Arizona Book Publishing Association

This month’s edition includes:

• President’s Message: One Book Sold is a Miracle. One Million Books Sold is a Statistic
• Two Incredible Meetings in March!
• AZ Book News: Tell Arizona Librarians about your newest books!
• New ABPA website features provide members marketing opportunity
• National Small Press Month, March 2007
• Pam Waterman wins PMA Publishing University Scholarship
• Karen Gray is ABPA’s new Chair of Trade Show / Exhibits Committee
• Arizona Book Festival coming this spring
• Holiday Party followup
• Thank You, ABPA / Charlene Costanzo
• Membership Drive winner nets resort stay
• ABPA New Members
• Singing Wind Bookshop owner earns Lawrence Clark Powell Lifetime Achievement Award
• Conferences for Writers and Publishers
• ABPA Member Spotlight: Member chosen for One Book AZ

President’s Message

One Book Sold is a Miracle. One Million Books Sold is a Statistic.

Last fall, I had the pleasure of teaching at ABPA’s Professional Publishing Course. The subjects ranged from the basics of the publishing industry to book sales and distribution. While preparing my presentations I had to track down a number of statistics on the publishing industry. Many are so revelatory that I want to share them with the entire ABPA membership. Hopefully, these statistics will help you understand your industry and your customers a little better and consequently help you make better business decisions.

From ad firm Spier New York via Publishers Weekly:
Of book buyers who purchased a book within the last year
- 68% purchased at least one at a brick-and-mortar bookstore
- 43% purchased at least one at a department or discount store
- 23% purchased at least one online1

“23% purchased at least one book online” is a stunning statistic, given that online book sales were negligible 10 years ago. In the not too distant future most books will be sold online. Prescient publishers will design and implement marketing strategies that focus on online buyers now.

From Association of American Publishers (AAP):
- $25.1 billion is the estimated net sales for the United States publishing industry in 2005
- This is a 9.9 % increase from 2004

Sales rose (or fell) at the following compound annual growth rates from 2002 to 2005:
- Religious books: 14.2% to $876 million in 2005
- Trade: 9.1% to $7.83 billion
- Juvenile hardbound: 19.6%
- Elementary and high school: 4.3% to $6.6 billion
- Higher education: 3.6% to $3.4 billion
- Professional and scholarly books: 1.5% to $3.3 billion
- Mass Market paperbacks: -3.5 % to $1.08 billion
- Book clubs and mail order publications: -8.2% to $1.5 billion2

Publishing is a tough business, but the approximately 10% annual growth rate means that there is still room for your publishing enterprise to grow, especially if you are in a strong category like juvenile fiction or religious books.

From R.R. Bowker:
- 172,000 new titles and editions in English were released in the U.S. in 2005 (a decrease of more than 18,000 from 2004)
- 206,000 new titles and editions in English were released in the U.K. in 2005 (making the U.K., for the first time in recent history, the publisher of the most new books in English)

Number of titles published in 2005 versus 2004:
- 15% decrease for medium-to-large publishers
- 10% decrease for small-to-medium publishers
- 7% decrease for smallest publishers
- 4.7% decrease for largest general trade houses
- 1.8% increase for university presses

In 2005, the average suggested retail prices of titles released by the largest general trade houses were: - Adult hardcovers: $27.55
- Adult fiction hardcovers: $25.01
- Adult non-fiction hardcovers: $28.52
- Adult trade paperbacks: $15.77
- Adult fiction trade paperbacks: $14.76
- Adult non-fiction trade paperbacks: $16.26
- Adult mass-market paperbacks: $7.42
- Juvenile hardcovers: $16.083

Bowker shows fewer titles being published, while AAP shows overall revenue increasing. That means book prices must be going up.

From Shop.org and Forrester Research via E-Commerce Times:
- 20% of all book sales will take place online in 2005.4

Again, market to those online buyers!

From IndyStar.com / The Indianapolis Times:
- 4,200 independent new-book stores in the U.S.(estimated)
- 6,100 independent used-book stores in the U.S. (estimated) 5

Still a substantial market in spite of the chains.

