Publisher Focus Groups Offer 'Supreme Value'

Last week, booksellers and publishers met in New York City for the second in a series of focus groups organized by the American Booksellers Association on behalf of the participating publishers. The sessions enabled publishers to meet with a diverse array of ABA member booksellers to test new ideas and to garner feedback about existing programs.

"I thought the focus group meetings were just terrific -- a great opportunity to have closer contact with a variety of independent booksellers," Katya Shannon of Penguin Group said via e-mail. "We don't get to usually see face-to-face some of these booksellers, and this was just a fabulous forum and opportunity. The more intimate environment was very conducive to exchanging ideas and exploring ways to sell more books."

Publishers and others participating in the meetings, which were held from Tuesday, February 27, through Thursday, March 1, were Baker & Taylor, Grove/Atlantic, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Adult and Children's, Holtzbrinck Adult and Children's, Houghton Mifflin Adult and Children's, Hyperion; Penguin Group Adult and Children's, Publishers Weekly, Random House Adult and Children's, Simon & Schuster, Wiley, and Workman.

Booksellers attended six two-hour sessions, each with a different publisher. ABA's goal for the focus groups was to further develop relationships with a growing number of vendors, while providing a cost-effective means for publishers to hear directly from independent booksellers. On Tuesday evening, there was a Plenary FAQ session, and on Wednesday, an Author Dinner.

Wendy Sheanin of Simon & Schuster told BTW, "I think there is always value in speaking to people face-to-face -- so much these days is done over e-mail or ... on the telephone. But there is a supreme value to having that kind of dialogue."

Grove/Atlantic's Eric Price noted via e-mail, "Due to our size, we do not have that many opportunities to have business review meetings with our bookselling partners. Much of the interaction is between our distributor's rep, PGW, and the buyer; or the events coordinator and our publicity department. On our own we could not afford to hold such meetings."

Since the cost is amortized over numerous publishers and held in New York, Price explained, it allows Grove/Atlantic to include staff from other areas of the company, such as editors, who "rarely are a part of operational concerns or issues. This allows them to gain greater insight into the bookseller's decision making process -- empowering our staff with more knowledge, which ultimately makes them better at acquisitions and dealing with authors and their agents."

Authors participating in the Wednesday dinner were Neal Bascomb (Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin, Houghton); Jennifer Belle (Little Stalker, Penguin); Amy Bloom (Away: A Novel, Random House); Pauline Frommer (Frommer Travel Guides, Wiley); Francisco Goldman (The Art of Political Murder: Who Didn't Kill the Bishop?, Grove/Atlantic); Kristin Gore (Sammy's House, Hyperion); Laura Lippman (What the Dead Know, HarperCollins); Laura Moriarty (The Rest of Her Life, Hyperion); Patricia Schultz (1000 Places for See Before You Die; 1000 Places to See in the U.S. and Canada Before You Die, Workman); Robert Sharenow (My Mother the Cheerleader, HarperCollins); and Michael Tucker (Living in a Foreign Language, Grove/Atlantic).

This year, the focus group sessions were held at The Brooklyn Marriott, the site of Hotel ABA at this year's BookExpo America. Grove/Atlantic's Price noted, "It was very convenient ... with good facilities."

Penguin's Shannon said, "I loved the hotel -- very easy to get to via public transportation. Great meeting room space."

Questions about future focus groups should be addressed to Book Sense Marketing Director Mark Nichols at (914) 591-2665, ext. 6640, or at [email protected]. --David Grogan