April 2006 Southwest Signature
In this issue
Publishing in a World of E(3)
I haven’t heard from many members regarding the new electronic format of Southwest Signature, but I did receive one comment. “Why are book publishers switching to an electronic format—aren’t books, i.e., tangible paper products, what we do?”
I’m glad you asked. Yes, traditionally book publishers publish books made from paper. Many ABPA members continue to do so, and I’m sure they will for the foreseeable future. Books will be around a long time. Haven’t we all had this discussion before? Readers like to take a book to the beach, people argue. True, but how many times a year do you get to go to the beach?
We live in a new millennium, and this is the age of E(3)—Electronic Everything Everywhere. Digital tunes, digital television, digital radio and digital books are here. Publishers who plan to grow their businesses understand that, today, content is king, and consumers are interested in WHAT they get and how FAST they get it; they care less about in what format they get it.
The publishers who’ll thrive in this new age are the ones who look for new ways to distribute information: blogs, downloadable files, podcasts, ebooks, flash movies, print on demand and more. E(3).
ABPA is here to help you learn about the options in your publishing future. At least two programs this year will focus on alternative publishing methods to the traditional book format. The first is April 27 when Stephanie Frank will present “It’s Not Just A Book—It’s a Business! Secrets to Building Multiple Streams of Income For You and Your Authors From a Single Book.” Stephanie made her first million by the age of 22, so I’m very interested in what she has to say about using the content you already have. I hope you’ll join me there.
You can register by clicking this link.
http://azbookpub.com/category/meetings-and-events/
Hey, you can’t do that in a paper newsletter.
Gwen A. Henson
Executive Director
Wolfe Bullish On Publishing Success
by Michael Wentz
After such a dynamic and informative presentation last year, I know that we were all pleased to welcome the return of author/publisher Rich Wolfe at our March ABPA lunch meeting. Mr. Wolfe has a wealth of experience in the small publishing community, and shared his knowledge with a biting sense of humor all wrapped up in the eternal optimism he has about the boundless opportunities for success in the business of independent publishing.
Hailing from the fields of Iowa, Rich Wolfe worked as a sports marketing consultant before publishing his first book in 1997. His experience with his publisher was less than positive, and after two more bad experiences with yet two other publishers on his subsequent works, Mr. Wolfe decided in 2000 to try his hand at self-publishing. Combining resources with two investors, Mr. Wolfe published Kurt Warner: And the Last Shall Be First. Rich Wolfe’s marketing savvy drove the initial printing from 3,000 to over 77,000 copies by selling not to bookstores, but to a very non-traditional outlet—supermarkets. The book was a big seller at markets throughout Missouri and Iowa.
As of mid-2006, Rich Wolfe will have self-published 18 titles, most of which he has sold in non-traditional markets including such diverse locales as pizza parlors, drug stores, supermarkets, and big-box wholesale clubs like Sam’s and Costco. In fact, only 5% of his overall sales have come from bookstores. Rich Wolfe emphatically stated, “Bookstores are the worst place to sell books.” John Kremer made the same assertion to us ABPA members just a few short months ago.
Mr. Wolfe was emphatic about pressing upon us the simple fact that in order to be successful, we must look outside the bookstore. He gave another radical example with respect to his book For Browns Fans Only. Rich Wolfe partnered with the United Way in Cleveland to give the e-book away for free on the United Way’s website. In addition, for each sale of the physical book, six dollars was earmarked for donation back to the United Way. This unorthodox approach not only sold thousands of copies of For Browns Fans Only, but also helped out a worthy cause. Giving the electronic version of the book away actually drove up sales of the hardcover edition.
Yet, as we all know, independent publishers have a need to work with bookstores to reach many parts of our market. For this, Mr. Wolfe recommended focusing on the independent bookstores as being the best partners for people like us, noting that the big chains just don’t employ “business people.”
There was a lot of excitement around Rich Wolfe’s experiences with selling books at both Sam’s and Costco. Mr. Wolfe informed us that breaking into the market was difficult, but not impossible. He broke in by approaching store managers directly and handing each a copy of Good Knight/Knightmares: The Bright and Dark Sides of Bob Knight. After following up a few weeks later and learning of their love for the book, Mr. Wolfe requested that these managers call the home office and request that Sam’s offer it to their customers. Sure enough, the orders came through, and now Sam’s and Costco continue to be major purchasers of his titles. On average, a big-box wholesale store will sell around 120,000 copies.