From International Digital Publishing Forum:

• “Publishers reported 1,692,964 eBook units sold and $11,875,783 in revenues for 2005.” 6

If you combine this statistic with data from Bowker3, you get 1 ebook sold for every 2,000 printed books sold, and $1 in revenue from ebooks for every $3,000 in revenue from printed books. The ebook market is still a very, very small market.

Use these statistics with care. It’s a good idea to confirm any statistic through a second source, and to thoroughly understand the data from which the statistic was derived, before using it to make business decisions. As Mark Twain said “Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable.”

1. Milliot, Jim. 2006. Foreword: Bookstores Remain Top Destination for Readers. Publishers Weekly. 6 November. 3.
2. Association of American Publishers, Inc. 2006. http://www.publishers.org. 6 March. http://www.publishers.org/press/releases.cfm?PressReleaseArticleID=317
3. R.R. Bowker LLC. 2006. http://www.bowker.com. 9 May. http://www.bowker.com/press/bowker/2006_0509_bowker.htm
4. Regan, Keith. 2005. Report: Online Sales To Grow 22 Percent this Year. E-Commerce Times. 24 May. http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/43319.html
5. Bora, Mashusmita. 2005. Turning a Page, Finding a Niche. IndyStar.com / The Indianapolis Times. 17 August.
6. International Digital Publishing Forum. 2006. http://www.idpf.org. 18 April. http://www.idpf.org/doc_library/statistics/2005.htm

Sam Henrie is president and founder of Wheatmark http://www.wheatmark.com, a self-publishing service focused on helping authors maximize their book sales. A frequent speaker on the subjects of special market sales and self-publishing, Sam’s expertise includes new directions in production, distribution, publicity, and marketing in the world of book publishing. Sam is president of the Arizona Book Publishing Association. Sam can be contacted at Wheatmark, 610 E. Delano St. Ste. 104, Tucson, AZ 85705-5210; phone: 520-798-0888 x105; fax: 520-798-3394; email: shenrie@wheatmark.com.

---

Two Incredible Meetings in March!

Publishing Crossroads: Where the Future of Publishing is Taking You

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Featured Guest Speaker: Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks

Please note our meeting location!
NSA International Conference Center
1500 S. Priest Dr. (just north of Broadway Rd.)
Tempe, AZ 85281
For the the exact location, visit http://www.mapquest.com

Program (includes dinner) 5:30 p.m.— 8:00 p.m.
Early Registration (by Feb. 26): $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.

Publishing Crossroads: Where the Future of Publishing is Taking You

Dominique Raccah has been called “the most innovative leader in independent publishing.” Hear how, with an idea and $17,000, she created the fastest growing and most successful independent publishing company. Learn about the challenges today’s publisher faces and how you can prepare for the future of independent publishing.

Dominique Raccah has been leading Sourcebooks, one of the nation’s most innovative independent book publishers, since she founded the company out of a spare bedroom in 1987. Born in Paris, France, her time at the University of Illinois led to a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in quantitative psychology. Dominique was in the midst of a flourishing career in advertising with the Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago when her lifetime love of books proved too strong a calling and she left to pursue publishing.

Dominique began Sourcebooks, then a specialty house serving the financial services industry, with money borrowed against her own retirement fund. The coming years would bring successful books across the nonfiction spectrum, as well as bestsellers in fiction, a line of groundbreaking multimedia titles (Sourcebooks MediaFusion), and number one titles in parenting and college guides. She also acts as the series editor for poetry (including Poetry Speaks and Poetry Speaks to Children) and the Sourcebooks Shakespeare series.

Now, nearly twenty years later, Dominique and all of Sourcebooks celebrate their success with eight New York Times bestsellers, a brand new children’s imprint, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, and an ever-expanding roster of business relationships (including recently announced agreements with Playskool and U.S. News and World Report). She is proud to be not only a leading publisher of poetry, a personal passion, but also the largest woman-owned trade book publisher in the country. In the past few years, Dominique has received The Blue Chip Enterprise Award, was inducted into the University of Illinois Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame and was recognized as the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

Sourcebooks has 67 employees, publishes over 200 new titles each year and is based in Naperville, Illinois, where Dominique makes her home with her husband, Ray.

