By Michael Cader (Publishers Lunch) -- If you go to the BISG's web site, you can download the PowerPoint presentations from all five of yesterday's conference speakers, which we highly recommend. You need to scroll down to where the speakers' names are listed, and click on "view presentation" under each individual to execute the downloads.

Among the items you can find, which we didn't get to mentioning yesterday, is Baker & Taylor svp of merchandising Jean Srnecz's list of Top 10 Data Errors:

1. Missing BISAC codes
2. Use of BISAC code "general"--and no others
3. Missed/dropped titles
4. Children's titles with "For all ages" (to which she added, "That's ridiculous; make a decision.")
5. Inconsistency in author name
6. Missing required information
7. Delusional comparison titles ("I'm sick of hearing this is going to sell like THE DA VINCI CODE")
8. Failure to use audit reports
9. Lateness: submission of data
10. Changes to data and as a bonus, "Garbage in..."

As Wiley's Dean Karrel said yesterday, "Any sales rep worth their salt would want to talk about data and information flow. Three of our biggest partners have said, hey this is something you should fix...." Fixing these errors, training and retraining (and valuing) the staff that actually enters your data, and giving big customers the clarity of data they seek should be "chapter one in sales and marketing."

Copyright © 2005 Publishers Lunch

Subscribe to Publishers Lunch at http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/register.shtml