Nov 28

We would like you to guest blog!

Marketing, Printing, publishing, Writing No Comments »

Over the past eighteen months, we have tried to provide you with information about the traditional publishing industry, print-on-demand, trends in publishing, and specifically, how Snowfall Press works and benefits both publishers and authors.

Many of the topics have been from our own personal/professional experience, with a scattering of guest blogs from other industry professionals and thought leaders. We would like to expand that. If you are an industry veteran, or a new publisher/author, we would love for you to share your experiences with Snowfall and our readers.

Why blog?

  1. Share your own experiences!
  2. Establish authority and expertise
  3. Develop new relationships with readers
  4. Improve your writing skills
  5. Increase your industry influence
  6. Expand your current base of followers
  7. And, you get a chance to build your reputation and/or brand

Would you consider guest posting?

Because our blog focuses on specific areas, our readers expect to read helpful information about these topics. We know you have something to say. Everyone does. We would like to hear your story and learn from your own experience.

To help get you started, we have adapted this list of guidelines for guest posting.

  1. The subject of the blog post should be one that fits the blog. We want you to write about publishing, printing, writing, books, technology and marketing.
  2. Be original. We don’t want to reuse the same content that you have published somewhere else, nor do we want you to republish the same post after we do. Google actually penalizes sites for duplicate content.
  3. We want to hear your voice. Don’t try to imitate our style. Be creative.
  4. Be concise. Many times length equates to effectiveness. Keep your post between 500-700 words. Or less.
  5. Use visuals. The most effective communication includes art, pictures, graphs, etc. They help engage readers.  Just make sure you have permission or copyright to these before using them.
  6. Share liberally. Make sure to drive your own people to the post. This helps us, and you. You should use a byline at the bottom of the post with a link to connect back to you directly.
  7. Engage your readers when they comment.

Submission Guidelines

If you have a post that meets the guidelines above, you can send it to me on the email david.sheets@snowfallpress.com. Please include the post in the body of the email itself, or as an attachment.

Happy blogging!

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Aug 23

Interview with Darren Henry at ICRS

Distribution, Industry Events, Sales No Comments »

Darren Henry is the President of Advocate Distribution Solutions, a division of Send The Light Distribution. Advocate works with small publishers and authors and offers contract distribution services. This division works directly with retailers and is the expanded distribution partner for Snowfall Press.

I asked Darren to share some advice with small publishers below.

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Aug 16

Interview with Terry Draughon at ICRS

Distribution, Industry Events, Marketing, publishing, Retail, Uncategorized No Comments »

Terry Draughon is another industry veteran who has worked at the management levels of both large publishers and distributors. His expertise is helping publishers get their books placed at retail, and being the advocate for the publisher/author in the retail channel.

Terry is the Vice President of Sales for Send The Light/Advocate Distribution Solutions and calls on all of the large booksellers and chain retailers.

I asked Terry to share some of his experience with small publishers.

For more information about Advocate Distribution Solutions, click here. For more information about how Snowfall Press partners with Send The Light (STL) and Advocate to offer expanded distribution solutions, click here:

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Aug 06

Snowfall’s expanded distribution partner: Send The Light

Distribution, Industry Events No Comments »

Snowfall Press currently offers its publishing partners the opportunity for expanded distribution. This distribution enables books to be listed with the largest national booksellers like Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, Christian Book Distributors and others. For more information about this program, click here.

Send The Light, through it division, Advocate Distribution Solutions, is the only full-service distributor serving Christian publishers and manufacturers.

Here’s what that means:
There are a number of distributors within the CBA industry who provide basic product fulfillment services such as warehousing, order entry, picking and packing, and credit and collections.

There are also a number of good sales and marketing companies which will put your products in their catalog and present them to key CBA retailers while you, the publisher/manufacturer, provide the warehousing and order fulfillment. STL combines both to provide the clients with a single point of contact for sales and logistics.

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Mar 26

Start up publishing model – building for the future.