Voice of Experience At 5:45, Rich Hamilton, our webmaster and publisher of the Disney Magic books, shows you how to use new features at ABPA’s website to boost publicity for your company.

Join us for this powerful program! Register today.

March 29
Marcella Smith, Director Small Press & Vendor Relations
Barnes & Noble Inc., New York City, NY
From Barnes & Noble’s small press buyer, learn how to grab the attention of bookstores and get into large chain booksellers.

Prepayment is required for registration.
Please register at http://www.azbookpub.com
RSVP to the ABPA hotline (602) 274-6264 or
email info@azbookpub.com.

---

AZ Book News: Tell Arizona Librarians about your newest books!

Submit your new titles for AZ Book News, a brand new service provided to librarians by the Arizona Book Publishing Association. We’ll send the information you submit on your newest published books to librarians in Arizona.

Local authors and Arizona-related topics have special interest for local library patrons, but they can be difficult for librarians to find quickly. Now we’ll send the information right to their desk in an easy-to-peruse format that helps them to quickly find out about these new books.

You must be a member of ABPA in order for your New Title to be published in AZ Book News. To join ABPA, go to http://azbookpub.com/become-a-member/. For more information about AZ Book News, contact your executive director, Gwen Henson, at info@azbookpub.com or (602) 274-6264.

New ABPA website features provide members marketing opportunity

Arizona Book Publishing Association is pleased to announce a new member benefit… the ability to update your member directory profile online. Simply log on and you can include your own marketing copy in your listing, including a list of your published titles.

Rich Hamilton, also known as the guy with the Disney books, is our webmaster. He created a page on the ABPA website for the promotion of each member. It’s part of a strategy to help you promote your business.

If you haven’t updated your page yet, be sure to do so. We plan to promote the listings on the website; in order to look your best, you’ll want to be sure yours is up to date. You should have received your login ID and password via email.

Learn about it here: http://azbookpub.com/help-promote/ If you have any questions, contact Gwen at Gwen@AZBookPub.com.

Rich Hamilton has been working hard to find good resources for domain registration, web hosting and credit card processing. If you need any of these services, contact Rich at: rich@richhamilton.com or look at http://RichsList.com

National Small Press Month, March 2007

Small Press Month, now in its 11th year, is a nationwide promotion highlighting the valuable work produced by independent publishers. An annual celebration of the independent spirit of small publishers, Small Press Month is an effort to showcase the diverse, unique, and often most significant voices being published today.

This year’s slogan is Celebrate Great Writing. Author Alice Walker, recently published by the independent publisher The New Press, is the face of this year’s Small Press Month poster. Her statement, “As water to flowers, independent publishing to democracy,” which is quoted on this year’s SPM poster, underlines the importance of independent publishing.

For details, visit http://www.smallpressmonth.org/

Pam Waterman wins PMA Publishing University Scholarship

Congratulations to Pam Waterman of the Discovery Box. She was selected to receive the 2007 PMA Scholarship for Publishing University May 29-31 in New York City. All of the applications for the scholarship were excellent, so it was a tough decision.

ABPA president Sam Henrie recommends to all members, “If it is within your budget, I would encourage you to attend PMA-Pub U. I’ve been twice now and found the experience well worth it.” To register for “Stretching Your Publishing Boundaries with Passion, Planning and Profitability!” visit http://www.pma-online.org/pmau2007/1.cfm

Karen Gray is ABPA’s new Chair of Trade Show / Exhibits Committee

Acacia Publishing, Inc. is a rapidly growing publishing company in the Valley with approximately 30 titles. Karen Gray says of her business and of her appointment to chair the committee: “Work has really taken off for us this year. Since I believe in giving back and sharing good fortune, I would be happy to do whatever I can to help other ABPA members succeed.”

The board of directors was impressed with Karen’s suggestions for improving our participation in the Arizona Library Association’s Annual Conference (AzLA). Sam Henrie reports, “I strongly believe Karen will make an excellent chair for the Trade Show / Exhibits Committee. She’s agreed to take on the responsibilities, and is very enthusiastic about the prospects for the committee.”

To work with Karen on this committee, reach Karen Gray at kgray@acaciapublishing.com.

