Baker & Taylor Vendor Summit Meeting

Hello from North Carolina, where library distributor Baker & Taylor has spent the day filling me (and hundreds of other publishers) with good food and great information. Our trade sales rep, Tom Doherty, invited me to come along to the summit to learn more about doing business with B&T, and to talk to librarians about our books at tomorrow's vendor fair.

Baker & Taylor is the #1 distributor to library and academic markets, retailers, and international accounts. They do business with 82% of all public libraries, 95% of academic libraries, and 15% of school libraries.

The first two hours were overall introductory remarks from the senior management team, where we learned about trends in the library business ("flat is the new up"), value-added services that B&T offers (such as collection development), and other branches and initiatives of the company. Among nonfiction topics, they cited Business & Economics (our category) as the second-largest-selling category. They even went so far as to point out that "Resumes and job search guides dominate, with emphasis on social network[ing]."

Later we learned about their new e-book reader software, Blio, which works on all hardware platforms and enables publishers to easily and cheaply add video, links, and other amazing interactive features to their e-books. I think it might be just what we have been looking for. So when I get back, I'll start working to get approval to get some of our titles converted and distributed on Blio.

It was very interesting to see how they have ramped up their marketing efforts to push our titles into the hands of libraries. This apparently new strategy seems aggressive and sharp, and it was interesting to hear the steps they took toward rebranding the company.

Then tonight was the vendor appreciation dinner, peppered with 10 best-selling authors, with David Baldacci topping the bill. His books really aren't my preferred genre, but he was highly entertaining and charming, telling stories of what happens when a best-selling author goes out in the world, mingling with Italian mayors, presidents, and more than a couple loonies. Top it all off with some Baked Alaska and you've got a really great day.

Looking forward to meeting our customers directly in the booth tomorrow. I scoped out the exhibition hall earlier and we will be among the who's who of trade and academic publishers. Should be entertaining.

Gearing Up for the Wisconsin Careers Conference

A week from today I'll be hitting the road with my coworker Bob, bound for Madison and the Wisconsin Careers Conference. This will be my first time at this conference (nay, my first time to even set foot in the state), even though it's been buzzing along happily without my presence for the last 24 years.

The thought of heading north in January has always made me seize up. But ever since I took over our workbooks a couple of years ago, I have felt that I wasn't quite in touch with the people who use those books. This conference is aimed at K-14 teachers, HR professionals, counselors and guidance staff, college and university educators and advisors, career counselors, career center personnel, and many others. So this is a great opportunity to immerse myself in their community.

JIST will be well represented there in addition to Bob in the booth and me in the sessions. Coworker/author Laurence Shatkin will be one of the featured speakers, sharing his research on the Best Jobs for Renewing America. Author Richard Deems will be leading a roundtable on his Job Loss Reaction Cycle (which is featured in his book, Make Job Loss Work for You). Our assessment guru, John Liptak, is hosting a roundtable on integrating spirituality into career counseling. And authors Bob Orndorff and Dick Gaither will be presenting preconference workshops. I'm looking forward to taking them all to dinner or lunch at some point in the conference.

I'm planning to bring along my laptop and tweet up a storm about what I'm learning. So look for me on Twitter next Tuesday and Wednesday (@loricateshand).

Post-Launch Euphoria

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you've been hearing tweets and squawks from me about our big trade launch meeting today. Well, it's over now and I am taking a second to catch my breath.

I instituted the tradition of biannual launch meetings at JIST 7 or so years ago. It's a chance to get everyone around one table and talk about the new books that will be coming out the following season. I do my sales job on the salespeople and try to get them as pumped about the books as I am. We critique the working covers. We bounce marketing ideas off one another. It's a good thing--but somewhat stressful in the run up to it.

The day after a launch, I have to start thinking what I'm going to present at the next launch. First I plan the revisions--new editions of our best-selling books. I have to time the releases to coincide with stock depletion and optimal market conditions (it's best to avoid times of the year when people aren't thinking much about their careers, like summer and Christmas).

Next I look at existing series and see whether there's room for another book in the series. Since our topic area is so narrow, I've already maxed out most of the slots, though, so this gets harder each year.

The icing, then, are the totally new books on edgier topics. I've got three of them on this list. (I'm going to wait a few more weeks before I get too specific about them here, though.) These are the ones that are the biggest risk because they don't have a sales history behind them. They could stick and become mainstays. Or they could sell 2,000 copies and fade away.

