By: Eric (a sales assistant at a major trade publisher)
I’ve followed Nathan’s blog for close to two years now, and he has done an admirable—nay, outstanding—job of outlining, explaining, reiterating, and overall demystifying the somewhat byzantine method by which manuscripts (produced by you, the author) are acquired, auctioned, sold, &c, and eventually transformed into finished books (purchased by you, the consumer). So first of all, thank you, Nathan, for all you’ve done to make this business a little clearer to the rest of us.
The very last stage of this process, though—the sale of books from publisher to book store to consumer—isn’t really the focus of the blog, and so has received relatively little treatment so far. With Nathan’s permission, I’d like to shed a little light on this last leg of a book’s journey.
What life is like for a sales assistant
I work as a sales assistant at a major trade book publisher (feel free to insert your favorite name here: Penguin, Random House, HarperCollins, &c), which means that my job mostly involves:
- Preparing sales materials for the sales reps who sell the books to a given account, and
- Keeping track of the promotions we run at said account. Since the account I work on is a national chain (e.g. Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million), this is a fairly involved process.
How does this affect your book once it’s already survived the gauntlet of critique group, literary agent, and editor?
Sales materials
First, the sales materials. Each book that we publish is grouped according to its on-sale date, usually by month but occasionally by span. (There are three spans: Spring, Summer, and Fall.) Within a certain month or span, different sales reps are responsible for selling different subsets of books to the account (for example, the two reps for whom I work divide the list of one imprint; one sells the hardcovers, the other sells the trade paperbacks and mass-markets). For each title in a subset, it’s my job to create a sales kit. My sales kits generally consist of:
- A cover sheet, unique to the account, that breaks out basic information (author, title, ISBN, &c) and provides the book’s subject code, which determines which buyer at the account is responsible for it and what section of the store the book will eventually live in. Each buyer usually specializes in just a couple of genres/categories.
- A kind of “fact sheet” that summarizes all the important information about the book: title, author, ISBN, &c, as well as marketing information, quotes/blurbs, copy, and “comp” information. Alas, yes, your book will be “comped” to a previously published title—either your last book, if you wrote one, or a book that is similar in content, format, and span/on-sale month, if you didn’t—and the comp’s sales figures factor into the account’s initial buy.
- A full-color copy of the book’s cover.
- Any other promotional materials (additional praise/quotes/blurbs, sell sheets, &c) that may be useful.
The sales reps then meet periodically with the buyers at their account and “pitch” them each title. (You thought the pitch was over with the editor’s acquisition. You were wrong.)
These meetings are referred to as “selling in” or “sales calls” and they are the meetings at which initial orders are decided. Simply put, the initial order is the number of copies the account’s buyer wants to purchase in time for the on-sale date; any later orders are considered reorders and are used to replenish stock when it runs low.
The sales kits are essential to these meetings—the rep uses them to get the buyers excited and to push them to order quantities that are in line with the publisher’s expectations. This generally involves convincing buyers (via cover images, sales data, praise and quotes from famous critics or authors, &c) to purchase more copies than they otherwise would.
Buying and sell through
So let’s say your book, I AM PRETTY AWESOME, a literary memoir, gets a 2,000-copy buy at a given account. Not bad! Your previous book, I GUESS I’M OKAY, sold 1,500 copies in its first four weeks and has experienced 80% life-to-date sell-through. (Sell-through is the percentage of books an account sells compared to how many it bought.)
Not only that, but a couple of big-time authors have come out to praise it and it got a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. Both the rep and the buyer are confident that 2,000 is a good number based on this information.
After the sales call, the reps will either enter the orders into our computers themselves or ask me to do it. At this point, the order quantity is called an estimate, since we estimate this is how many copies of each title the account will initially order. (Keep in mind that we tend to sell books to our accounts about five months before they go on sale, so it’s possible substantial changes can occur to the order quantity between the sales call and the placement of the actual initial order.) Once the order comes in, it is compared to the estimate, any discrepancies are worked out between the publisher and the account, and the books are shipped in time for their release date.
How accounts decide how many copies to buy
In summary: sales of your previous books, sales of “comp” titles, your platform as an author (as described on the fact sheets), the book’s cover, the current economic climate, events in the news, &c all contribute to how many copies of your book a given account will buy.