Arizona Book Festival coming this spring

The Arizona Book Festival is Saturday, April 14, 2007, at Carnegie Center in Phoenix. If you want to participate, consider sharing a booth with another ABPA member. (Note: unlike previous years, ABPA will not be sub-leasing booth space). For more information, including a registration form you can download, visit http://www.azbookfestival.org.

Holiday Party followup

More than 100 partygoers attended the Holiday Party in December at Grilled Expeditions in Tempe. Thanks to everyone who donated items for the raffle, which raised a total of $500. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Motheread Arizona.

Thank You, ABPA

By Charlene Costanzo

Almost 10 years have passed but I can still vividly recall my first ABPA luncheon.

I had finally committed to act upon my dream of someday self-publishing my inspirational fable, The Twelve Gifts of Birth. Upon arriving, knowing no one, I shyly slipped into a seat at the table nearest the door. By the time I finished my salad, I felt as if I’d come home. By the end of the meeting, I knew that I’d discovered gold. Not only was the program excellent, each person present seemed to be a valuable resource. In fact, a conversation with the man sitting next to me later led to a special sale of 225,000 copies of my book!

During the year-and-a-half of preparing to publish, I rarely missed a meeting. Every program offered precious nuggets. Each month there were fascinating new people to meet. Between meetings, consulting the ABPA directory, I contacted members for help. Veterans generously gave of their time, talents, and wisdoms. Other newbies and I shared ups and downs of the learning process. With one newbie in particular, whose timeline coincided with mine, I formed a buddy system. Almost daily we connected and worked our way through challenges. We also brainstormed marketing ideas and shared seemingly-impossible dreams. (Although neither of us were interviewed by Rosie, my friend did make it to The Donny and Marie Show. I was filmed for Oprah, but the segment never aired.)

Self-publishing has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. Thank you ABPA, for your help and for the recognition you gave me with GLYPH Awards. I continue to treasure them.

Three years after self-publishing, I sold book rights to HarperCollins and went on to publish two more books though them. With the vantage point of “Both Sides Now,” I can say with experience that both ways are attractive, each with advantages and disadvantages. If I had another promising book project for which I could not find an established publisher, I would definitely self-publish again. And again I would do it with the help of ABPA. Best wishes to all!

Charlene Costanzo is the author of The Twelve Gifts of Birth, The Twelve Gifts for Healing, and The Twelve Gifts in Marriage. The Twelve Gifts of Birth is available in Spanish and Japanese and is being used in many ways by educators, therapists, clergy, and social workers. Several hospitals have decorated their birthing center walls with the message of The Twelve Gifts of Birth. A short film based on the book is being created for educational and inspirational use. For more information, visit http://www.thetwelvegifts.com A former Phoenix resident, Charlene now lives in Sedona.

Membership Drive Winner nets resort stay

Congratulations to Sharon Tully, winner of ABPA’s Bring-A-Friend membership drive. When her friend Jack Hillman joined ABPA, Sharon became eligible for our drawing for a one-night stay at the Westward Look Resort with a bottle of wine and breakfast in bed for two (courtesy of the Westward Look and Pam Swartz).

Thanks to all the members who brought friends to the ABPA meetings. Watch for more information about our ongoing membership drive and how you can win.

ABPA New Members

Angela M. DiMaggio, Inc.
Angela DiMaggio
480-926-1960
amdimaggio@aol.com

Shoetree Publishers, Inc.
Lola Rainey
480-899-5267
lrainey@shoetreepublishers.com

Intrinz
Debashis Chowdhury
480-707-7636
debashisch@yahoo.com

Playdate Kids Publishing
Tena Fanning
310-456-6400
tmfanning@theplaydatekids.com

Singing Wind Bookshop owner earns Lawrence Clark Powell Lifetime Achievement Award

Winn Bundy, owner of the Singing Wind Bookshop in Benson, received the Lawrence Clark Powell Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to southwestern letters at ceremonies in the Proscenium Theatre at Pima Community College Center for the Arts.

The award was given in conjunction with the 6th Annual Lawrence Clark Powell Memorial Lecture, which this year showcased internationally renowned poet and author Jimmy Santiago Baca.