Meanwhile, my boss is going through the same process for her reference list, which we also sell into trade.

There are myriad details to attend to before these ideas can be presented as books: contracts, paperwork, competitive research, sales research, outlines, author schedules, cover designs, catalog copy...just a lot to do. Finally we get it all nailed down and ready to present at the launch (and usually without more than a few days to spare).

After doing these presentations for so many years, I'm no longer nervous about them. But I'm still an introvert, and it still zaps my energy to be "on" for three hours like that. So right now I'm feeling quite a sense of relief--until tomorrow, when the whole process begins again. And that's not to mention the fact that now that I have signed all these books, I have to make sure that they get done!

Blog (and Cook) Your Way to a New Career

Kansas City career coach Meg Montford (who not too many years ago joined me for a dinner of "Hot Brown" sandwiches at Louisville's Brown Hotel while we were at a conference) today blogs about a new movie that will inspire career changers. The movie is Julie & Julia, based on Julie Powell's book of the same name.

Meg shares how the movie shows Julie stuck in a miserable career. Then she gets the inspiration to cook every one of the more than 500 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking--and blogging about it--in just one year. Of course, her husband thinks she's nuts. But followers flock and before long Julie has found a new career as a writer. Meg believes you'll find some career inspiration from this delightful-looking movie.

I have to confess that I read Julie's book when it was still in galley form (I picked it up at Book Expo). And it turned me on to the magic of blogging. Seeing what it did for her, I resolved to start my own blog. And although I don't anticipate it being made into a Hollywood production anytime soon, it was still a good decision that has opened doors and made great connections for me. Best of all, it's gotten me into the discipline of writing regularly instead of always fixing other people's work. Both are noble occupations, but they take different skill sets. Keeping both sharp has been a blessing.

You'll note that publishers Little, Brown and Knopf have taken advantage of the movie's release with special editions of both Julie and Julia's books with covers that call attention to their connections to the movie. They will get a new sales boost as a result.

Of course, I want to see the movie. But I used up my "one theatre movie per year without the kid" allowance this weekend on Johnny Depp (and I do not regret it). I might have to wait for the DVD.

The Bookless Bookstore

Through a circuitous Twitter path, I discovered this blog post from author Moriah Jovan. In it, she shows a sketch of her vision of the bookstore of the future: a coffee shop with ordering kiosks and instabook machines (called Espresso). Order the book and then it will be printed on demand while you sip your espresso. Astute readers already know that this magical machine is not fantasy. Several Espresso machines are already in operation in several libraries and universities throughout the world.

I think this could very well be one of the ways we are headed. Think how many problems it solves, such as the one we struggle with daily: whether to reprint a marginal-selling book or to let it die. Instead, we'd just make the PDF of the book available to Espresso and anyone who wanted it could just print themselves a copy. No more worries about getting stuck with too much stock or paying exorbitant unit costs on small print runs (granted, the unit cost is probably pretty high for an Espresso edition, but maybe the price to the consumer goes up as well).

The benefit to authors (longer availability of their books) would have to be weighed against the negative of maybe never being able to get their rights back from the publisher because the books would never be declared out of print.

I have a suspicion that Moriah isn't thinking about big reference titles and glossy, four-color coffee-table books. I don't think any quick-print machine is going to be able to match the quality and feel of a really nice offset-printed, heirloom-quality book. As long as we all recognize that going in, that's fine. Maybe the manufacture of those books will be left to specialists.

Of course, this is just one path our industry is likely to take. There's still the issue of e-books and which reader/format combo is going to emerge as the book version of the iPod. There will always be people who prefer their books printed (at least until we die off in about 40 years). But growing numbers of people will prefer getting their content electronically. So maybe eventually even the espresso/Espresso store will fade away as well.

TitleZ Is Back!

For the past several weeks I have been frustrated and in mourning over the loss of TitleZ, a site that allows you to track and aggregate your books' Amazon rankings. One day it just went down, leaving behind only a simple message that it would return. I worried that it would never happen, given that the site has been in "beta" for several years. I figured it had been abandoned by its creators.

I tried to find a substitute for it, but none of the sites suggested by other bloggers had the power, ease of use, and low price (free) that TitleZ does. So, given that my repeated requests for Bookscan access have fallen on deaf ears for half a decade, I resigned myself to having no daily barometer of sales. And I was bereft. Although Amazon sales are by no means a complete picture of our sales, they were a good indicator of how our PR efforts were impacting things. Also, our trade sales rep appreciated getting top-10-seller reports from me, so that he could compare those results with brick and mortars and look for opportunities.

