Distribution models, old ways and new, with guest Richard T. Wiliams

Topics include:

• What is a distributor?

• What is the current distribution landscape and how has it evolved?


• The increasing importance of print on demand (POD)


• The Amazon effect: changing the rules; more sales but less service to the publisher


• Can a small publisher get into IPG? Does it need to? Is there demand? Is the book discoverable? Does it look right? Is it “shelfworthy”?


• Books are evaluated on market, not on how good your pitch is. Passing the first evaluation hurdle: quality, cover, testimonials, promotion plans, having a platform and following


• The biggest changes coming in the future: How people consume books, digital readership, bifurcation of the market (traditional vs new digestion models)


• How retail booksellers are serving an older demographic while newer delivery models are serving a younger generation of readers: you need to take both into account.


• The publishing “season”: on the way out or here to stay? Do drop-in titles ever make sense?

Check out the IPG website at https://ipgbook.com/

For measuring your book against industry standards, use the IBPA checklist: https://www.ibpa-online.org/general/custom.asp?page=standardschecklist

Participants

Richard T. Williams is the Vice President, Publisher Development, at IPG, where he reviews publisher submissions, pursues new publisher business, and manages a team of experts to help existing clients plan and develop their lists. He is a former sales rep at IPG and was the director of IPG’s Small Press United program from its inception in 2009. Also a former operations manager at an independent publisher, Richard is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of publishers in today’s industry and utilizes his knowledge and experience to help expand IPG’s suite of services to fit such needs.

Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.