If you’re lucky—either because you’re a big shot or because you happened to write a book about the life and times of Michael Jackson a few months back—the orders for your book could be HUGE, say, 10,000 copies. This will qualify your title for promotion, e.g. placement on that magical table at the front of the store, and so brings us to the second half of my job: promotion, through a system we call co-op.
What’s co-op?
Co-op, in short, is the process by which we work with an account to determine which of our titles get special treatment: placement at the front of the store, on endcaps, in special displays, &c. The account is paid for running these promotions for a set amount of time, either flat amounts or a certain amount of money per book. Any time you see a title on a major front-of-store display, it’s because that book’s publisher paid the account for the promotion. Stephenie Meyer doesn’t magically get her own table, and those “New Release” tables aren’t populated by the store staff’s personal favorites. The publisher and the account agree on time tables, promotions, and monetary reimbursement, and the account is paid upon completion of those promotions.
Of note: co-op is formalized through a legally binding contract process, so it’s not treated lightly by either the publisher or the account. Once the deal is inked, titles are promoted, and once they’re promoted, the account is paid.
Your next question, I imagine, is probably something along the lines of “holy hell, how do I make sure my book gets co-op? How can I help decide which titles it’s comped to?”
Alas, I’m afraid the answer is: you can’t. The vast majority of titles go to their section (science fiction, literary fiction, biography, &c) at on-sale, and the Grishams, Meyers, and Evanovichs receive co-op. To be sure, they’re not the only ones; new authors do get co-op for their titles. It’s relatively rare, though, so don’t be disappointed if your book isn’t front-of-store come release day, especially if it’s your first one.
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
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abc says
That was awesome! Also, how did you know my book was titled I AM AWESOME? Also, thank you, Eric!
This is fun!
JJ says
All things I did not know. Thanks so much.
Here's to all of us experiencing this first-hand someday soon…
Carolyn says
Eric,
Thank you for your most informative blog post. I would love it if you started a blog on this topic.
I think most authors, myself included, wish we knew if there was anything we can do that actually works with respect to promotion. For example, is it worthwhile to send our own promotion kits to the buyers? Would sending you cookies do any good?
Suppose a book is released and gets stellar reviews — does it make sense to get those reviews to the buyers as well as one's agent and editor?
Etiquette Bitch says
Informational, and hilarious! I love the "titles" of the example books. I can think of a certain whiny "memoirist" who probably wants to title all her books "I AM WAY AWESOME!!!"
Thanks for my afternoon chuckle!
Ms. S. says
Question: I know for Non-fiction, when you submit the proposal, you need to show you will promote the book. I tend to mention things like in-store appearances, seminars + talks, etc. Does the author get any say in doing anything like that, or should I just stop mentioning it in my proposals altogether?
Dawn Maria says
Thank you so much Eric! Very interesting information. It really is an amazing process.
I'm curious (and apologize if this got covered in an earlier comment) about how author websites and blogs factor into the sales fact sheet. Do you look more appealing to the account if you're actively involved with promotion?
Casey McCormick says
Thank you so much for the informative post, Eric. Your post definitely meets the Nathan Bransford standard.
A book sales blog sound fascinating!
: )
Rogue Novelist says
WOW! Thank you for the in-depth info. I'm glad I've completely avoided that scenario. It's all so CORPORATE and completely discounts/ignores the important and intelligent writers and novelists. Personally, I go the Book Club route; promoting my books to book clubs and in turn the club members promote my books to their friends and neighbors who belong to other book clubs. My books have sold well over the past two years, which keeps me in $$$ so I can continue to write more novels.
Thanks again for reaffirming that corporate America defines what the general public likes to read.
Christy Raedeke says
Based on this feedback I think you'd get a large blog following right away! This is great stuff. Thanks for sharing your knowledge – I hope to see even more on a dedicated blog.
Sara Tribble says
Wow this is a great post! No wonder you were picked! =D
You did a great job of breaking it down to simple terms for all of us to understand and it's cool to see this part of publishing industry. Thanks so much for the info!
Eric says
Hi Carolyn,
Once your book is acquired and marketing/publicity are under way, I think it's certainly appropriate to approach your agent and ask if working on your own promotional materials would be helpful. I imagine this is different from agent to agent and house to house, but it certainly doesn't hurt to ask. I know several of our authors contribute enormously to their own promotional material.
