Checking E-mail, Pricing Books

A BPNW member recently e-mailed and asked about pricing books. We answered the question via e-mail -- only to keep getting the same query sent by the member. By the third time that we received this e-mail, we began to suspect that our original answers were going into a spam folder. Sad, as this is the member's business e-mail as well.

If you send a query and don't get an answer in two to three working days, search your spam folder. You might be surprised at what you find.

In hopes that this will help, here's the original query and answer.

How should I price my book for a bookstore?

The normal discount off the cover price to a bookstore is 40%.

You can set a lower discount, like 20%, if you want. It's not unusual for small press to do that.

A distributor like Ingram usually asks for a 50 to 60% discount, so they can in turn offer a 40% discount to bookstores.

This is why margins are very thin in publishing and getting your "per book" cost down is important -- if you plan to distribute through bookstores. If you are planning to have most of your distribution through direct sales, you can have a higher per unit cost because you're keeping more of the retail price for yourself.

BPNW Display at Fall Trade Show

On Sept 16, Book Publishers Northwest joined with Northwest Association of Book Publishers and IBPA to display members books at the PNBA Fall Trade Show for booksellers and librarians.

Celeste Bennett sent us the following photos of the display and trade show floor.



Members at the show reported that traffic appeared to be up from the 2007 show.



BPNW's display included books and sales literature demonstrating the wide range of material published in the Northwest.

Update from Bright Ring

Bright Ring Publishing, Inc. has been selected as one of the best art websites for teaching art by The Link Homeschooling Magazine, 2008.

The company recently published its first full color art education activity book, August 2008, Great American Artists for Kids: Hands-On Art Experiences in the Styles of Great American Masters, with a first print of of 7000 printed in Korea. More than half of the first print run was sold as of September 2008 according to publisher and author MaryAnn Kohl.

Publishing Round Table on Sept 18

Join Gail Sexton, our 2008 Pub U Scholar, for a publishers' roundtable for good advice on starting, growing, or just having fun with your publishing business. Start off the fall season with new ideas!

This meeting is free for members.

Meeting takes place at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept. 18. See you there!

PNBA Display Books Donated to Rural Library

The Darby Community Library in Darby, Montana, were picked to benefit from the PNBA Rural Library Drive. At the end of the PNBA Fall Trade Show, exhibitors like Book Publishers Northwest left their display books with volunteers from the library.

The community recently acquired a new building that will now be stocked with a wide range of wonderful titles donated by BPNW members and others at the PNBA Fall Trade Show.

A plea from your editor at BPNW News

* Keep Your E-mail Up-to-Date
* Check Your Spam Folder
* Use the Blog!

Why is all of the above in bold type? Because your slightly stressed-out BPNW blog lady is moving, remodeling, and finishing up a novel for publication in 2009 (City of the Dead, coming next year from Wizards of the Coast).

This means that I probably won't have time to track down why certain newsletter subscriptions and other e-mails bounce. So if your server goes down and you switch to gmail, use the subscribe tool on this page to get your newsletter. Or e-mail me at bpnwnews at aol.com.

If you don't see the newsletter arriving in your in-box every month, check your spam folder. It might be lurking there.

Dates for meetings are always posted here first. Use this blog for quick information. Use the RSS and you won't miss anything!

Have a great Fall. I'm hoping to see you at the Sept 18 meeting. But bear with me as I make few transitions this season.



Sincerely,

Rosemary Jones
Book Publishers Northwest

Learn About Orphan Works Bill

Seattle Graphic Artists Guild is hosting a special free meeting on the "orphan works" bills currently in Congress. Join them at the Museum of History and Industry, Thursday, September 11, 2008, 6:30:-8:30 pm. MOHAI is located at 2700 24th Avenue E.

Lisa Shaftel, Graphic Artists Guild National Advocacy Committee Chairperson, will lead this informal meeting. Shaftel will share a brief insider background of the crucial orphan works issue and its proponents, and review the up-to-the-minute political status of the two bills now in Congress as well as what's likely to happen next. The Guild recommends this meeting for all visual creators or those likely to be impacted by the designation "orphan work."

Among the topics to be discussed are:

* Learn the many things you can do to prevent your works from becoming orphans.
* Get key instructions on how to protect your work, with easy steps to follow.
* Hear tips on key issues to watch out for.


More information about the orphan works legislation can be found at www.orphanworksnews.com

Pubwest In Portland: SPAN Members Get Discount

PubWest's (the Publishers Association of the West) 2008 National Publishing Conference will take place in Portland in November. The conference topics range from Publishing 101 to advanced viral marketing and digital content.

SPAN is an Industry Partner of PubWest's conference allows SPAN members to sign up at PubWest member's rates. Members of Book Publishers Northwest can join SPAN for a discounted rate.

More information can be found at http://www.spannet.org/pubwest-conf.htm.