August 24, 2009

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

August 24, 2009

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

Each book contained in the exhibit will have a number placed on the front cover, and that number will correspond to the books number in the exhibit catalog. This is done for easy cross-reference. Each entry in the catalog will include title details such as title, price, ISBN, 25-word description, award won or bestseller list named, etc., as well as pertinent company contact information

October 24, 2008

CBE will partner with the BookExpo America (5/29-31/09),  the London Book Fair (04/20-22/09) and BookExpo Canada (06/20-21/09) to mount tjhe featured NEW TITLE SHOWCASE display in 2009.

With the tremendous success these official Show exhibits at the London Book Fair, BookExpo America and BookExpo Canada, these exhibits offer publishers the opportunity to showcase books and related materials in prime locations and have their titles be available for review for possible translation rights, sales and distribution and gain exposure to the world publishing world.

Its purpose is to expose titles of exhibiting and non-exhibiting companies in one location. A catalog will be produced with all company and title information. For those companies exhibitng on the show floor, their booth number will be noted in the exhibit catalog to draw traffic to their stand.

 You must visit the BookExpo America, London Book Fair and/or BookExpo Canada's  web sites to register for participation.  You can not register for these shows on the CBE web site.  Click on the show links above to sign up today, or call our office for more information.

June 23, 2008

Combined Book Exhibit is happy to announce that The Book Checkout is now live!  The Book Checkout is a searchable database geared exclusively to the library market.  Publishers can list their books for librarians to see, rate, review and add to their persaonl "Bookshelf."

Additionally, you can find summarized industry news and updates, and more.  The Book Checkout is always being updated with new books and features, so check back often. 

Publishers:  If you've used services provided by The Combined Book Exhibit at any time over the last two years, your books should be listed on The Book Checkout.  Be sure to double check their listings, and email any changes or updates to info@thebookcheckout.com.

Check it out now at www.TheBookCheckout.com!  

June 23, 2008

The American Library Association and Frontline/World are offering a $500 grant to 40 public and academic libraries around the country.  For details on how to be considered, and to read more about the partnership, click here .

May 16, 2008

Welcome to BEA

Simply put, Bookexpo America is what happens when the world’s number one publishing market holds the world’s second largest international book fair.  But there’s something more that has to happen to attract over 35 thousand people and 2 thousand exhibiting companies than just simply stating the simple facts.

Bookexpo America is a unique fair for the publishing industry.  Much more than just a fair to get business done, BEA is as much a pop culture event as it is an educational experience; the show will cater as many rights deals as it will bookstore orders; the exhibit hall will be filled with as many librarians getting arcs as it will excited fans getting signatures.  Simply put, Bookexpo America is a big event.

Taking place from May 29^th to June 1^st at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California, BEA has a full slate of educational events, panels geared towards all facets of the industry, author signings, and a full exhibit hall with over 2 thousand exhibits.  There’s also a fully booked International Rights Center.

Educational programs include those sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, and others created by BEA themselves.  There is also full programming to cover each of the pavilions on the show floor:  Graphic Novels, African American, Children’s and more.  All of the information on the educational programming can be found here.

The International Rights Center at Bookexpo America is the best place to conduct your rights transactions within the US.  Other business done within the exhibits can help spread ideas worldwide, as over 80 countries are represented by the people in attendance at BEA.  The complete list of exhibitors can be found here. 

No trip to Bookexpo is complete without collecting tons of advanced reader copy books, and getting them signed by any of the hundreds and hundreds of authors in attendance. All of the authors that will be in attendance are listed here.

There’s a ton that anyone can say about Bookexpo America, and the BEA team has given everyone plenty of options to share their BEA stories with anyone willing to listen or read from the MyBEA social network.  One thing is certain:  BEA is the place to be!

April 21, 2008

As you may recall from from a news item posted over a year ago, Read How You Want is a company specializing in creating books in accessible formats to reach more than just the general public.  They (and we at CBE who have watched them grow since their beginnings) are happy to report lots and lots of great attention.

Chris Stephen, the company's founder, is being interviewed this week in a Q&A style by the National Center for Technology Innovation!  You can check it out by reading their blog here.

October 24, 2007

Editor’s Note:  The following is the culmination of several months research, and presented as concisely as possible for your benefit, courtesy of the Combined Book Exhibit.

With all of the talk of struggles within the book world, from bookstores closing to declining coverage in print sources, libraries have been managed to adapt, update and continue recreating themselves to stay strong and ahead of the curve.  For this reason, marketing your work to libraries is a logical step in making your titles sell and be read by many.  The following is a compilation and culmination of research done to help answer some of your questions about marketing to libraries.

