Well, I have yet to make a bestseller list... some day! (grin)... but I did run across this fantastic blog entry by Jessica Faust from BookEnds, LLC on understanding bestseller lists.
So... stop checking your Amazon numbers and go read this:
UNDERSTANDING BESTSELLER LISTS http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2007/09/understanding-bestseller-lists.html
Hugs,
Barb
.
Showing posts with label Sell Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sell Books. Show all posts
RWA Nationals - Borders/ Sue Grimshaw
Here are my notes from a session with Sue Grimshaw of Border Group (this was a seperate session from her Passionate Ink Luncheon speech listed earlier this week.)
Book store Managers love to have ARC's.
Borders has an experts list available to authors of stores who are most familiar with or most supportive of a particular genre. General contact information for Borders may be found here:
http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/about/contact.htm Borders will be providing a list of Romance expert stores for the PAN website.
Borders has a limit on bookmarks they can accept. Please do not send more than 15-20 bookmarks for distribution.
Author shelf talkers are provided by publishers, they are not accepted from authors, so please do not send these.
As mentioned, ARC's are always welcomed and often what the management is looking for in order to be familiar with a new release.
The Border's email newsletters have a large circulation. The popularity of book trailers in the My Borders Newsletters is increasing. Book trailers are now 3rd on the list of things newsletter readers click thru.
Sign up for My Borders newsletters at http://reg.cheetahmail.com/regp?aid=266588556&n=100 and be sure to select the special Romance section.
Replenishment of books is automatic, however some buyers do request higher runs from publishers based on previous sell-outs.
Multi-author book signings work the best for promotion and traffic.
.
Book store Managers love to have ARC's.
Borders has an experts list available to authors of stores who are most familiar with or most supportive of a particular genre. General contact information for Borders may be found here:
http://www.bordersgroupinc.com/about/contact.htm Borders will be providing a list of Romance expert stores for the PAN website.
Borders has a limit on bookmarks they can accept. Please do not send more than 15-20 bookmarks for distribution.
Author shelf talkers are provided by publishers, they are not accepted from authors, so please do not send these.
As mentioned, ARC's are always welcomed and often what the management is looking for in order to be familiar with a new release.
The Border's email newsletters have a large circulation. The popularity of book trailers in the My Borders Newsletters is increasing. Book trailers are now 3rd on the list of things newsletter readers click thru.
Sign up for My Borders newsletters at http://reg.cheetahmail.com/regp?aid=266588556&n=100 and be sure to select the special Romance section.
Replenishment of books is automatic, however some buyers do request higher runs from publishers based on previous sell-outs.
Multi-author book signings work the best for promotion and traffic.
.
RWA Nationals 2007 - State of the Industry
At a “State of the Industry” workshop, I learned the following:
Industry trends are hard to predict as new technology continues to develop
Example: i Phone
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a hot topic in the publishing industry. The discussions regarding electronic publishing and having a standardized format are on the fore-front.
Technology dominates discussions on book industry changes. Publishers are spending mass dollars on digital avenues. Landscape of publishing is changing dramatically.
A caveat from the instructor “The only constant is change.”
The publishing industry will continue to change and evolve over time to meet the demands of readers and to keep up with the changing technologies.
Some interesting statistics in relation to how the book industry has already evolved and the impact of technology on the industry:
Sixty years ago there were 350 publishers producing 85,000 books annually.
Today, there are 70.000 publishers producing 175,000 books annually.
In the competitive landscape, editors no longer have time to languish on new authors. There is intense competition in the marketplace.
On a different technology front, the blogging industry is getting biger and bigger and more influential. Blogging is prominent now in the publishing world and one can only guess how it will develop, grow, and open up new opportunities in the future.
A few more stats from The Book Industry Study Group:
For 2006, publishing net revenues for all books = 35.68 Billion (this represents an increase over 2005) Estimates for 2011 = 41.84 Billion.
For 2006, Mass Market (most popular for Romance) net revenue = 1.89 Billion. Projections for 2011 = 2.2 Billion.
While the growth predictions are modest, the fact is, it is projected to grow.
