Distribution and Understanding the Markets
The number of distribution options is nearly unlimited. Most, but not all, of the key channels to the consumer have their own points of entry let by Amazon’s KDP and Barnes & Noble’s PubIt. With Amazon still by far the leading ebook retailer and Barnes & Noble getting the lion’s share of what’s left, there could be a temptation by some fledging publishers to skip other channels, but that could be a mistake. Different segments of the market have different channels providing the best access. How to reach the sales you want and how to do it efficiently is the core information being offered in this segment of the program.
How to think about publishing directly, or using vendors, intermediaries and new companies –who does what and who can get you everywhere you need to be
Presented by Michael Cader, Publishers Lunch and PublishersMarketplace.com
The number of ebook distribution options is nearly unlimited. Independent publishers and authors may take on the work of distributing titles themselves directly through key channels like Amazon’s KDP and Barnes & Noble’s PubIt!. Or they may instead choose to go through an ebook aggregator that offers to handle placing ebooks into a much wider range of distribution channels. In this presentation, Michael Cader outlines the options available and the value proposition for each approach.
Understanding distribution deals and sales models
Presented by Eric Kettunen, Constellation/VP of Marketing, Publishers Group West
Some ebook deals are more complicated than they seem. A distributor’s payment to a publisher is a percentage of what is received from the channel partner, but then it is important to understand the underlying deal; there is no guarantee that all distributors get the same deal. In some cases it is possible for a new ebook publisher to do some channels directly and pay the distributor percentage only on the others. The nuances of these deals will be informed by the vast experience of Constellation, one of the most experienced digital distributors in this very new field.
Michael Cader
Publishers Lunch and PublishersMarketplace.com
Michael Cader is the creator of Publishers Lunch, the largest-circulation book publishing industry publication in the world, and its companion website PublishersMarketplace.com, which offers comprehensive news, databases, tools and more for book publishing professionals. For 15 years he created and produced over 300 books through his book packaging company, Cader Books.
Eric Kettunen
Constellation/VP of Marketing, Publishers Group West
Since 2004 Eric Kettunen has worked at Berkeley-based Publishers Group West, the leading book sales and distribution company and a division of the Perseus Books Group. When Perseus launched Constellation Digital Services in 2007 Kettunen was responsible for rolling out the new ebook, print-on-demand, short-print-run and other services to PGW client publishers and has managed subsequent ‘waves’ of new vendors and services since then.