Just now I discovered that after surviving a nasty virus, TitleZ is back. It lost some data and isn't functioning quite right. But I can at least see my top sellers again. Whew!

The Great Travel Book Controversy

Here's an example of a story I might not have known about had it not been for social media. I am a "fan" of Frommer's travel guides on Facebook because I have edited their books off and on for 13 years. Yesterday Frommer's posted a link to this blog post from Arthur Frommer himself, the nonagenarian who once traveled Europe on $5 a day (these days, that will buy you a can of Pepsi). The problem? A bookstore chain in Britain has signed an exclusive deal with Penguin to stock only Penguin travel titles (including the lovely DK Eyewitness Guides and the Rough Guides).

But what makes this bad is that the chain is WHSmith, which has a monopoly on stores in all British airports and train stations, not to mention its huge "high street" presence (Brit-speak for the stores you see on the main road through towns). So you can see why Arthur is mad. His Frommer's books are being pushed off the shelves of 400 stores.

You can google it and see the media reactions, most of which side with Arthur. The public is being denied freedom of choice (and coverage of many destinations). Many publishers are being hurt and jobs are at stake. Penguin (part of Pearson) acknowledges that it's a sweetheart deal (but at a 72% discount, they are going to have to sell a lot of books to make up for such an unprecedented concession--good thing those Eyewitness Guides are expensive and are probably printed overseas, bringing down their unit costs).

As always, though, it's the comments on the media stories that shed the most light. (You have to love those Brits for their polite, insightful, and grammatically correct comments!) The point has been raised that smart travelers do their research ahead of time and don't buy overpriced books at the last minute in airports. Others have commented that by limiting their selection, WHSmith will lose sales.

However it turns out, you can bet American publishers and booksellers will be watching. None of us would like to see B&N making exclusive deals with the competition.

Are You a Senior Sales Manager in Publishing?

I know of an opportunity for a top-level sales manager here in Indianapolis. The ideal candidate will have trade and school sales experience, as well as personnel management, marketing, operations, and possibly even editorial. If you are interested in knowing more, give me a shout-out at loricateshand-at-yahoo-dot-com. I will put you in touch with the right people.

Getting Your Book Proposal Noticed

A while back I mentioned the amazing Help A Reporter Out mailing list, which connects reporters with subject-matter experts to help them write their stories. We continue to monitor it daily in hopes of finding places for our authors to be quoted. But occasionally, it yields a place for me to be quoted.

Case in point, the April BookHitch.com newsletter. I volunteered my advice on what I look for when I screen and evaluate book proposals. That advice, plus tons of spot-on information from other editors, is available by subscribing to the free newsletter (sign up here).

If you are thinking of sending me (or anyone else) a book proposal, I suggest that you read this first!

The Wild: An Indie Bookseller I Love

Yesterday I got an e-mail that looked like a tear-jerker: "RIP Little Lady." "OMG," I thought. "Somebody's little girl has died." Dutifully, I opened the message, which came from the independent children's bookstore in our small town of Noblesville, The Wild.

As it turns out, the deceased was a hissing cockroach named Louise (and yes, that is her, "lying in state," at left) who lived at the store with her partner...wait for it...Thelma. Hard to get too choked up over a roach.

The Wild is more of a happening than just a mere store. It's situated on Noblesville's historic square, one of my favorite places to hang out anyway. But the quaint and narrow space is crammed with kids' books and games and toys as well, making it a destination in and of itself. Add to that the constant stream of special events (my daughter has gone there to meet snakes and pigs, for example) and you've got a store that has won my heart and will always get my business (except today, because I have a B&N gift card to spend).

Amazon Stirs Controversy--Again

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I have a soft spot for Amazon: low returns and a future-thinking business model (compared to the brick-and-mortars, at least). But today they have apparently crossed the line. Are they really effectively censoring books and favoring heterosexual porn over homosexual literature? Read Kasia Krozser's open letter to them here. Twitter has been so abuzz with the various protests over this move that I saw my first "Fail Whale" today.

Last week they had independent authors in an uproar over their policy to arbitrarily start deleting any book reviews in which the writer also mentioned their own book title. Book marketing expert John Kremer called Amazon "incredibly stupid, stupid, stupid." I had to agree. How else do you establish a reviewer's credentials than to name them as the author of a related book?

