Distribution
'Route Map'
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (AUGUST 2003)
Last
month PT surveyed the bulging book-bags of client
distribution players in the US, and a report to be released
this month from the British Publishers Association
indicates that a bundle of business from across the
pond may well be coming their way. The US Book Market:
A Survey and Route Map for UK Publishers, commissioned
by PA International Director Ian Taylor with
the support of Trade Partners UK, declares distribution
the best route to the American market in light of a
number of challenges facing US-bound British publishers.
Dual English language rights, for example, have become
ever trickier to enforce in what the UK considers its
“home” markets of Europe and Asia, as the global supply
chain leaks US editions into those formerly “exclusive”
territories. Meanwhile, co-edition sales quantities
are hurting from just-in-time inventory practices, cutting
the numbers UK publishers can sell to the US. The upshot?
“As a result, many UK publishers are shifting their
attention from rights and co-edition sales to distribution,
either with US publishers or dedicated distributors,”
the report finds. “The distribution option, properly
managed, offers UK publishers a solid platform for sustained
market development and growth.”
That would seem to be good news for growing companies
such as Trafalgar Square, the US distributor
for about 45 British publishers including Random
House UK and new client BBC Books. According
to Managing Director Paul Feldstein, sales were
up 6.5% in 2002, with sales for the first six months
of this year up an even stronger 14%, aided by the company’s
first million-dollar month in January (Feldstein was
unavailable to comment for last month’s distribution
article). Unlike many distributors, Trafalgar Square
buys all titles on a nonreturnable basis, replenishing
them via weekly air-freight shipments from Heathrow.
Tellingly, perhaps, Trafalgar has long distributed for
the UK divisions of what are now global conglomerates,
such as Random, HarperCollins, and Time Warner.
So much for synergy, eh? “Trying to distribute through
their sister companies is much more difficult than anyone
would think,” Feldstein says. “There’s no one on this
side of the Atlantic at the sister company who’s driving
the business for the UK company. No one backs that portion
of the list. Whereas for us, it rises right to the top.”
Indeed, penetrating the American market can be a surprisingly
rocky road for even the largest of UK publishers. A
distribution-based strategy in the US “represents a
long term commitment and investment,” the PA’s report
cautions, noting that database-driven buying models
and the highly agglomerated marketplace can be deadly
for publishers who think they can just ship titles over
and forget about them. Attention must be lavished on
meeting the exacting standards of chain booksellers,
of course, and UK publishers should have extra cash
on hand for marketing and publicity. “Scale talks in
the US,” the report adds. “Any publisher looking to
enter the market needs to align themselves with a partner
who has sufficient size to offer leverage in the trade.”
Scale, needless to say, is the prime attraction of the
US market. Five times the population means five times
the sales, right? If only, sigh distributors. Expectations
of the US market can be vastly overblown, spurring catastrophic
returns if stock levels are not keenly managed. In addition,
the “route map” counsels, an array of distribution options
are available for specific markets, such as Baker
& Taylor’s academic specialty unit Yankee
Book Peddler, which purchases books through its
UK subsidiary Lindsay & Howes. “You have
to be flexible,” Feldstein points out. “There are some
books where a rights sale will make more sense, and
there are some books where a distribution arrangement
will make more sense. Hopefully your distributor would
be helpful and honest in that regard.” (The PA report
is available to UK publishers only. For more information,
email Mandy Knight at mknight@publishers.org.uk.)
•
On a related distribution note: To clarify a point
in last month’s article, Holtzbrinck’s distributed
clients are served by dedicated national account managers,
not a separate field sales force. Holtzbrinck’s two
national field sales forces sell all of its publishers,
including distribution lines, to independent bookstores,
regional chains, and other accounts.
©2003
Publishing Trends