Library Statistics:

According to the American Library Association, there are an estimated 117,467 libraries nationwide, representing public, private, academic and specialized libraries.  The library market represents over $5 billion.  The February 15, 2007 issue of Library Journal reported that, based on the population of the community it was serving, book budgets for libraries range from $36 thousand to over $4 million.  The same article showed that in 2007, of all of the libraries polled, 52% had an increase in circulation, prompting an increase in budget, resulting in more book buying.

How Libraries Buy:

Oftentimes, library acquisition will depend on the size of the library.  At a panel on library buying at Bookexpo America 2007, it was explained that small and medium sized libraries, as well as school libraries, have selector librarians who make the majority of the book purchasing decisions.  Larger library systems have collection development departments that make acquisition choices for the systems.  So, unlike large bookstore chains and retailers that only have a limited number of people to decide what the entire chain sells nationwide, each library or library system is another chance to sell your book.

In addition to having more opportunities to sell to them, libraries, contrary to popular belief, do not only buy one copy of each book.  Many believe that libraries will only purchase one, or at most, just a few copies of any given title.  But according to Mark Sexton, author of “Replacing Myths About Marketing To Libraries,” “Some city and county library systems buy 50 or more copies of some titles. Individual libraries also buy multiple copies of current interest titles if circulation demand is high or if they want to place one in the reference collection and others in general circulation. Furthermore, library sales are not subject to the devastating returns problem that is so damaging in the trade and to a lesser extent in the college adoption market. Libraries also order more titles at one time and they almost never fail to pay their bills.”

At the library panel at Bookexpo 2007, it was explained that most libraries make the majority of their purchases through distributors.  Some purchases are made directly from the publishers, but it is particularly helpful when trying to break into the library market to use a distributor.  This is especially true for small presses, as they do not have the established reputation or sales history that larger houses have.  Since libraries make the majority of their purchases through distributors, it is logical to make your books available through the channels that libraries travel the most to acquire new books. 

Marketing To Libraries:

Like bookstores or other retailers, libraries buy almost any type of book and are willing to try new things.  It is important to market to libraries and keep them informed of what you have to offer so they will be aware that it’s there for them to buy.  Traditional marketing, such as print ads and direct mail are good ways to keep buyers informed of your products. 

The American Library Association also points to exhibits at library trade shows as good ways to advertise because they are “seen by thousands of librarians ever year.”  Unlike bookseller shows however, orders are seldom written at library shows and exhibiting at such events should be seen as advertising opportunities.  They are particularly effective however, because they provide the attendees the opportunities to see the actual books—something that is impossible in print ads, direct mail, and other methods.

Seeing The Results Of Your Marketing Strategy:

Unlike bookstores or retailers, libraries do not simply send in the order forms for books they have just discovered.  Most libraries work off of acquisition budgets and can therefore only purchase books at certain times during the year.  This does not mean that there only certain times to advertise; each library or system has a different budget cycle, meaning that at almost any given time, there can be sales occurring. 

Like marketing to any outlet, it is likely you will not see immediate results.  And, since most libraries order through distributors, it is hard to see where specific sales come from, because you will not be invoicing a specific place—your distributor will.  So if, for example, you participate in an exhibit in New York in November, it is unlikely that you will see a spike in sales to New York immediately, if at all.  This is partly because of the formerly mentioned varying budget cycles, and partly because you will (most likely) not be the one to fulfill the orders (that would be done by your distributor).  This does not mean that the effort has failed, because, like any print ad, it is a success if you continue selling books.  With libraries, it is important to be consistent and patient.

Libraries are a very specific market to sell to, but they are consistently the best customers for publisher because of their ability to stay successful and their dedication to keeping books and other reference and educational material current, abundant and available.

April 26, 2007

The year 2000 was both historic, and anticlimactic:  Historic in its significance to the world as the beginning of a new millennium, the punch line of many a “Seinfeld” or “Friends” episode, and the night teenagers were sure to get the big new years kiss.  After all, we were all going to perish because of the Y2K computer issue, so there was no time like the present.  Which leads me to its anticlimactic features:  while the ball dropped in Times Square and confetti littered the streets, life continued into the new millennium as it did the years prior, and subsequently the years since.  In retrospect, “Happy Millennium” turned out no more significant than “Happy New Year,” or even “Happy Saturday.”

