Book Summit Focuses on Distribution

Publishers, wholesalers, marketers, and other bookselling industry professionals gathered at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on Thursday, September 22, to discuss the state of the book world.

Book Summit 2005, sponsored by The Book Standard and Nielsen BookScan, explored book trends, emerging technologies, the development of book readership, and retail channels during four panel discussions.

"Distribution" was the word of the day, as panelists, including Peter Osnos (founder and editor-at-large, Perseus), J. Kirby Best (president and CEO, Lightning Source), Martin Manley (president and CEO, Alibris), David Steinberger (CEO, Perseus), and ABA President Mitchell Kaplan (Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida) discussed the current means of delivery to consumers of 1.2 million ISBNs tracked yearly, according to BookScan.

The tone of the day was set in the first panel discussion, "The State of the Book Industry: 2005 by the Numbers," when publishing industry researcher Albert Greco, representing the Book Industry Study Group, stated that only religious and ELHI book sales were up in 2004, with the industry as a whole "off by seven percent." He continued, "If this trend continues, with output up, used books sales up, and exports and sales down, there will be a real shakeout in the publishing industry." Panel mate Joseph Berkery of Berkery, Noyes & Co. agreed and added, "Publishers aren't engaged enough in technology, and need to find new ways to distribute the 90 percent of books that aren't represented in the majority of sales." Osnos referred to a new project that he is developing to attract new readers to serious nonfiction, one in which new technology is the key to distribution, generating revenue, and bigger sales.

Talk of technology continued in the conversation among executives from Lightning Source, iUniverse, and Google Print in "The Big Debate: New Technologies Invade the Book World," and in the third panel, "Reclaiming Readership," Phil Ollila (vice president, Ingram Publishing) and others emphasized that publishers should concentrate on alternative "focused" outlets, such as museum stores. "The day of the traditional marketing plan is dead," said Perseus CEO David Steinberger, who added that "publishers need to develop a targeted approach, book by book, whether by podcasts, viral marketing, or cross-marketing opportunities."

The last session of the day, "The Retail Channel Panel," was introduced by Shelf Awareness' John Mutter, who noted that it offered a "much-needed reality check." Books & Books' Kaplan, one of the session's panelists, reminded attendees about the old-fashioned art and value of traditional bookselling. "Publishers, " Kaplan said, "need to reinvigorate their partnership with booksellers. Every time they go around the booksellers, the bond is broken. The issue is the guide ... who guides the process for the consumer."

After detailing the myriad and many special events his stores present monthly, Kaplan implored publishers to continue to collaborate with independent booksellers, as the best source of local information and publicity. "Independent bookstores as the great, good, third place are the norm," Kaplan said in reply to the question, why do we need independent bookstores? Judging by the ovation following Kaplan's answer, most in the audience agreed.

The Book Summit evening ended with The Bestseller Awards 2005. A list of the winners can be found on the Book Standard website. -- Meg Smith