Bundy’s bookshop has been a destination for lovers of Southwestern literature since 1974, when she set up shop in an alcove of her Benson-area cattle ranch. Over time her “book stock” has grown to tens of thousands of titles. Her reputation for shelving a rich representation of southwestern authors and regional topics draws avid readers from around the world.

Conferences for Writers and Publishers

SSA conference moved to September

There’s a big change at the Society of Southwestern Authors. Instead of its usual January timeframe, the Wrangling With Writing conference will be held on September 15 and 16, 2007. Please help spread the word. Check http://www.ssa-az.org/ for further updates.

Books: Today’s Secret Marketing Tool

On February 22, former ABPA member Karla Olson of BookStudio, along with former ABPA presenter Paulette Ensign of Tips Booklets International, and several other publishing professionals, presented “Books: Today’s Secret Marketing Tool,” an all-day seminar at the DoubleTree in Del Mar, California.

“The Power of Positive Publishing: Writing a Book Is the Easy Part, Getting It Published and Marketing It Is What’s Hard,” seminar for writers, author and publishers held in conjunction with Spring Book Show 2007, Friday-Saturday March 23-24, 2007, World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. For details: http://www.anvilpub.net/author-publisher_seminar_2007.htm

Sleuthfest 2007, Miami Beach Hotel & Spa, April 19-22, 2007. Headliners: author Linda Fairstein and Rene Balcer, writer/producer, Law & Order. http://www.mwa-florida.org/sleuthfest.htm

Malice Domestic® XIX, May 4-6, 2007, Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, Virginia. Honorees: Rochelle Krich, Carolyn Hart. More than 175 authors expected. http://www.malicedomestic.org/

PMA Publishing University, “Stretching Your Publishing Boundaries with Passion, Planning and Profitability!” May 29-31, 2007, Park Central Hotel, New York City http://www.pma-online.org/pmau2007/1.cfm

ThrillerFest 2007, July 12-15, 2007, Grand Hyatt Manhattan, New York City. ThrillerMaster 2007: James Patterson. Spotlight guests: Jeffery Deaver, Vince Flynn, Heather Graham, Lisa Gardner. http://www.thrillerfest.org.

Bouchercon 2007, Bearly Alive, Sept. 27-30,2007, Anchorage Hilton Hotel, Anchorage, Alaska. American Guest of Honor: Ann Rule. British Guest of Honor: Alexander McCall. Fan Guest of Honor: Barbara Peters, proprietor of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. Website: http://www.bouchercon2007.com/

ABPA Member Spotlight

ABPA member chosen for One Book AZ

Congratulations to ABPA member, the University of Arizona Press. Their title, Going Back to Bisbee, by Richard Shelton, an English professor at the University of Arizona, has been named the 2007 OneBookAZ adult title selection.

For the first time, Arizonans voted on the adult title they preferred to read, and for the first time an Arizona author, an Arizona book about an Arizona city, and an Arizona publisher were chosen.

Join readers across our state in April. Pick up a copy of Going Back to Arizona and be part of OneBookAZ.

ABPA publisher featured in B&T’s February Forecast

Bette Dowdell announced that How to be a Christian Without Being Annoying is the featured Christian book in Baker & Taylor’s February Forecast.

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing

The ABPA Marketing Committee is starting 2007 meetings. This newly-formed committee needs volunteers. You are welcome to contact the voluteering committee chair, Tobias Lofstrand, at 928-607-5555, 888-270-2833, or Tobias@ArTemenos.com for more information and to RSVP for the next meeting.

Advertise in the ABPA Newsletter and Website

Advertising rates have been published for placing ads in both Southwest Signature and on the ABPA website. Associate members, this is a powerful way to reach publishers with advertising about your services for publishers and writers. Publishers, please invite your vendors to visit www.azbookpub.com and click on Advertising Opportunities. They’ll appreciate hearing about this opportunity.

About Southwest Signature

Southwest Signature is the monthly e-newsletter of the Arizona Book Publishing Association, a non-profit professional association. Entire contents copyright 2007 Arizona Book Publishing Association unless otherwise noted. Permission is granted to forward this e-newsletter but only in its entirety. For information, email info@azbookpub.com or call (602) 274-6264.

We welcome submissions and reserve editing rights. Email your Southwest Signature submissions to gwen@azbookpub.com.