But I digress:  while New Year’s Eve may have lacked the glamour and excitement (and thankfully, the projected dangers), the year itself brought exciting happenings to almost every industry, from the great media merge of America Online and Time Warner, to the sporting world’s once-in-a-blue-moon Subway Series, the TV nation’s loss of Kathy Lee, and of course that presidential election.  Publishing would not be left out of the excitement, with adult publishers creating Internet traffic by those downloading the ebook of Stephen Kings “Riding the Bullet,” and one small family on Long Island preparing to make some major noise in the world of children’s literature, as Gingerbread House planted the seeds for its humble roots.

Visualizing her house’s spare bedroom as more than just a storage space, author Josephine Nobisso saw it as the opportunity to take three of her then out of print books, and re-release them for a new set of readers.  Partnering with her then-14-year-old daughter, Maria, as the art director and operations manager, the spare bedroom made the transition to office, and Gingerbread House was born.

Logically, when these first few reprints took off, the next natural step was to do some originals:  “We decided to try originals,” Josephine said,  “reasoning that if re-issues—which are not eligible for most review and award venues—could be kept alive, it would be an exciting venture to launch titles that could go out into the world and take on surprising lives of their own.”  Gingerbread House’s next four original titles took on very successful lives of their own, recognized by hundred’s of reviewers, combining for 20 awards, and each being named to the “Children’s Book Sense 76.”

Not bad for a publishing house that, just seven years ago was, in part, started because “Maria had cut her teeth on publishing, and was a home-schooler, and we saw the launch of a family publishing house as a natural, opportune, real-life, real-time way for her to learn the myriad skills that it takes to run an intricate business.”  Seven years later, Maria has learned, and become an expert, taking these four new books and helping make them multiple award winners (“I jokingly refer to her as ‘the art dictator’ because she's so attentive to detail,” claims Josephine).

As the mother-daughter team that is Gingerbread House prepares their next releases, they also look to the future of the company and, after seven years, are leaving the spare bedroom for a bigger office space, and expanding the staff on hand:  “with room for more than 4 elbows, we'll be able to hire help, and…once all this help spoils us so that our days become shorter than 12-16 hours, we just might figure out how to disentangle ourselves from other tasks and expand again.”

Seeing an award cited next to every title on the list is not typical for any publishing company, but Josephine offers a bit of advice for anyone getting ready to tackle the business, saying  “there is so much work involved in publishing that any small house would do well to leave to the established pros whatever tasks it can,” pointing to Independent Publishers Group as their helpful distributors, and Combined Book Exhibit as their tradeshow presence.  She also points out that books can’t be reviewed if no one knows that they exist, and advises “new and smaller publishers to be generous with their review copies, because one never knows into whose hands they may land.  It's our policy at Gingerbread House to ship sample copies to any reputable asker.”

In these early months of 2007 there may not have been any historic new media mergers or political issues, but Josephine and Maria are hard at work behind the scenes of their family business, celebrating their first seven years, getting ready to release four new titles, move into a bigger office and looking to hire more employees.  All the while, Josephine will be penning new books, touring and giving workshops as a writing expert, while Maria works with illustrators, creates layouts and promotes.  They might release a new book, and that new book will most likely soon require a sticker indicating an award it’s won.  That’s pretty impressive for any publisher, but for Gingerbread House, it’s just another day in the spare bedroom.

To learn more about Gingerbread House or order their books, visit their website at www.gingerbreadbooks.com. 

March 23, 2007

When Dennis Loy Johnson said, “small publishers get together and say ‘nobody could possible understand us,’â€� after receiving The Fourth Annual Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing, the room seemed to nod in singular agreement.  While this doesn’t seem particularly ironic, take into consideration that Johnson was saying this to a room full of small and independent publishers, all who agreed to feeling misunderstood. But, as the afternoon would soon prove, it was a room full of small and independent publishers that all seemed to at least understand each other.  They also seemed perfect willing to help each other out, and learn from each other.  I suppose it’s a very specific kind of misunderstanding that can make you feel completely understood. 

Taking this supposed misunderstanding and steamrolling ahead, The Association of American Publishers (AAP), held their Ninth Annual Meeting for Smaller and Independent Publishers on March 7^th.  The conference brought together 80 people to meet, talk and hear panels dedicated to helping and teaching each other to “Take it to the Next Level.â€� The conference was broken down into seven panels, each representing one of the “Seven Approaches To Make Your House More Successful.â€� 

The lead off panel of the day was concerning creating a brand.  Linda Cunningham of Meredith Books explained that the best way to build a brand is to define its core values, create a design that reflects the values, be consistent, and transcend as many mediums or platforms as possible, citing examples such as Rachel Ray, The Home Depot and Harry Potter.  Cunningham’s peer on the panel, Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime, summed successful brands up with a single quote from a satisfied reader:  “I know you guys pick good books.â€�  This kind of claim, according to Ardai, is proof that the brand is a success. 