Marketing, publishing, Retail, Uncategorized No Comments »

This is an interview with Les Bradford and Andy Blanks, Co-Founders and Publishers at youthministry360. Both Les and Andy have years of youth ministry and product development between them.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your organization?

A: youthministry360 is a Christian publishing company that produces a variety of Bible study curriculum for churches. We also focus on training and community building through a daily blog and social media initiatives.

Q: How did you learn about Snowfall Press?

A: We had a pre-existing relationship with Snowfall’s Vice President of Sales, Dave Sheets, through previous experiences in publishing. We heard Dave talk about Snowfall for a couple of years before the right project came along to take the plunge with.

Q: What sort of publishing model do you use?

A: At the time of writing this, we’re still relatively new as an organization, less than two years old.  We publish all our own resources through a variety of methods and vendors, depending on the product. We’re primarily e-commerce though we do have some titles in the trade channels.

Q: Why does the print-on-demand (POD) service fit your publishing model?

A: It offers us a ton of flexibility when it comes to cash flow and inventory. With traditional printing, there are set-up fees and, of course, accounts due. Because you have to order large quantities, it puts a burden not just on actual sales, but on innovation, as well. There are some ideas that are too big of a risk to commit to printing thousands of copies on the front end. It makes it easier to take the risk in a POD model where you don’t have to pay for or warehouse large quantities.

Q: What strategic steps did you take to make POD work?

A: For us it was waiting on the right title to test the waters with. We wanted to have a concept we thought would sell well so we could really observe how our systems would work, in terms of being able to market and fulfill orders. We work with quite a few vendors. We wanted to see how well POD would work with multiple logistical needs. We have been very pleased with the results.

Q: What types of books are you publishing?

A: We’re publishing books for adults who work with teenagers in the local church. And we’re publishing books that help teenagers develop their faith. We’re a company that puts a high value on quality and creativity. One of our concerns going in was whether or not the POD model with Snowfall would allow us to deliver on these values. We’ve been very pleased with the results.

Q: How do you currently work with authors?

A: We operate in a content rich environment. So many youth ministers are producing content, whether it is through a personal blog, or for their church services with youth. Youth ministry in general also values peer-to-peer training. And so there is just a lot of content development going on. We seek out some of these better writers and engage them in what it might be like to grow some of their ideas into book-length projects. We’re moving to a place where we will also entertain unsolicited manuscripts, but we’re not there yet.

Q: How are your books distributed and what sales channels do you focus on?

A: We operate as the publisher and provide commerce in a direct-to-consumer model (whereas in this case, the consumer is the church or the youth minister). We also have other partners selling our products, as well as some limited sales through traditional retail channels.

Q: With Snowfall’s emphasis on technology, how does this help your organization?

A: Being able to manage the supply to meet demand through the Snowfall account repository is a huge benefit. It gives us all the control we need to keep inventory as it should be. One of the biggest bonuses for us is the drop shipping (i.e., virtual warehouse) component of printing with Snowfall. For a light and lean company like us, this is a huge benefit. We’re also extremely excited about the upcoming Snowfall gateway to Facebook. Snowfall’s commitment to technology is part of why we publish with them.

Q: What types of marketing have you found to be successful, especially direct to consumer?

A: The most successful marketing we’ve done has been to offer incentives to our mailing list. Cultivating a strong email list is crucial. How this is done for various authors and/or publishers will vary. But for us, we’ve made growing and managing a healthy email database a priority. We’ve seen very good success when we have emailed our database with a special discount for being “insiders.”

Q: What marketing ideas would you recommend for other new publishers?

A: You can have the best content around, but if you don’t have an audience and/or a pipeline to an audience, it’s very challenging to move units. Maybe in the past the cream rose to the top. But in our experience, you have to have solid content and you have to be able to communicate directly with the purchaser. Direct communication for us happens mostly through social media, a daily blog, and as previously mentioned, a growing email database. I would also add that it’s important to go where your audience is. Utilize Facebook ads (they work). Comment on blogs your customers frequent. Aggregate content your audience may find useful and disseminate it through twitter, email, and blogs. And, don’t underestimate the importance of SEO (search engine optimization). If you can generate organic search engine traffic or even pay for some ad words, you’ll find you can bring in an audience that is primed for your message.