Advice from speakers: “Write the best book possible.” “Be a smart, savvy promoter to give your book its best chance possible.”
The romance category represents 55% of paperback sales and 40% of all fiction sold.
Current top sellers in romance are Paranormal, Inspirational, and Erotica.
In the library world: Today’s library wants to grow the technology, but libraries are still widely known for housing print publications.
The Library Journal Magazine publishes a romance section six times a year. (aprox. 170 books reviewed.) In the past year, Historicals represented sixty of the 170 titles reviewed. 35 were Contemporary, 9 were Erotica, and 35 were Paranormals.
Libraries buy mainly through wholesalers, spending millions of dollars each year. They are definitely an audience and more and more publishers are recognizing the library as such.
A famous quote, “Libraries do not sell books, but they peddle them.”
Libraries maintain archives of books. A great place to find back lists. More and more libraries are developing websites with reader lists and search engines.
50% of library book budgets are spent on fiction. This is an increase, non-fiction title purchases used to be higher.
Fiction categories with the largest circulations are Mystery, Romance, and Christian Fiction. Growing in popularity are Multicultural, Urban Fiction, and Erotica.
Libraries love to sponsor book programs, talks, and other activities. Do not discount this avenue when exploring ways to gain readership.
I hope you find some, or all, of this information helpful to have. I'll continue to post learnings from the conference over the next few weeks.... Enjoy!
Hugs,
Barb
.
Industry trends are hard to predict as new technology continues to develop
Example: i Phone
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a hot topic in the publishing industry. The discussions regarding electronic publishing and having a standardized format are on the fore-front.
Technology dominates discussions on book industry changes. Publishers are spending mass dollars on digital avenues. Landscape of publishing is changing dramatically.
A caveat from the instructor “The only constant is change.”
The publishing industry will continue to change and evolve over time to meet the demands of readers and to keep up with the changing technologies.
Some interesting statistics in relation to how the book industry has already evolved and the impact of technology on the industry:
Sixty years ago there were 350 publishers producing 85,000 books annually.
Today, there are 70.000 publishers producing 175,000 books annually.
In the competitive landscape, editors no longer have time to languish on new authors. There is intense competition in the marketplace.
On a different technology front, the blogging industry is getting biger and bigger and more influential. Blogging is prominent now in the publishing world and one can only guess how it will develop, grow, and open up new opportunities in the future.
A few more stats from The Book Industry Study Group:
For 2006, publishing net revenues for all books = 35.68 Billion (this represents an increase over 2005) Estimates for 2011 = 41.84 Billion.
For 2006, Mass Market (most popular for Romance) net revenue = 1.89 Billion. Projections for 2011 = 2.2 Billion.
While the growth predictions are modest, the fact is, it is projected to grow.
Advice from speakers: “Write the best book possible.” “Be a smart, savvy promoter to give your book its best chance possible.”
The romance category represents 55% of paperback sales and 40% of all fiction sold.
Current top sellers in romance are Paranormal, Inspirational, and Erotica.
In the library world: Today’s library wants to grow the technology, but libraries are still widely known for housing print publications.
The Library Journal Magazine publishes a romance section six times a year. (aprox. 170 books reviewed.) In the past year, Historicals represented sixty of the 170 titles reviewed. 35 were Contemporary, 9 were Erotica, and 35 were Paranormals.
Libraries buy mainly through wholesalers, spending millions of dollars each year. They are definitely an audience and more and more publishers are recognizing the library as such.
A famous quote, “Libraries do not sell books, but they peddle them.”
Libraries maintain archives of books. A great place to find back lists. More and more libraries are developing websites with reader lists and search engines.
50% of library book budgets are spent on fiction. This is an increase, non-fiction title purchases used to be higher.
Fiction categories with the largest circulations are Mystery, Romance, and Christian Fiction. Growing in popularity are Multicultural, Urban Fiction, and Erotica.
Libraries love to sponsor book programs, talks, and other activities. Do not discount this avenue when exploring ways to gain readership.
I hope you find some, or all, of this information helpful to have. I'll continue to post learnings from the conference over the next few weeks.... Enjoy!
Hugs,
Barb
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)