You can try to create dialog or just tell what went on. You can include pictures and captions to add clarity and interest.

Software

You can use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word or more ideally, a layout program such as Adobe InDesign, Quark, or Publish. Journal programs such as MacJournal can prove helpful as well. You can make it as simple or as complex as you want.

Suggestions

Be positive. Provide lessons learned. Don’t write an expose of your life. Remember, kids may read this, so keep it reasonably clean. Include interactions with others. Mention awards and honors and what they meant to you. Mention what you did not get a chance to do as well as your accomplishments. Talk about who helped you along the way and pay it forward. If you did something worthwhile, did it make a difference in someone else’s life? Write this in such a manner that readers will be proud to have known you. Don’t focus too much on those who have done you dirty. Do explain how you overcame adversity.

Regional Bookseller Organizations by Bob Spear

My last blog dealt with the national level booksellers’ organization. There are also regional bookseller organizations who host tradeshows in the fall and provide much more affordable venues for authors and publishers. The following is information on these organizations and their contact information:

Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association
Cynthia Compton (President)
4 Kids Books and Toys
4450 Weston Pointe Drive
Zionsville, IN 46077
(317) 733-8710
E-Mail: kidsbooks4@msn.com

Deborah Leonard (Executive Director)
GLIBA
2113 Roosevelt
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
(888) 736-3096, (734) 340-6397
Fax: (734) 879-1129
E-Mail: deb@gliba.org
Midwest Independent Booksellers Association
Chris Livingston (President)
The Book Shelf
162 West 2nd Street
Winona, MN 55987
(507) 474-1880
E-Mail: chris@bookshelfwinona.com

Carrie Obry (Executive Director)
Kati Gallagher (Assistant Director)
2355 Louisiana Avenue North, Suite A
Golden Valley, MN 55427
(800) 784-7522, (763) 544-2993
Fax: (763) 544-2266
E-Mail:  carrie@midwestbooksellers.org
kati@midwestbooksellers.org

Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association
Meghan Goel (President)
BookPeople Bookstore
603 North Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78703
(512) 472-5050 
(Fax) 512-482-8495
E-Mail: kids_buyer@bookpeople.com

Laura Ayrey (Executive Director)
8020 Springshire Drive
Park City, UT 84098
(435) 649-6079
Fax: (435) 649-6105
E-Mail: laura@mountainsplains.org

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association
Lucy Kogler (President)
Talking Leaves Inc.
951 Elmwood Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 884-9524
Fax (716) 332-3625
E-Mail: lucyk@tleavesbooks.com

Eileen Dengler (Executive Director)
2667 Hyacinth St.
Westbury, NY 11590
(516) 333-0681
Fax: (516) 333-0689
E-Mail: info@naiba.com
New England Independent Booksellers Association

New England Independent Booksellers Association

Anne Philbrick, President                        
Bank Square Books                        
53 W. Main Street                        
Mystic, CT 06355                        
(860) 536-3795   
Fax: (860) 536-8426            
E-mail: banksquarebks@msn.com

Steve Fischer (Executive Director)
1955 Massachusetts Avenue, #2
Cambridge, MA 02140
(781) 316-8894
Fax: (781) 316-2605
E-Mail: steve@neba.org

New Orleans-Gulf South Booksellers Association
Britton Trice (Chair)
Garden District Bookshop 
2727 Prytania St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 895-2266
Fax: (504) 895-0111
E-Mail: betbooks@aol.com

Northern California Independent Booksellers Association
Mike Barnard (President)
Rakestraw Books
522 Hartz Avenue
Danville, CA 94526-3808
(925) 837-7337
Hut Landon (Executive Director)
The Presidio
P.O. Box 29169 (mail)
37 Graham St. (delivery)
San Francisco, CA 94129
(415) 561-7686
Fax: (415) 561-7685
E-Mail: office@nciba.com
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
Jamil Zaidi (President)
The Elliott Bay Book Company 
1521 10th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 624-6600
Fax: (206) 903-1601
E- Mail: jzaidi@elliottbaybook.com
Thom Chambliss (Executive Director)
338 West 11th Ave., #108
Eugene, OR 97401-3062
(541) 683-4363
Fax: (541) 683-3910
E-Mail: info@pnba.org

Southern California Independent Booksellers Association
Andrea Vuleta (President) 
Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Book Shop
1030 Bonita Avenue
La Verne, California 91750-5108
(909) 599-4558