Finding a niche and creating one based on your lifestyle were the topics of the second and third panels respectively. Both panels agreed with Johnny Temple of Akashic Books, who said, “it’s not about finding a niche, it’s about discovering the niche in which you inhabit.â€�  Niches and lifestyle publishing shared many qualities because each was about satisfying a specific need, whether that need be travel, spirituality, do-it-yourself or sporting (which all seem to be both niches and lifestyles).  The most important point that was repeated over and over was to not sit at your desk and wonder:  “be intimate with your market,â€� Jim Childs of Taunton Press said.  It’s important to know what’s going on.

The fourth panel, which explained special markets, showed the range that books can reach, and how to reach them:  Clothing stores, music stores, coffee shops, business, gift shops, toy stores, you name it, books can get there.  Bloomberg Press’ Judy Sjo-Gaber pointed out how important it is to be familiar with your product line, and most importantly, be creative.

Sub-rights was the topic of the fifth panel, and in describing this “gold mine,â€� the value behind exhibiting at shows like The Beijing Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, Bookexpo America, and other international shows around the world.  Jan Yager described sub-rights as “found money,â€� pointing out that you can make even more money by just selling a product your already selling if you expand your customer base.  Carol Lazare, of The Other Press, “foundâ€� ten rights deals and an extremely substantial reprint deal while in Frankfurt inside the American Collective Stand.

The final two panels focused back on specific forms of marketing:  Internet marketing, getting press, and booking author events.  All three forms of marketing required a lot of connection with the author of a given book:  what websites would be good to market to?  Would you like to tour?  Would you do interviews?  Internet marketing specifically brought out the importance of being connected with your readers:  should you create a MySpace?  (Of course, who doesn’t have a MySpace these days?). 

As each speaker made his or her key points, attendees took notes, nodded in agreement and commented to their fellow listeners on the quality of the advice.  Each panel ended with time for questions and every question was answered with vigor and willingness.  Each speaker was not just an expert, but a coach, cheering his or her team along and saying not to be intimidated by “the big guysâ€� (a term perhaps less than affectionately given to large houses like the oft referenced Random House and Simon and Schuster).

AAP’s conference proved to be not only a resource for all of those involved, but it also demonstrated that no matter how misunderstood each publisher may have felt in the big world of publishing, there was this community of others just like them, willing to dole out advice and lend a hand.  Taking the advice of their peers, each publisher was able to leave the meeting with an enhanced knowledge, a new bag full of ideas, and maybe some more confidence that they can succeed, regardless of what “the big guysâ€� do.  After all, “the big guy’sâ€� books are just like any other book on the shelf, no more or less special than those by smaller presses.  When next to each other, they were equals. 

February 23, 2007

Around the time Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out, I was beside myself with excitement.  In an eager rush to learn all I could about the upcoming release (avoiding spoilers of course), I came across an article excitedly announcing that the Braille version of the new book would be available a mere three days after its release.  The process was already underway, and the three weeks of work would eventually culminate, bringing joy to blind readers everywhere.

While I’m not blind, I’m certainly a Harry Potter fan, and three days after the release just wouldn’t be good enough for me.  As luck would have it, blind readers, or readers with any sort of disability, no longer need to wait three weeks, or even three days to receive the works they want.  Allow me to introduce a company called ReadHowYouWant.com, a privately held Australian company whose good nature and positive ideas will soon be (and in some places, already is) benefiting disabled readers around the world. ReadHowYouWant.com exists for the benefit of readers and publishers alike.  They offer an array of services that includes regular printing, large font printing, Braille, e-books, audio books, and everything in between.

And I do mean everything.  You can contact ReadHowYouWant.com to print your book like you would have any other printer do it.  You can also have them print in an array of large-print editions.  Their four most basic large editions are EasyRead, EasyRead Comfort, Easy Read Large, and Easy Read Large Bold.  They already have thousands of titles available in these four formats, all designed to benefit readers with poor vision, who require bigger and/or darker fonts, and all already available at Amazon.com. 

But I did say everything in between, and I wasn’t lying.  For new readers, or struggling readers, they offer a print in which every second word is bold.  This is a technique known as word pattern, and it helps reduce word swapping while reading and helps with tracking the words in a line.  They also offer a format they call character pattern in which the size of the letters in the word increases as the word continues.  For example:  example.