As for stellar reviews–always, always, always bring these to your agent/editor's attention. Nine times out of ten these have been picked up by the reps and are already included in the sales kits, but on the off chance they're not, you've just added one more voice advocating your book to the buyer(s).
Eric says
Caveat–don't drive your agent/editor insane. Starred reviews in PW, yes: panegyrical tweets by your mom, no.
Eric says
Ms. S–
I'm not sure how agents treat this (Nathan?), but from what I've heard in my department, the more willing an author is to market him/herself, the better.
As long as you're not impolite or needy, it's really difficult to be too enthusiastic.
Jen C says
Awesome post, thanks Eric! I'm always fascinated by processes, and doubly so when it comes to publishing.
I'm with a few others here that I'm a bit surprised that there is so much riding on things that the author has so little control over, i.e. the cover, comps etc. I wouldn't think it would hurt to give the author more of a say over these things.
I guess you just have to hope that your rep is really on your side!
Eric says
Hi Dawn Maria–
Blogs and author websites are viewed as a plus, but I'm not sure how much of an impact this has on the buyers. With so many authors now blogging, tweeting, and maintaining their own web sites/RSS feeds/message boards/Facebook events/who knows what, I think it won't be long before having these things is considered a given, and not having them is considered a detriment or a sign that the author is some kind of Luddite.
In short: it can't hurt and probably helps, but I don't think it's a major factor.
Rachel says
Thanks for the post, Eric. I appreciate how highly informative it is, as well as how thorough your answers to previous comments/questions are.
Strange Fiction says
Thanks for the good info! Scary–but good.
careann says
Excellent information, Eric. Thanks! The more we know about all aspects of the publishing industry the better prepared we'll be when our time comes.
Careann/Carol Garvin
Robert A Meacham says
Eric,
Thank you for writing such an informative piece. I would guess that most people did not have a clue about this step in the life of a book.
I am involved with buying for a major retailer in Texas and you are spot on with a book's journey. I am the fellow that determines what spot a book or series gets showcase and which gets a normal setting. I suppose that could be another blog.
Thank you for an interesting blog. Nathan has to be pleased.
Eric says
Hi Rogue Novelist & Jen C–
You both have good points. Being a fan of literary & science fiction, I'm consistently frustrated by the weaker sales they generally exhibit (when compared to genres like thriller, romance, &c).
The important thing to realize, though, is that the account buyers are attempting to buy what they believe will sell based on previous sales; this tends to limit the marketplace and produce a lot of books that are very similar. Consumers then pick from this limited selection, generating new sales numbers that are used for future titles. Yes, chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble determine what the public reads, but the public, in turn, more or less determines what the chains buy. It's a vicious cycle.
Moreover, individual consumers tend to buy the same thing over and over, exhibiting terrific author and genre loyalty (see the comments on Jessica Faust's latest post at https://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/07/meaning-of-different.html for confirmation) and, among other things, really do judge a book by its cover.
So, yes, many aspects of book sales seem rather terrible, but they're firmly rooted in what the public, in general, is willing to spend money on.
marye.ulrich says
Thanks Eric, great information.
Wondering, what is the difference between trade paperbacks and mass-markets?
Mary
Michelle Moran says
Wonderful guest post, Eric!
Incredibly insightful!
Tomas says
Thank you for taking the time to write this lucid and informative essay. It's esp. interesting to me since my first (novel) book will – in a few months – be put through its paces.
I have four questions:
– if only name writers receive coop placement, how do new writers ever break out and become name writers?
– I've noticed at "my" bookstore (Book Soup, in L.A.) there are multiple tables around the store ie., YA in the back, non-fiction off to the side, art/photo books to the other side. Is the exact definition of coop only the entrance / register area?
– what sort of weight i.e., reputation, does a publishing house bear on the order process?
– and, given the entry of bloggers into the handselling of books, how is their anticipated participation calculated with MSM into the order process?
& all said, at the end of the day, I'm amazed any books are sold, ever …
CKHB says
What does $1/hardcover in co-op costs MEAN? Is that $1 per sold copy of each book that is put on the table/faced outwards? I don't understand how these costs play out.
Thanks! This is great stuff.