Jennifer Bigelow (Executive Director)
133 N. Altadena Drive
Pasadena, California 91107
(626) 793-7403
Fax: (626) 792-1402
E-Mail: jbigelow@scibabooks.org
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance
Kelly Justice (President)
Fountain Bookstore
Historic Shockoe Slip
1312 E. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23219
(804) 788-1594
Fax: (804) 788-0445
E-Mail: fountain.bookstore@verizon.net

Wanda Jewell (Executive Director)
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance 
3806 Yale Ave.
Columbia, SC 29205
(803) 994-9530
Fax: (803) 779-0113
E-Mail: info@sibaweb.com
Additional links:
SIBA website
SIBA Trade Show
Authors ‘Round the South

How to Get Seen and Noticed by Bob Spear

With 500,000 new books being published every year, how can you compete? How do you get seen and noticed? How will independent booksellers fall in love with your book and promote it in their stores and on the recommended reading lists? Relax, I’m about to give away the deep, dark secrets of book marketing.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA)

The book industry trade group has been around for over 100 years. Based just north of New York City in Tarrytown, NY, this organization watches over the business health of over 1,200 independent bookstores throughout the United States. Notice I keep saying independent bookstore and not the giant corporate chains and Amazon. The ABA has many helpful programs and resources for both the booksellers and the publishers who sell to them. The following info will help you know what is available. The link to the following information and costs is http://www.bookweb.org/pubpartner/resources.html:

The Red Box

This is a once-a-month shipment of marketing materials to bookstores. You can get the below particulars at

THE MONTHLY INDIEBOUND RED BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Designed to serve as a monthly “In-Store Marketing Action Kit”, the Red Box mailing (actually a white box with a large red sticker) contains the stores initial quantity of the latest Indie Next List flyers as well as other timely news and information from ABA and IndieBound.

For inclusion in the Red Box,ABA Publisher Partners are invited to provide marketing materials including but not limited

to:

• Shelftalkers, easelbacks, bookmarks, posters, or other point-of-purchase items to promote those titles chosen as

  Indie Next List Great Reads or Notables, or other recent or upcoming releases

• Sell sheets and/or catalog copy for any “off-the-list” titles
• Seasonal catalogs and/or order forms
• Special offers, notice of backlist promotions, etc.
• Any other news about titles, authors, tours, confirmed media appearances, etc.

  The Red Box mailing is shipped within the first 12 days of the month to approximately 1100 IndieBound stores. The mailing is prioritized, based on the level of a store’s participation in IndieBound and ABA programs. The minimum quantity for inclusion in any mailing is 450 pieces.

  Effective with the January, 2012 mailing, standard pricing for inclusion in all 1100 Red Boxes is as follows:

• A sell sheet or flyer

• A standard (4” x 6”) postcard • A large-format postcard

• Shelftalker

• Easelback poster

• Standard poster, flat or folded • Pack of 25 bookmarks

$275; $.27 per piece for quantities less than 1100.
$145: $.15 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$180; $.18 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$145; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 1100
$525 and up, dependent on size; $.55 per piece for quantities less than 1100 $425 and up, dependent on size; $.45 per piece for quantities less than 1100 $695, other quantities custom quoted

No galleys,ARC’s or finished books are included in the Red Box mailing. Those items are exclusive to the monthlyWhite Box mailing (please see Appendix B).

We are happy to custom quote on any item you may wish to include in this mailing. If you would like your materials to also be sent to other active ABA Publisher Partners as well as to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide an additional 100 pieces (same pricing as above).

Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix D for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:

Transport Specialties International, Inc. (TSI) Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108

Phone: 732.698.0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“FOR INDIEBOUND “month” RED BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

The White Box Program

THE MONTHLY INDIEBOUND WHITE BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Every month a box measuring 18.5” x 18.5” x 4” is sent to each of the approximately 750 actively participating IndieBound stores, filled with galleys,ARCs and finished books provided by ABA Publisher Partners. As with the Advance Access Program (see Appendix G), this is an excellent and cost effective way to reach the Independent Bookstore market with news of your titles. By collating, packing and shipping all these materials from one warehouse, we are able to offer publishers substantial savings in time, labor, and postage over individual mailings done on their own.

The cost of inclusion in the White Box is dependent on the size and weight of the galley,ARC, or finished book. Standard pricing typically ranges from $1.35 to $2.50 per piece. Upon receipt of the dimensions and number of pages, we are happy to custom quote for any proposed inclusion.

• The White Box mailing is prioritized, based on the level of a store’s participation in IndieBound and ABA programs. The minimum quantity for inclusion in any mailing is 450 copies.
• To reach all stores receiving the White Box mailing, please plan to provide 750 copies.
• If you would like your materials to also be sent to other active ABA Publisher Partners as well as

  to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide an additional 100 copies.