Q: What advice do you have for other publishers considering POD?

A: I would challenge them to consider what it would look like to in their projections (especially as it pertains to cost of goods and obsolescence) if they were to have a number of their titles in the POD model. For us, and for the other publishers using Snowfall (whom we’ve talked with!), it has opened up a creative solution for publishing that has provided us with flexibility and a new way of generating revenue. It’s a simple model to learn and adapt to. We’ve been very pleased.

For more information about youthministry360, join them on online at youthministry360.com.

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Mar 21

Bible publishing, a lifetime of work.

Global Distribution, publishing No Comments »

Because the publishing industry is usually focused on sales and profits, and the big news tends to be about award winning authors, and books that hit the best-sellers lists after sales in the hundreds of thousands, and even millions of units; it is refreshing to hear stories of books published after years of diligent work, that eventually pay out more than money could ever buy.

Recently, we received a letter from a missionary in Peru who shared this story with us. I hope that it impacts you like it did us:

…I’m writing from Lima where we arrived last night with the Ticuna Bibles…the Ticuna language is the mother tongue for some 50,000 people living along 600 miles of the Amazon River in the 3 countries of Peru, Colombia and Brazil which involves 2 national languages in addition to the Ticuna language. The Peru/Colombia and Brazil versions of the New Testament were dedicated in 1987 and have gone through two reprints since then. The Peru/Colombia version of the Old Testament selected portions (40%) was dedicated in 2007 and the dedication on the Brazil version took place in May 2009. And now, thanks to…you Snowfall Press, we have both the New Testament and the Old Testament selected portions in one book.

The Ticunas have their own Bible Institute…and we’re now planning to give each of the graduates of next year’s cycle one of the Ticuna Bibles you have so wonderfully made available.

Blessings on you and the work there at Snowfall Press…

It is stories like this that help us get up each morning, and serve our publishers. Thanks for the work that you do. If you have another story about your book, and the impact it has made on someone, please share it with us.

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Mar 01

Don’t print a book until it is sold.

Distribution, Printing, publishing, Sales, Uncategorized No Comments »

Ever hear of just-in-time (JIT) inventory? These buzzwords were popularized as a business and inventory strategy, especially for retailers. The premise held that instead of holding large inventories with few orders over a period of time, a retailer would keep their inventory lean and order more often in order to keep products in stock. This model was logically laid out for book retailers in a book called The Mathematics of Bookselling, by Leonard Shatzkin. Mathematically, the lower the stock and the faster the turns (times the stock sells) added to quick replenishment, meant greater cash flow…and a healthier retailer.

One of the technology advancements in the past few years, called print-on-demand (POD), allows authors/publishers to experience this same sort of low stock (or no stock), rapid replenishment system – short runs and single books produced quickly and efficiently.

The old publishing model required a publisher forecast their needs for a period of months, print a large run of book, and either build or contract with a warehouse to store those books until they sold. This model meant that mainly the publishers, who had money, could play the game, since it took considerable capital to print and hold the inventory.

POD has leveled the playing field for the small and independent publisher. Snowfall Press currently works with publishers who ‘carry’ a virtual inventory of product and only print a book when it is sold. This model works for books that are being offered to retailers and direct to consumers.

The goal of true POD, or print-to-order (PTO), is to never have to carry any physical inventory, but instead print only when you have an order in hand, and drop ship that order to the end user.

For publishers interested in this PTO model, we have a page on our website that explains it in more detail.

In the next few posts, we will be looking at the models that Shatzkin discusses in his book, and how book math works.

 

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Jan 17

Whoever said the world is getting smaller, was being enormously understated.