Leona says
Thank y ou for this insight into the world of 'after' publishing. My book is a science fiction (Rebellion on Piza 7) book that may or may not have made it on your list. However, locally, it's doing well 🙂
I appreciate the knowledge given about the lifecycle of the book's placement, but feel as others here have already expressed – how in tarnation are we supposed to get on your sales lists as new authors? I make a mean chocolate chip cookie… *big grin*
And to Robert A Meacham, I have a very good friend (since fifth grade kind of best friend) who lives in San Antonio TX and really wants my book and would promote the heck out of any place that carried it since she's my unofficial publicist for the southern states. I wouldn't mind being placed in any of your retail sites 🙂 (It's easily found on Ingram…)
https://leonabushman.com/Welcome.html
Leona says
OOPS Forgot to add that I would be very interested in reading any blog you started regarding the business, Eric. I spend a large portion of my time learning about any end of the business I can because I don't like being ignorant 🙂
madison says
Wow. Thank you. Your post was so helpful! Would you like to be my sales rep? 🙂
Kristin Tubb says
Thank you for sharing, Eric. Great post.
Nancy Coffelt says
Okay, now I don't feel bad at all over not being picked.
I'm all about info over ego. Thanks for an interesting and very informative post.
Phil says
Eric, nice article, but could you have kissed a little more Nathan ass? Are all these entries going to begin with a tribute paragraph from his sycophants?
Mike says
Great post Eric – thanks so much! I'm curious if you think author tours (or especially pre pub tours for debut authors) meeting with the buyers of these chains or big indies makes a difference? Seems like it can be so hard to stand out as an author!
Eric says
Hi Marye (Mary E? Sorry)–
Trade paperbacks are the "quality" paperbacks, usually priced in the $10-15 range, and have a trim size that isn't much smaller than a traditional paperback. Think paperbacks by Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz, &c.
Mass markets are the "rack-size" or "airport" paperbacks, usually very thick and much smaller than hardcovers, priced in the $4 – 8 range. Genre fiction (romance, sci-fi, &c) is usually published in mass market form when it goes to paperback.
More information can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperback
Kristi says
I can attest that the FOS placement works, as I happened to be browsing in a "major chain" bookstore today and bought the first book that I saw at the front of the display table (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).
Thanks for the great info, Eric.
Lucy says
@ Phil
Now, I know why I didn't make it: I mocked him mercilessly. (Note sarcasm here.)
Seriously, Eric, that was a great post, and I really appreciated all the information. Nathan was quite right when he said that he was leaving the blog in good hands. 🙂
Eric says
Hi Tomas–
1. Name writers receive the bulk of co-op placement, but they don't receive all of it; many titles by debut authors are selected each year for promotion. Also keep in mind that reviews, word-of-mouth recommendation, Oprah, &c also get a book "out there," and so co-op isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all of advertisement.
2. Co-op includes, but is not limited to, front-of-store promotions. (It's just the one that comes most easily to my mind.) Virtually any display placement that isn't regular, spine-facing-out in-section placement is co-op at work.
3. I think the reputation of the house only factors into the initial buy insofar as that name has a certain amount of money and advertising clout behind it; while the buy primarily reflects the book's market viability on its own, the house's ability to pay for co-op, marketing, attract publicity, &c is also considered.
4. The book industry is something of a dinosaur; I'm not sure the pressure of blogs (aside from blogs run by publications that already have something of a monolithic presence) factors in that heavily–yet.
Eric says
Hi CKHB–
In the example of $1.00/book, the amount of money paid for the promotion would be one dollar for each copy in the initial buy, generally under certain conditions (e.g. the book must be promoted front-of-store for at least two weeks). So if the account buys 2,000 copies before on-sale, they get $2,000 as long as they meet the house's conditions.
Eric says
Hi Phil–
It was a mixture of genuine gratitude and an attempt at humor. Sorry if it didn't read as such.
I work in book publishing. We are a socially awkward folk.
Eric says
Hi Mike–
Yes, this certainly makes a difference. The catch is that buyers don't generally meet with authors unless the author is receiving a major push (that is, alas, already has some kind of co-op placement). 99% of authors who meet buyers are:
1. Already hot shots, like Meyer or Grisham;
2. Not necessarily established authors, but are celebrities (politicians, actors, athletes, &c);
3. Debut authors whose titles have attracted so much enthusiasm in-house that the house is devoting a larger-than-average percentage of resources to them. (I imagine THE GUERNSEY LITERARY & POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY is one such title, judging from the Nielsen Bookscan numbers.)
Again, unfortunately, the vast majority of published authors never have direct contact with their sales rep or any of the buyers at the major chains.