And before that, Joe Wikert told CEO Jeff Bezos to turn off the Dirty Dancing VHS and open up the Kindle to content from other providers.

I don't like where this is all headed. Amazon needs some image triage--stat!

My New Hero: Swiss Army Librarian

Brian Herzog is a reference librarian at a public library in Massachusetts. In his awesome blog, Swiss Army Librarian, he chronicles the adventures of an intrepid public servant on his quest for sometimes-impossible-to-find information for his grateful patrons. It's very entertaining to see the lengths to which he will go to get answers for people, and the joy he expresses upon achieving his objective.

What compelled me to finally share him with you was this post that somehow bubbled to the top today, in which he talks about the ways he learns about new books to buy for the library. Yes, he still thumbs through Library Journal and publisher catalogs, just like Miss Judy used to do at EVCPL 22 years ago. But he also has some more creative and high-tech ways of discovering new titles, including those that don't ever get reviewed in LJ (which is most of them).

Three cheers for Brian, who shows that technology plus old-fashioned information passion equals one handy person to know.

The Most-Borrowed Career Books from Library Journal

A nice surprise this morning: The release of Library Journal's list of most-borrowed career books. Of course, no surprise to see Parachute in the top spot, and all those pesky Knock 'em Dead titles hanging around in the top 6. But JIST has captured the #3, #4, #7, #8, #10, #11, #14, #17, and #20 spots with a gaggle of reference titles and a couple of our best trade hits, including

• Next-Day Job Interview
• 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs
• 100 Fastest-Growing Careers
• Top 100 Careers Without a Four-Year Degree
• Best Jobs for the 21st Century
• Gallery of Best Resumes for People Without a Four-Year Degree
• 200 Best Jobs for College Graduates
• Top 100 Computer and Technical Careers
• Federal Resume Guidebook

Home Gardening Is Hot

I have been loving this resurgence of interest in home gardening. Not only is it good for gardening-book publishers (see Publishers Weekly's take on it here), it's good for the environment, our bodies, and our souls.

My husband and I both grew up watching our grandfathers till the soil every spring and plant backyard gardens. In fact, Grandpa Hand was still planting onions when he couldn't stand up any longer, by sitting in a chair in the yard. They would grow tomatoes, bell peppers (which my grandparents erroneously called mangoes), potatoes, onions, and other basic staples that grow well in Indiana.

Ever since we set up housekeeping, Jason and I have had a garden. I have been a sporadic helper to his tireless efforts. We've tried all sorts of things in addition to the basics, such as snow peas, cucumbers, corn, herbs, carrots, watermelon, strawberries, and canteloupe--with varying degrees of success. We don't like pesticides, so we've had heartbreaking losses to bugs, birds, and bunnies. (If we are to really live off our land, we're going to have to get medieval on the pests this year, somehow. Marigolds and chili powder just aren't cutting it.)

And then there's the composter. Sometimes I resent the fact that I'm not allowed to throw away any vegetable scrap, eggshell, or coffee ground--it has to be finely chopped and hauled out to the stinky composter. But that has paid off in terms of loamy goodness that is transforming our clay soil into the envy of our novice gardening neighbors. Now he wants to buy a $150 rain barrel.

I think that if people spent less time in their cars running to and fro and spending money, they could get a good workout in the yard, reap the benefits of the fresh air, and save some money on their grocery bills--all while eating something healthier. It's a win-win proposition, and I hope the trend continues.

10 Industries That Are Soaring

I'm starting to take articles like these with a grain of salt because it seems you see a new one every day, they all conflict with one another, and they use dubious sources. But I couldn't resist pointing out that this article from U.S. News & World Report (my 101-year-old grandpa's former favorite magazine) has ranked "resume editing" right up there with home gardening, McDonald's, and Harlequin romance novels as one of the things people just can't do without during this recession.

"All I know is I don't even have a life anymore," said one quoted professional resume writer in reference to the steady demand he is experiencing. Boy, do I hear that. Of course, how can you complain about having too much work when so many people don't have enough?

Another line from the article that I must point out: "Borders says its sales of career guides are up from last year." Oh yeah? I'd like some details on that one...

Holiday Sales, Industry Optimism, and Laurence on TV

Tomorrow I crawl back to work after a nice extended break for the holidays--but just for three days. Then we're going to Disney World. We're tagging along with Jason as he attends the Pearson winter sales meeting there.