The benefit of this is also patterning, but it keeps the words flowing in the same direction, and helps the reader (perhaps if the reader is dyslexic) not mix up letters within the word.  Still another format offered is called character discrimination pattern, and this helps readers discriminate between “mirroredâ€� letters (such as d, b, p and q) by assigning a different font to each.  Of course, they can’t predict everything, so ReadHowYouWant.com also offers custom prints and fonts to fit any need you can think of (including making books out of chapters, or breaking books into parts).  No matter what format you choose to print, they do not simply enlarge the book.  When ReadHowYouWant.com handles your work, they completely revamp the book so that there are little to no end of line hyphens, and they repaginate the entire book and redo the indexes and tables of contents so that they match the new pages.

Another printed format that ReadHowYouWant.com offers that I mentioned earlier is Braille.  While it is hard to differentiate from standard Braille, what ReadHowYouWant.com can offer is fast production.  The have an automated Braille system that allows for the creation of a book in Braille in one-to-two days. 

ReadHowYouWant.com even takes into consideration naysayers who claim that “books are on the way out and technology will prevail, rendering the printed word useless!â€�  While I’m sure none of us can agree with them, ReadHowYouWant.com answers back, offering audio books in MP3 and DAISY formats.  Using a lot of technology that will make your head spin, they manage a product that will put a smile on your face.  Their DAISY formats allow you to choose an automated voice or a synthesized voice (in which accent, gender, pitch, speed and index navigation are all available for you to choose).  While keeping with the idea of computerized books, ReadHowYouWant.com can also create an e-book that is track-able, searchable, bookmark-able and more than just a pdf file. 

Let’s not for one second pretend that we’re not impressed.  I’ve broken a sweat just describing what ReadHowYouWant.com can offer.  Of course, as publishers this is all very enticing because of what can now be achieved with your books.  But its difficult to see a list of great services and not expect some sort of catch.  Or perhaps its too-good-to-be-true and these people must be a bunch of jerks.  But trust me, I’ve looked for jerks, and I’ve searched for a catch, and I’ve come up empty handed.  Its impossible to jump into a service for the first time and not have some questions, so allow me to try and answer some of them for you, to save you some time, so you can begin to get in on the printing fun.

Many people I’m sure are saying, “I’d really love to have a book printed in character pattern format, but an entire run of that probably wouldn’t sell and would sit in my warehouse collecting dust.â€�  To that, I say “maybe,â€� but I’m a positive thinker.  For those more business savvy than I am however, ReadHowYouWant.com offers their service on a print on demand basis, allowing you to save that spot in your warehouse for your next novelty book on pirates.

Print on demand is of course a wonderful thing because it avoids the need to buy a big run of a book.  But say you don’t particularly favor any of ReadHowYouWant.com’s printed finished products.  That’s certainly ok with them, because they want you to be happy.  ReadHowYouWant.com can either print the book for you, or give you the electronic file to be printed however, and by whomever, you want.

Obviously, printing in several formats opens your company up to markets that were previously untouched, but its understandably difficult to advertise such things if you don’t have thousands of copies printed and in bookstores.  (By this time, you know ReadHowYouWant.com has something, don’t you?)  Well, ReadHowYouWant.com has something to help you with that too (you’re so smart).  ReadHowYouWant.com offers many outlets for your books to be advertised and sold, with the orders going directly to them so they can be printed.  They sell books on sites like Amazon, Ebay, Moby, Lightning Source, and of course on their own website.  They can also host a website for your company so you have one to sell on too. 

Clearly when concerning intellectual property, things don’t always work out cut and dry.  Rights battles and contracts oftentimes make it a trite experience, and the whole thing ends up in the bag.  When dealing with ReadHowYouWant.com, there are no agents involved:  You own the intellectual property, they own the format.  They will work with you to create a deal that is simple and works for both parties. 

Finally: The bottom line.  In all businesses, the idea is to benefit the company monetarily.  The open market that ReadHowYouWant.com provides opens you up to more sales.  Their printing capabilities save you money because they don’t require you to print big runs.  Their forms of advertising and promotion, as well as their connections with big selling websites give you more opportunities to sell.  They can sell your books for you and give you a cut, or they can give you the books to sell on your own to get money in hand.

Because their services are customizable, and projects will inherently vary in length, prices are determined on a by-project basis.  However, everybody’s first project with ReadHowYouWant.com receives 30% off, and mentioning that you discovered them from the Combined Book Exhibit will grant you 20% off of future projects!

With ReadHowYouWant.com, it seems like nobody loses and everyone wins—especially the reader.  To get in on all of the benefits, visit (here’s a surprise) www.ReadHowYouWant.com, or contact the North American sales and marketing representative Rosanne Goodwin by email at rgoodwin@pb-press.com, or by phone at (925) 309-4431.