Book Industry Study Group

BISG on Links in the Chain

The Book Industry Study Group's Making Information Pay conference held yesterday drew more than 100 people looking for ways that they can make the publishing supply-chain more efficient. Some of the nuggets include:

Sourcebooks publisher Dominique Raccah said that she is "greatly concerned" that the publishing industry is "fundamentally devaluing the book" by allowing returns to pile up, thereby creating a thriving remainder market. She said that by shipping fewer books up front, but going back to press more often, Sourcebooks reduced returns by 25% in 2003.
Baker & Taylor's Jean Srnecz said lead times need to be sped up. Lead times that go beyond 15 days always results in higher returns, she said. Books sold by using print-on-demand methods makes POD titles one of B&T's top 50 vendors.
In some advice for children's publishers, Srnecz said picture books need to be reprinted more quickly--four weeks rather than the seven to eight weeks that is the usual practice. She urged children's publishers to use a standard trim size and the keep their backlists alive. Also, Baker & Taylor will launch a new service in April, Pub Alley, that will provide library sales data to publishers.
Jonathan Nowell, president of Nielsen Book, which includes Nielsen BookScan, said publishers should set "high return reduction targets" for themselves when using BookScan. He said return rates in the U.K. fell from 19% to 12% when Nielsen BookData was introduced there.

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