In an upcoming chapter in How to Think Like a Publisher I’m going to be talking about some of the many ways to get books from your Indie Press into bookstores. At least the physical POD copies.
I have been testing the entire method, just as I always do and just as I did with Pulphouse back in 1987. It works like a charm, as I thought it would, but I needed to test it a few times to make sure. (Kris says I am nuts that way. (grin))
For Example: WMG Publishing only has three books in POD at the moment. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide, The Disappeared, and a five story collection called Five Fantastic Tales. All by Kris. Not much of a selection. Nothing to really do any of the things I am going to talk to you about doing, such as catalogs and other promotion. But even with only three books, it was enough to do a few tests.
Let me talk about what happened today.
I got an order from a bookstore. (Not the first.) Since the store ordered over ten copies, I told the store I would give the store a 45% discount and free freight, which made the store owner very happy. And now they want to know about every new book we put out as soon as we get it out.
So with the high discount, the store ordered a few more copies.
I will have CreateSpace ship them the twenty book order.
I got paid ahead.
What work did I have to do? Set up a new shipping profile on CreateSpace with the store’s address. That was it.
WMG Publishing made $54.55 profit on the order.
That is just under 14% of cover price for each book compared to 8-10% in New York traditional publishing. That’s right, WMG could give a high discount and free shipping and still make 14% of the cover prices of the books after all expenses.
Traditional publishing would kill for a 14% final profit margin.
So now, twenty copies of three books are out in paper in a bookstore. I had to type in an address. Total cost was a few pennies for a flyer. WMG Profit $54.55.
Stay tuned. You too can do this. And even more.
Dang it, Dean…no fair teasing! Ack! LOL
I can’t *wait* for this chapter. Seriously.
Thanks in advance for this very valuable information, and congrats on the order…
Jamie, what is interesting about this order is that it isn’t the first, and also imagine the size of it if I had had twenty different titles. Also, as I determined with Pulphouse, you get one bookstore on at a time and it builds quickly. Right now we haven’t started and we have five bookstores placing orders.
It isn’t possible to do any of this with only one or two books, and it shouldn’t really be possible with just three, but the two main books we have stores want.
vCool Dean, can’t wait to read it and it’s further inspiration to write, write, write, so one day I’ll have a catalog.
B/t/w … I’ve been asked by dozens of writers already how I was able to come out of nowhere and have such a quality imprint/novel/eBook & paper editions/distribution, etc. … and I’ve told them all that it all started when I became a devout follower of the Tao of Dean Wesley Smith!
I point them all at your website and Kristine’s … but then I was still asked details about how I followed your advice/suggestions etc.
So, I decided to publish a blog totally dedicated to how I’m following the Tao of DWS (grin) <– humble copy of gesture of the master, Sensei Dean!
Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of it – the blog is called:
Self-Publishing Diary: Author's Log (http://bit.ly/dVPPML).
I just started it and already have followers from around the world. I point all the readers back to your site and make 'em all know that your site and Kristine's are like the University of Self-Publishing and my blog is just the diary of one student.
My way of trying to help others get started – paying it forward for how much you helped and are continuing to help me.
p.s. Hope you don't mind my irreverent humor … i.e. Sensei Dean (grin)
p.p.s. I'm trademarking 'The Tao of Dean Wesley Smith!' (that's more irreverent humor)
Now this is truly exciting!!!!!
Actually I have a quick question. Bookstores always claim they won’t carry POD books because they are nonrefundable. How did you sidestep that?
I’ll talk about that, but basically it’s the 45%. Has nothing to do with the book. If they order the same book, which they can, out of Baker and Taylor, they can get it for 32% and at that rate, it had better be returnable. But 45% and free freight makes all the difference. Then they have room to discount the book down and still make a profit to clear it.
By the way, folks, the return system is not on every book and has never been. All major trade books are returnable, but many publishers do not do returnable, and some imprints of major publishers are nonreturnable. Many, if not most university presses are nonreturnable, most small presses and specialty presses are nonreturnable. Pulphouse was nonreturnable. Period, except for our magazines that went through a distributor and to news racks.
Wow. I had no idea! That is very enlightening. Thanks for that tidbit. This is very eye opening!
Great post, Dean. Your comment on the return system was striking. I’ve seen mention of returns in publishing crop up everywhere self publishing is discussed, but this is the first time I’ve seen anyone say it’s not universal. Are you planning a “run the numbers” post on returnable vs. non-returnable bookstore sales? I’d love to see how the economics works out. The notion that self/POD publishing could actually help brick and mortar bookstores intrigues me.
Rich, actually, Indie Publishing could really be the one thing that saves Indie Bookstores. What always made bookstores in the past wonderful was that they were places of discovery for readers. Then along came the big box chains that made every store the same and forced publishers into leaving behind the small books because the chains wouldn’t take them. Now, with indie publishing, indie bookstores can again become places of discovery where book lovers can go in an browse and find new authors and books they didn’t know existed. Or that they even wanted.
And by the way, there are ways of getting electronic books into indie bookstores and make them a profit as well. It’s so damn simple and silly, it’s stunning no one has thought of it, and I’m testing it right now with a local indie store and he loves the idea. He’s making a 50% mark-up and it’s taking no room. Indie bookstore owners love 50% mark-ups. That also is coming in this series.
Wow, Dean.
Can’t wait for the whole installment !
Thanks.
Nice; as usual, the comments thread is becoming as enlightening as the article.
So returns are NOT a core “must have” thing for bookstores? I had thought that was more or less set in stone. Wow…
Really looking forward to this article, Dean. I have actually changed plans, refocused on Createspace, and am plotting to go down that road instead of Lightning Source – based pretty much on the idea that being able to sell to bookstores will open doors to audiences who just don’t buy online. Sounds awesome.
Should be interesting what comes out in further experiments. I only have one book now, but soon…
This is one of the chapters I’ve been waiting for. Pins and needles time
-Dan
Dean,
I love that last comment of yours, that Indie Publishing can help out Indie Bookstores. That’s the vision.
I’d like to see a sample of that brochure/catalog you used. Any chance of scanning it and putting it online? I’m sure it would greatly help a lot of us to see a sample.
If that’s the only way Kris says you’re nuts… *grin*
Seriously, great information, Dean. Thanks!
I too am very interested in the future article(s) about selling to bookstores. Thanks for this post.
Ever since I read this post, I’ve been trying to figure out how you could’ve done that with CreateSpace, and I think I finally figured it out. I’m looking forward to seeing your post to see if a) I’m right or a complete doofus who’s missed something obvious, and b) How to get bookstores’ attention.
I have a few ideas already, but it’ll be good to know what’s appropriate so I don’t come across as “Whoo, look at me! Isn’t my book SO INNOVATIVE with my wide-tip Sharpie on magenta card stock?! (Sure, it’s a bit hard to read, but it augments the entire reader experience™!)”
(“™” and that entire quote above were me being silly, if it isn’t obvious.)
Carradee,
Change the shipping address. You have to have a price structure that works, of course, but you just change the shipping address. I’ll explain more in a coming post.
Flyer, what flyer? What did it say? How did you get it to the bookstore? How did you get them to read it?
OK, I am really looking forward to the post on this. I think we are going to hear why Dean doesn’t recommend the short (20%) discount on POD, and the upside to not doing that.
Great series. Thanks!
Robert, coming. Just study ads in magazines. (grin)