Mr. Wolfe asked us, “Who is your customer, and how do you trigger a sale?” For Rich Wolfe, knowledge of both the purchasers and readers of his books has been critical to his success. Early in his publishing career Mr. Wolfe did some reconnaissance in the sports section of a Barnes & Noble. He watched as customers perused the shelves and selected titles for purchase. He would then ask them questions about why they chose a particular book or for whom the purchase was intended. He learned that most of the buyers of sports books were women who purchased them for the men in their lives. This had a significant impact on the designs for his books.
Along with focusing on carefully selecting the titles Rich Wolfe’s methodical approach has created a strong desire for his books among readers, because for him, they have the ultimate say.
As per his last visit, all in attendance had a strong sense of the type of “out of the box” thinking it takes to successfully market a book with the result of strong sales. Mr. Wolfe exemplified the maverick innovation that we must all apply to our books, ensuring that we are able to get them in front of as many customers as do the large mega-publishers; for as he said, “If you’re not for sale, you can’t be bought.” With that type of thinking, Circle K may appear to be a more lucrative outlet than we may have once thought.
Michael L. Wentz is an author/publisher and founder of Novalibre Publishing, LLC. His debut novel Resurrection of Liberty has been nominated for several awards, including the 2006 Prometheus Award for Best Novel. Visit his website at www.MichaelLWentz.com.
April 27—It’s Not Just a Book—It’s a Business! Secrets to Building Multiple Streams of Income for You and Your Authors from a Single Book
Stephanie Frank, The Accidental Millionaire
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Please note our new location!
Spaghetti Factory
1418 N. Central Ave., Phoenix (on Central south of McDowell)
Please note this change of location!
Program (includes dinner) 5:30 p.m.— 8:00 p.m.
Early registration (by 4/20): $25 members $35 non-members
Late registration: $35 members $45 non-members
Advance payment is required for registration; no refunds after the early registration deadline.
Your author writes a book, you publish it and go on to the next project. WAIT! You are leaving money on the table–lots of it. In this informative and lively session, Stephanie Frank, author of The Accidental Millionaire, will reveal how you can turn a book into multiple titles and extra sources of revenue quickly and easily. You will learn the strategies to help your authors create an information empire from their content, sell tons more titles and put tens of thousands of extra money in your pocket.
Stephanie will show you:
Stephanie Frank is a professional business communication specialist. She works with business leaders around the world who want to build great teams, share their message, ignite their passion and produce massive profits. She has been seen and heard on NBC Radio, Entrepreneur Radio, Fox & Friends News and Neil Cavuto on Business sharing her message of accelerated success.
Prepayment is required for registration. By 4/20, please RSVP to the ABPA hotline (602) 274-6264 or info@azbookpub.com or register at http://azbookpub.com/category/meetings-and-events/
For speedy check-in, pay in advance by credit card (Visa/ MC) or check—mail to the ABPA address. Arizona Book Publishing Association, 6340 S. Rural Road #118-152, Tempe, AZ 85283
ABPA Annual Meeting and Elections
April 27, the date of our regular monthly meeting, is also the annual meeting of the Arizona Book Publishing Association. At that time, members will vote on the new board of directors, who will take office in May. ABPA members should have received their ballots by mail. If you cannot join us at the April meeting, please promptly return your marked ballot to ABPA.
The candidates for your 2006-2007 board of directors are:
Bill Fessler, Primer Publishers
Bob Albano, Arizona Highways Books
Mike Bercaw, Archangel Press
Mike Cox, Sr., M & J Southwest
Pam Swartz, Cloud Nine Press
Robert Rosenwald, Poisoned Pen Press
Sam Henrie, BookPublisher.com
Sharon Tully, Book Producer
Sherry Randell, Golden West Publishers
Susan Hughes, McFadden & Associates
Tobias Lofstrand, ArTemenos Publishing
Thank you to these ABPA members who have agreed to help steer the organization’s path in the coming year.
Sun shines on publishers at Arizona Book Festival
ABPA publishers displayed their books in a cooperative exhibit at the April 1 Arizona Book Festival at the historical Carnegie Library in downtown Phoenix. The weather was perfect, bright and sunny with no sign of showers. Bibliophiles of all ages attended the book event browsing for new titles, meeting authors, enjoying the stage presentations and buying books.
