Sourcebooks Unveils New Indie Bookstore Rebate Program

This week, Sourcebooks announced that it is changing its independent bookstore co‐op model to a rebate program, effective immediately.

“Sourcebooks saw extraordinary growth in 2019, and thanks to our incredible independent bookseller partners, our indie sales channel led the way with 56 percent growth last year,” said Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher. “Our mission that guides everything that we do is Books Change Lives, and that is a mission that indie booksellers live every single day. We know how busy they are and have developed our Books Change Lives Indie Co‐op Program to better serve them and allow them to receive more money on a quarterly basis.”

The new Books Change Lives Indie Co‐op Program gives bookstores the opportunity to receive a rebate on the total number of books ordered in the form of a quarterly credit to their account. The retail rebate is a percentage on net sales and will be based on sales from the previous year.

Booksellers will have to provide proof that their store supported a Sourcebooks title in one of several ways throughout the quarter—such as through an event, a newsletter review, or a social media post—and have a quick account review with a Sourcebooks employee or their sales representative. Previously, the Sourcebooks co‐op program assigned a dollar value to specific activities and the bookstore would have to create a new claim for each activity.

Sourcebooks shared the new program with several booksellers and received a strong response. “Leave it to Sourcebooks to lead the way for independent publishers moving to a more equitable, easy, and beneficial way to award co‐op!” said Becky Anderson of Anderson’s Bookshops in Naperville, Illinois. “How great is it for us to earn our dollars in quarterly credits and use them as we go throughout the year!”

Sourcebooks is planning more programmatic initiatives aimed at supporting indie booksellers throughout 2020.

“As an entrepreneurial publisher, Sourcebooks understands the opportunities and challenges associated with being an independent business,” said Valerie Pierce, director of retail marketing and creative services. “We are highly committed to finding new ways to help our indie bookstore partners create success, and after careful deliberation with our sales representatives and internal staff, we realized there was more we could do. The revamped program came out of a desire to continue to create success with our partners, and we’re excited about future opportunities to work together.”

Questions about the indie co‐op program can be directed to Margaret Coffee.