A few things have caught my notice this week:

• Barnes & Noble's 50% off sale: Looks like thousands of books in all categories, calendars, and more at 50% off. The winners here are the consumers and the publishers. B&N will be making just 5% off of anything they sell at this discount.
• Motley Fool gives the publishing industry the thumbs up: Despite the steady increase in doomsday predictions for books, these investing experts say that it will be a long time before the world gives up on Gutenberg's content-delivery method.
• Amazon reports best Christmas ever: Sure, not everything they sold was books, but it's still a good sign to me.
• Laurence Shatkin on CBS News: Yesterday morning we awoke to see JIST author and friend Laurence Shatkin appearing on a CBS News report on recession-proof jobs. His book, 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs, got a mention--and they even showed the cover.

And best of all, local editor Suzy had her quadruplets on Christmas Eve! I guess I can tell her a thing or two about having a baby on that date, but I know not one thing about having four!

Jeff Bezos Cameo on The Simpsons

Betcha thought I was going to write another doomsday post on publishing's "black Wednesday" last week and all the subsequent hand-wringing. But frankly, my dears, I need a break from thinking about it (although I will confess to having gone to Borders yesterday and buying stacks of Penguin and DK titles and feeling all noble about doing my part toward saving Pearson).

No, what I want to mention today is the fleeting cameo appearance of Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos on The Simpsons last night. In an episode titled The Burns and the Bees, Bezos is shown having wet himself at a camp for billionaires--over a scary campfire story about the SEC.

Just two questions:

1. How'd he get that gig?


2. How many people outside publishing do you think actually know who he is?

Give the Gift of Books

Last week I mentioned that various book bloggers are starting to promote the idea of buying and giving books as Christmas gifts. Of course, we always want people to do that. But this year it's even more important than ever. B&N chairman Len Riggio has warned his employees of a grim holiday season (I'd give you the link to his company memo, but WSJ has taken it down), and every time you turn around you hear stories saying that 51% of consumers plan to spend less on Christmas this year.

Personally, I think it's good to see people backing down from the wretched excess of years past. So what's a more perfect alternative to "Kitchen Aid mixers for everyone" than a thoughtfully chosen little book? Or two? Or a dozen?

To help get the word out about how cool books still are, a coalition of book bloggers has started the Books for the Holidays blog. Go there, sign up, start spreading the word, and start buying those books. For more help, see the Books on the Nightstand blog, which is featuring holiday gift book ideas every day between now and Thanksgiving.

I've always wondered--do people give job search and career books as Christmas presents? I mean really, aren't they a bit too utilitarian to fit in with the spirit of the holidays? Let me know your thoughts. Obviously, people need them now more than ever. But are gift-givers still shying away from sending a message like "instead of sitting there eating another piece of pie, shouldn't you be working on your resume?"

Editorial Ass on Publishing's Bloody October

First of all, love the blog title. Second, this blogging editorial assistant has put together the most cogent explanation I've seen yet of why it sucks to be a book publisher right now. Again, lots of blame goes to the inexplicable model of bookstores being able to send back the inventory they don't sell, and essentially using publishing companies as interest-free loan brokers.

Read the whole post and you'll get a better idea of how the sales and returns processes work. And take Moonrat up on his/her suggestion to buy books--now, and as Christmas presents.

On a tangentially related note, I'm getting anecdotal reports from friends and family of several people losing jobs (non-publishing) they've held for decades and their homes are in jeopardy. I feel like we are poised on the brink of an ever-widening sinkhole. Hang on tight.

Ugly Truth #2061: The Chains Don't Buy Every Book

I guess it's common sense that bookstore chains don't--and just can't--carry every book that's published. They have a limited amount of space and publishers just keep churning out hundreds of thousands of new books every year. Still, when you have a track record, a good sales rep who can get a meeting with the buyers, and a dominance in your niche, most of the time they will give most of the books on your list a shot, in varying degrees. It's just the few times that they don't that really sting. (I'm trying to take it less personally, really, I am.)

Yesterday MediaBistro pointed me in the direction of this article written by Wiley science fiction marketing manager Andrew Wheeler about a recent trend toward more "skipping," which is what they call it when the chain says "no, thank you" to carrying a book. In it he gives some great inside info on how the trade buying model works.

What do you do if you get skipped? Amazon will list just about any book, so optimize your listing online and drive all of your customers there to buy it. (This is just one of the many reasons I like Amazon.)