Aimazing Publishing, bookadisc, Confident Faith Institute, Cowboy Miner Productions, Desert Sage Publishing, Educational Services and Publications, Golden West Publishers, Molly Moon Arts & Publishing, Muslim Writers Publishing, Novalibre Publishing, Poisoned Pen Press, Primer Publishers, The Discovery Box, Verde Press, and Vishnu Temple Press prettily decorated their tables to attract attention to their titles.
Arizona Humanities Council was the event organizer in partnership with Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records and Maricopa County Library District with major support from SRP. Local and nationally recognized authors at the Festival included: Mark Spragg (OneBookAZ author), Rick Moody, Jodi Picoult, Polly Horvath (OneBookAZ author), Cynthia Kadohata, and many ABPA authors.
Publishing University focuses on smarter, more profitable publishing
The largest education event for independent book publishers and their staff, PMA’s Publishing University, May 16-18, at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, offers informative sessions on every aspect of publishing. Attendees will meet publishers from throughout the U.S. and Canada and spend three days learning how to work smarter and more profitably in the coming years.
Taught by working professionals, the PMA University courses are structured to provide each attendee with relevant, hands-on information that is critical for the independent publisher. This year’s theme, Your Best Year Yet! Working Smarter and More Profitably in 2006 will be the consistent thread in each session you attend, whether it’s marketing, editorial, internet or business and financial. For a registration brochure, visit http://www.pma-online.org/pmau2006/2.cfm
Bette Dowdell, Confident Faith Institute, is the recipient of PMA’s Pub U scholarship for an Arizona publisher. She will be reporting on the highlights of the event at the June ABPA meeting.
ABPA Members Finalists in Benjamin Franklin Awards
On Wednesday night, May 17, the Benjamin Franklin Award winners will be announced at a festive reception hosted by PMA. Two Poisoned Pen Press books are finalists in the Mystery/Suspense category: The Old Buzzard Had It Coming and Ruddy Gore. In the Gay/Lesbian category, Elements of Recovery, from Behler Publications, is a finalist. For Interior Design—3 or More Color (Adult), Life in Stone, from the Grand Canyon Association is a finalist. In the prestigious category Best New Voice Nonfiction (first book by a new author) John J. Rhodes: Man of the House, from Primer Publishers, is a finalist. Good luck to these ABPA members!
Why I’ll Be at BookExpo America in Washington D.C.
from our Northern Arizona Correspondent, Helen Thompson
As you know, I moved to the Grand Canyon to work for the Grand Canyon Association (GCA) a little more than six months ago. GCA is a small non-profit association, which has a mission with meaning: “to cultivate knowledge, discovery, and stewardship for the benefit of Grand Canyon National Park and its visitors.” So, most would ask, why I would want to attend BookExpo America in Washington D.C. when it doesn’t fit in with my mission? I would respectfully disagree…most of our publications will sell here at the park—pretty nice when we have seven retail outlets, don’t you think? But as a former bookseller for more than 20 years, I understand the value of making our publications available to the general public by getting them into libraries and bookstores. No, we won’t make a ton of money this way but we will help fulfill our mission of cultivating knowledge and discovery for those that will never come see this magnificent place I now call home.
So, I’ll go. I won’t have a booth, but I will work the show and talk to the various distributors, booksellers and publishers. I’ll set a goal of getting the word out about GCA, finding out how the other regional publishers are doing with their books in Borders and Barnes & Noble. Yes, I’ve done this before for other companies, but its fun to start it up again!
Oh, did I say I’ll see the friends I’ve made over the years? Friends I can call anytime with questions or ask for assistance when trying like heck to get our books placed properly.
I probably won’t exhibit at the 2007 show either, but you’ll see me walking up and down the aisles again…networking, networking, and networking.
Helen Thompson is the director of public relations and marketing for the Grand Canyon Association. Reach her at hthompson@grandcanyon.org. Or visit http://www.grandcanyon.org
Southern Arizona Chapter
by Robert Casler, Correspondent for the Southern Arizona Chapter
The Southern Arizona Chapter Monthly Meeting was April 20 at The Blue Willow in Tucson. The Southern Arizona Chapter of ABPA will be holding monthly meetings in 2006 on the third Thursday of each month from 5:30 to 7:00. If you’re from the Tucson area, please join us to network with other publishers and talk about the business of publishing.
Robert Casler is Publications Coordinator, Educational Communications and Technologies, College of Agriculture, University of Arizona. Reach him at rcasler@ag.arizona.edu.