Distribution, Printing, publishing No Comments »

This is a guest post from Chaz Nichols, the Director of Business Development and Alliances with Snowfall Press. Chaz works extensively with our print network, especially helping international printers who are interested in plugging into the Snowfall operating system.

Publishing, as we have known it, has changed forever. And it has changed in astonishing ways, at an astonishing fast pace. The changes are huge, dynamic. But, ironically, these grand changes are best highlighted by how globally small the industry has become. In fact, the phrase, “it’s a small world,” has become a colossal understatement.

Courtesy iStockphoto.com

A theological professor logs into a global network, uploads the PDF of her book, and with a few key strokes starts a single copy printing on a press miles away. In a few minutes, once printed and trimmed, the book will be shipped directly to a friend for review.

A small, growing publisher is keeping its spending low and cash flow healthy using a virtual book inventory model. Books are printed, one at a time, as they are sold. Once printed the books are then shipped directly from the printer to the end-user customer. This model has given the publisher the financial strength to find profitable target markets outside of its own country – further expanding its cash flow and revenue base.

An entrepreneurial American, seeking to reach the Russian market in Northern California, logs on one night to a global print network, finds his uploaded books and initiates a print run of 50 books. By noon the next day they will be in a Mendocino bookstore ready to be purchased.

Another enterprising person, wanting to build a library of literature for a unique people group, writes all of the literature on their computer and air expresses the data to a friend – who then uploads the copy to a book printing network. In a few weeks the perfect bound books are flown back. The turnaround only took weeks rather than months.

There are two common threads of all these stories. The first is that none of the stories took place in the United States or Europe.

The seminary professor is from Colombo, Sri Lanka. The publisher is located in a Former Soviet Union (FSU) country. The entrepreneurial American is working in a closed country in the middle of Asia.

And the enterprising person is actually a missionary in Papua New Guinea. He is in the jungle most of the year and rarely gets to any location that could rationally be called civilization. By using a high frequency radio signal, he can email his desires for books to a friend and then send a memory stick to his friend when a supply helicopter lands in his village every so often. The friend can then make a PDF of the content on the memory stick, upload it to a global network and have the book printed and shipped back in a relatively short amount of time. Where there were once very few books in the tribal languages of the people this missionary serves, there is now a growing supply of literature.

The second common thread to these stories is that all these people are publishers…publishing in an astonishingly small world now…but in really big ways. The technology is so sophisticated now that it has become simple enough to be embraced by anyone with access to the internet.

And the really amazing aspect of the new publishing world is that the professor in Sri Lanka, the growing publisher in FSU country, the entrepreneur in Asia, the missionary in Papua New Guinea have equal, and in some cases better, access to printing globally than people in more developed parts of the world.

With distance measured by the speed it takes for an electronic file to traverse the internet, the world, and the publishing industry, has become very small.

What other ways can print networks be used to bring content to new readers around the world?

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Jan 10

How do I price a POD book?

Distribution, Printing, publishing, Sales 2 Comments »

Pricing a book that is printed digitally, whether print-on-demand, or short run, can be challenging unless you understand how sales channels work.

In traditional publishing, a book might be printed for a dollar or two (using long run offset), and because of the high overhead (buildings, staff, marketing and sales budgets, etc), the retail prices might be five, seven, or even ten times the print ‘cost’ of the book. So a $2.00 print cost* on a book might land the book at $12.99 to $16.99. (*Print costs always need to be fully burdened with make-ready fees attached.)

It is important for publishers is to make sure they are weighing all of their ‘costs’ when they look at this formula. A publisher can’t just look at the printing cost alone. The financing, shipping, warehousing, damage, obsolescence and remaindering costs also need to be factored into the equation.

Digital printing prices might look higher, but generally they are a lot closer than people might think, when all of the costs mentioned in the previous paragraph are factored in. Digital printing can allow publishers to have ‘virtual warehouses’ and drop shipping off press which can eliminate physical inventory sitting on shelves and the pick/pack expense. Digital printing-on-demand (POD) or micro inventory can reduce carrying costs and increase cash flow, which is an important factor for any business.