Happy says
This was an interesting post and as a buyer for a successful independent bookstore it was a little sad as well. Do I need to wonder how often when publishers try and buy their way to strong sales they fail?
Hey Authors! Independent bookstores sell books too and they often times are able to make those books into bestsellers.
Want to know how we do it? By reading. Go figure. Sales reps call on us too and they show us flashy sales material, but we buy what we believe in and what we think our custoimers (who we spend a lot of time with) will like. When the titles come in we decide where they going to go in our stores. Yea us!
So write lots of good books and we'll sell them for you.
D. G. Hudson says
Interesting post, Eric. Your clarification of the sales process is appreciated.
In light of your experience in the sales arena, would you say that sales of books by new authors are declining any more than sales of books by established authors? I'm seeing a lot of well-known authors in the sales bins too.
annerallen says
So much important information here that most writers (and readers) don't have a clue about. Book sales have changed so much with the demise of the indie stores. The "comp" system explains why thousands of identical books get published while innovative, exciting stuff languishes.
A book rep. blog. Yes. You must do one. You've got a whole community out here who need you.
Thanks Nathan, wherever you are, for choosing Eric's great post!
Victoria Dixon says
And since I now see that there really was a Victoria Dixon AND a Victoria Mixon in this competition, I will post my blog address and encourage you all to drop in sometime this week anyway. I'm at https://ronempress.blogspot.com. The entry I sent was actually something I'd already blogged on. It's a Writing Quiz titled "Are You Getting Started As A Writer?". It's really pretty simple and I was surprised it might have won when I saw how good Eric's blog was today. I look forward to the rest of this week's entries and congratulations, Victoria!
Mira says
Victoria – I'm so sorry. That mix-up really sucks. But I am so impressed by your gracefulness. I will definitely check out your entry!
Anonymous says
Eric, I'd read your blog!
Layne says
Eric:
Bookscan doesn't track ALL booksales. Are sales from other avenues considered when determining how well a book has sold?
Miss Mabel says
As someone who's worked in a large format bookstore (in Canada) for 12 years, I'd just like to add:
– Believe it or not, booksellers in chain stores read too! 😉 We handsell our favourite titles like mad, make sure our faves are reordered in large quantities, and face them. I check on my "babies" regularly. So yes–it is possible to by-pass coop. When I saw Twilight first start to take off, it was being driven purely by word of mouth amongst booksellers. We also listen to customer recommendations, and promote those too.
– The entire book industry is filled with book lovers. If your agent LOVES your book, she'll champion it to editors; if an editor LOVES your book, she'll champion it to her company; and so on through the reps, the buyers, etc. Chances are the cooped books contain a lot of loved titles.
– Books faced in the section are rarely cooped in Canada, though it works out to the same thing since larger quantities are the ones to get faced first (and the larger buys are based on the system Eric has described.) But, speaking as a manager, I would never get mad at an author for facing her book! Heavens. I'd stick some "local author" stickers on it instead, and more power to her.
Blee Bonn says
Eric,
This is an awesome, awesome post. I think you have definitely created a following.
Thanks to Nathan for picking such a great one.
Elaine 'still writing' Smith says
Doesn't this new information make you want to find the book that is upside down and back to front on the bottom shelf just to see?!
Kia says
Hi Eric,
Thanks for a great post.
I have two questions I was hoping you/other readers may be able to help me with.
1. Is it a good idea to release a non-seasonal book in December? I'm not expecting it to get a lot of co-op for my psychological crime thriller (I'm being published by a small press) so I'm wondering if it will drown among the Christmas releases. I've been told by a literary editor friend that it's 50-50 as there are fewer books being released in December so the likelihood of getting press (over shelf space) is greater. Any advice/opinions would be helpful.
2. How far in advance should we revamp my website? This is obviously a more general question but any opinions would help. Say the book is being released in December, if we revamp my site now, complete with new author images, book jacket cover etc, will people lose interest by the time the reviews etc are solicitied (say October) or is it a good idea to start early? I'm planning a mini-revamp now and a big revamp in October.
Thanks,
Kia
Emily Cross says
Eric – really interesting post, well done!! and i would be very interesting in a blog which deals with this end of the publishing chain.
I was wondering in regards to promotion, for deput books etc. would suggest authors hire their own PR if the publisher isn't going to shelve out the money?