New ABPA Members
Please welcome these new ABPA members:
Molly Moon Arts & Publishing
Rosemary and John Shearer / 480-946-3658
mollymoonarts@hotmail.com
http://www.flutejourneyworkshops.com
The RGU Group
Laura Bofinger and Todd Atkins / 480-736-9862
lbofinger@thergugroup.com
http://www.thergugroup.com
Behler Publications
Lynn and Fred Price / 949-716-3702
info@behlerpublications.com
http://www.behlerpublications.com
Unlimited Love
Jo Ann Hill / 602-971-5906
Deborah Hilcove and Patricia Bezunartea
480-994-1053
DLHilcove@aol.com
IE Publishing Co
Art Consoli and Janet Jacobsen / 480-949-7125
aconsoli@cox.net
http://www.artconsoli.com
Verde Press
Elaine Mays / 602-870-7573
emays@mindspring.com
http://www.presidentswife.com
LifeGuides Press
Dee Dees / 480-963-1221
deedees44@hotmail.com
http://www.mylifenotes.com
Future ABPA Meetings
May 31 5:30 p.m.
Printing Panel—Current Trends, Options and Issues in both Traditional and POD Printing. Lisa Liddy, The Printed Page will discuss design issues to be considered before printing. Other panelists to be confirmed.
June 28 11:30 a.m.
The Best of Publishing University including current trends, what’s hot and more, Bette Dowdell, Confident Faith Institute
July—No program
August 30 11:30 a.m.
Field trip to printer Courier Graphics
September 28 5:30 p.m.
Publicity, speaker to be confirmed
October 30 5:30 p.m.
Website Optimization; Kathy Heasley founder of IMS Breakthrough, will discuss how publishers and authors can use their website, with the latest technologies to promote and build their brand and increase sales; blogs, podcasting, video casting, etc.; http://www.imsbreakthrough.com
December 9—Holiday Event
Members in the Spotlight
Poisoned Pen Press book to hit the big screen
From the front page of Variety Magazine:
“Universal is getting in gear for Drive, optioning James Sallis’s novel about a Hollywood stunt driver as a starring vehicle for Hugh Jackman… Sallis’s noir-style story, set in the seamy underside of Southern California and Arizona, centers on a stuntman who moonlights as a wheelman during robberies and discovers that a contract has been put out on him.” Poisoned Pen Press published the novella Drive, which was expanded from a short story in the anthology Measures Of Poison, last September.
Janet Perlman earns Hines Award
The American Society of indexers (ASI) announced that the winner of the Theodore C. Hines Award for 2006, its highest honor, is Janet Perlman, Southwest Indexing. A member of ABPA, Janet has been an active member of ASI and co-founded the Arizona chapter of ASI. Janet will receive the award June 16 at ASI’s annual conference in Toronto. Congratulations, Janet!
Arizona Publishers are Foreword Book of the Year Finalists
Foreword Magazine has announced the finalists for its 2005 Book of the Year Awards.
Winners for Gold, Silver and Bronze will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America at the Washington Convention Center in Washington DC Friday, May 19th, 2006. A complete list appears at http://www.forewordmagazine.com/botya/
Congratulations to these Arizona publishers who are finalists!
COOKING
Seasonal Southwest Cooking: Contemporary Recipes & Menus for Every Occasion
Barbara Pool Fenzl / Northland Publishing
FICTION-GENERAL
Snake Walkers
J. Everett Prewitt / Northland Publishing Company
HEALTH
The Food Is A Lie: The Truth Is Within: A Spiritual Solution to Weight Loss and Balanced Health
Bronwyn Marmo / Triple B Publishing
MYSTERY
Medley of Murder: 15 Tales of Mystery and Suspense
Susan Budavari & Suzanne Flaig, editors / Red Coyote Press
Cold Burn
Kit Ehrman / Poisoned Pen Press
PARENTING
Hey! Who’s Having This Baby Anyway?: How to take charge and create a safe environment for your baby’s birth
Breck Hawk / Metropolis Ink
PSYCHOLOGY
Misdiagnosis And Dual Diagnoses Of Gifted Children And Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, Depression, And Other Disorders
James T. Webb / Great Potential Press
SELF HELP
The Food Is A Lie: The Truth Is Within: A Spiritual Solution to Weight Loss and Balanced Health
Bronwyn Marmo / Triple B Publishing
About This Newsletter
Email your Southwest Signature announcements to editor Michael Wentz at mike@novalibrepublishing.com
To view back issues of the newsletter, click on Newsletters in the menu at the right.