I read a recent article in which the author shared the following. “… if I went ahead and had the thing printed up directly through an off-set printer–and ordered a few thousand of them–I could probably cut the cost of the book in half, and maybe even a little more. But I’d have to pay the upfront fee to buy the books and then I’d have to figure out a way to sell them.” This can put a lot of pressure on a new or small publisher…one which has sunk many a publisher.

If you are interested in working in the retail channel, you have to remember that the retailer (and distributor if you are using one…and most retailers will require one) is going to need a margin to live on. If you don’t factor a margin for them into your pricing, they will either not buy the book, or you will lose money on every transaction.

At Snowfall Press, a 200 page book costs $3.25 to print in our POD or print-to-order model. A book this size will generally sell for $14.99 or less in the general market. Retailers generally need 40-50% of this retail in order to sell your book. This means that off the top, you need to plan on grossing only $7.50 on this book – if you are selling directly to the retailer. If you have a distributor in the middle, you might have additional costs (their margin) to also factor in.

In my experience, POD books need to be priced four or five times the print cost, in order to carry the retail margins for your partners, and still be competitive in the market.

A final item to consider: all POD printers are not created equal. It can be confusing in this world of catch-all phrases like POD (print-on-demand). Here are a few questions to ask your printer.

  1. What are your upfront costs? Do you charge for opening an account? For loading files? For changes made to files? At Snowfall Press, the answer is $0.
  2. What is your minimum order quantity? At Snowfall, the answer is only one book.
  3. Do I have to sign any publishing or printing agreements? At Snowfall, we do not require either. You want to maintain total control of your project, and have the ability to move it to any other printer at any time.

What rules do you follow when you price a book?

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Jul 20

The e-book is the digital printer’s best friend

Distribution, E-book, Printing, publishing No Comments »

The hype, the craze, the hysteria… is all about e-books these days. Just think about it. I have heard numbers quoted recently that show 30% or more of some New York Times best-selling author’s books are being sold as e-books. I just heard a publisher last week say that they are selling more than $1 million in e-book sales a year, which makes it a ‘real business’ now.

The Barnes and Noble Nook

The International Digital Publishing Forum collects quarterly US trade retail e-book sales in the US, and shows a huge jump in sales (they are tracking wholesales) with Q1 2010 showing more than $90 million in e-book sales (see chart for more info) . In fact, their own disclaimer says that they believe that the overall market is probably double that number ($180 million)

In the meantime, we hear about the doom and gloom and demise of the printed book, which is meant to frighten publishers and printers alike. But should it? I submit that traditional printers, who are used to long runs, are going to continue to see their print runs shrink (they should be worried). Publishers are also going to see their titles shift toward e-book sales, with traditional printed inventories shrinking. This is actually very encouraging for companies who are in the digital printing space. When traditional runs get squeezed, the best option becomes digital.

I had the opportunity to talk to an industry insider last week who works for a large publishing company. He listened to the Snowfall Press model and commented that this was the future of the industry, and then went on to say that if he had money to invest, it would be with a company like Snowfall Press. The digital answer has got to be a seamless system that  brings files from the publisher (or author) to the press, printing a single book economically, and shipping the book directly to the end user (whether wholesaler, retailer or consumer) directly off press.

Interestingly, the device manufacturers are starting to duke it out and eliminate competition. This is the first sign that e-books are going to go main-stream. Price wars will force the price down so that the average consumer will be able to make the choice to move to e-books as an option. If Apple, however, gains a huge market share with the iPad, they have shown (through very innovative packaging, design, and features) that they will keep the prices high. (see http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10009583/dedicated-e-book-readers-feel-the-competitive-heat/ )

Apple's iPad

As Seth Godin puts it, printed books are becoming the souvenir that readers, followers, students want to keep on their shelves. I agree with Seth, and believe this will always be the case.

Since this topic is so hot right now, what do you believe will happen with e-books (and physical books) in the next five years?

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