  There is an additional charge for the insertion of any bounceback cards, letters, or any other collation done in our warehouse. Charges for collation will be custom quoted.

  Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix E for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:

Transport Specialties International, Inc. (TSI) Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108

Phone: 732.698.0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“FOR INDIEBOUND “month” WHITE BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

Children’s White Box

THE QUARTERLY INDIEBOUND CHILDREN’S WHITE BOX MAILING PROGRAM

Four times each year a box measuring 18.5” x 18.5” x 4” is sent to each of the approximately 750 actively participating IndieBound stores, filled with a variety of materials provided by ABA Publisher Partners specifically for Children’s book- sellers. As with the Advance Access Program (see Appendix G), this is an excellent and cost effective way to reach the Independent Bookstore market with news of your titles. By collating, packing and shipping all these materials from one warehouse, we are able to offer publishers substantial savings in time, labor, and postage over individual mailings done on their own.

Standard pricing for inclusion in all 750 boxes is as follows:

• A one-sheet or flyer

• A standard postcard
• A large format postcard • A shelftalker
• A pack of 25 bookmarks • A pre-folded poster
• An easelback poster

$190; $.27 per piece for quantities less than 750 $100; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 750 $125; $.18 per piece for quantities less than 750 $100; $.15 per piece for quantities less than 750 $475

$300 and up, dependent on size $400 and up, dependent on size

For galleys, ARC’s, F&G’s and finished books, costs for inclusion usually range between $1.35 and $2.50 per piece, depen- dent on size and weight. The minimum quantity for any galley,ARC, or finished book is 450 pieces. There is an additional charge for the insertion of any bounceback cards, letters, or any other collation done in our warehouse.

We are happy to custom quote on any item you may wish to include in this mailing. If you would like your materials to also be sent to other Publisher Partners and to the nine Regional Bookseller Association Executive Directors, please provide 850 pieces (same price as above).

Please contact Carolyn Bennett (carolyn@bookweb.org) at least three weeks prior to the Children’s White Box materials due date of a given mailing (please see Appendix F for these dates) with information about the item(s) you wish to include.

All materials should be shipped to:
Transport Specialties International (TSI)

Attn: Keith Gosselin
9 Joanna Court
East Brunswick, NJ 08816-2108 Phone: 732-698-0988, x 110

Please mark all cartons and/or packing slips:“INDIEBOUND “season” CHILDREN’SWHITE BOX” Early shipments are possible, but must be pre-approved.

 

IndIe Next List And Shelftalker Suggested Rate Card 2012

INDIE NEXT LIST
Top 20 Listing, #1 Title $ 3,500

Top 20 Listing, Other Titles $ 2,500

this charge includes printing costs and postage for 450,000 fliers; store placement

“Now in Paperpack” (12 titles per month) $ 1,000

A pdf with jacket image, bibliographic information and bookseller quote as well as a shelftalker for each title is available for download at www.bookweb.org.

 Top 10 Listing, Frontlist

Top 10 Listing, Backlist
Regular Listing, Frontlist
Regular Listing, Backlist
this charge includes printing costs and postage for 450,000 fliers; store placement

TEAR-OFF SHELFTALKERS

Standard cost for regular Indie Next List titles, 1100 $2,875 Standard cost for Kids’ Indie Next List titles, 750 $2,175

Includes production and shipment, 5.5” x 7”, with four-color jacket image and bookseller quote, 50 tear-off sheets and printed backer.

Combined cost (to support an Indie Next List title) Kids’ combined Top Ten
Kids’ combined Regular

$4,500 $3,200 $2,700

Combined cost includes suggested rate for Indie next List placement and standard shelftalker production (see individual costs above).

Please contact Mark Nichols at mark@bookweb.org for further information Rates subject to change without notice.

 Advance Access Program

 This is an email alert to member stores where you can offer up free review copies of your book to those stores that request one. The ABA is currently re-doing its rate structure for this, so check back in from time to time to see when it becomes available again.

Snail Mail Lists

These are available for a price; however, I don’t think sending materials direct to the stores is nearly as effective as communicating through the ABA programs, which give them a much more valid image.

Summary

There you have it: the secret to success in book marketing. Yes, it is expensive! Yes, it’s well worth it. Book marketing is a full time job and an expensive undertaking. If you’re not prepared to do this, you might want to rethink the idea of self-publishing. It’s not for everyone.