AAUP 2016: Maximize Your International Sales (J. Lawrence-Hurt)

Maximize Your International Sales

AAUP Annual MeetingJune 17, 2016

Jessica Lawrence-HurtThe MIT Press

International & Institutional Sales & Marketing Managerjclh@mit.edu

Where I’m Coming From….

MIT Press: Publishes 200 books and 31 journals/year London office since 1969 – focuses on marketing/publicity 40% book sales are export Sales rep group with three other UPs for UK/Europe, ME, Africa Commission reps on the ground throughout the world I’ve spent 15 years in publishing; 1.5 in current role

“International sales” is not one-size-fits-all

Decide where you want to start and why Some territories are already large, stable markets, but flat or

declining Others have high rates of growth, but are still small (and may require

a lot of work) Some regions have multiple high-quality agencies, others have few Every market has different opportunities: libraries, text adoptions,

trade books Well-illustrated books are always a plus You’re probably already selling some books internationally – global

sourcing is real! 50% of MITP sales through Ingram are international

UK/Ireland

Aside from Canada (you’re selling into Canada, right?), this really makes the most sense to start with intl sales: 5th largest publishing market, speaks English (but don’t think you won’t need to customize your marketing materials!)

Multiple, reputable options for rep groups Cautiously optimistic growth: in 2015, for the first time in four years, UK sales of printed

books rose slightly, by 0.4 percent, from £2.748 billion to £2.760 billion. In 2015, total sales in the British book and publishing industry rose from £3.311 to £3.314 billion

Digital sales flat, unchanged at 17% In terms of categories, academic/reference books hold the lead with 32%, then children’s

(24%) and textbooks (17%) Multiple reputable options for representation and distribution Cautiously optimistic growth – as in US, indies are seeing slow growth, even as library

budgets continue to decline Bertrams and Gardners largest wholesalers; export all over Europe

AUSTRALIA

Language is a plus! Strong ties to UK book market Shipping hurts financially… POD can help Currency in crisis University bookstores (Coops) becoming like American stores

Europe

Each individual country has own language, culture, education systems – but EU eases import/export

Many differences country to country: N. Europe typically reads a lot of English-language books, sales are healthy in Scandinavia and Germany; S. Europe dealing with more economic turmoil and smaller English-reading audience

CHINA

Probably the most exciting market right now – but also the most daunting – market grew 10% in 2014; totaled $8 billion in 2013

1.5 billion people; 300 million learning English; 32% under age 24 ESL, business, computer science, health, self-help most popular categories Essential to have someone on the ground who speaks the language and

can travel Have to work with an importer to get books into country: key ones are

CEPIEC, CNPIEC, Shanghai Book Traders are largest; will screen materials for “appropriateness” prior to importing – this can slow things down

Textbooks still highly used and students will buy them – MITP has had adoption success

JAPAN

Very traditional market, relationship-oriented Relatively small % who buy English-language books Translation of marketing materials a big plus – many buyers don’t

speak English Amazon is big player here, but they’ve cut back in recent years Maruzen and Kinokuniya are major bookstores English-language textbooks rarely used at undergrad level Art books work if heavily illustrated; linguistics and neuroscience does

well Libraries used to buy HC if both HC and PB available; now mostly buy

PB – library budgets being cut, aging population, universities are closing

SE ASIA

Small markets, but growing rapidly English is one of four official languages Malaysia smaller but some success with course adoptions Many book dealers, not always scrupulous Require very high discounts and free freight

Latin America, or, What happened to Brazil? Brazil was the B in BRIC – high hopes 200 million people Poor infrastructure and book distribution channels Require high discounts, free freight Since World Cup, government not paying its bills – majority of

education spending comes from government Mexico is where it’s at!

Middle East

MITP sells mainly through textbook adoptions, and in more advanced subjects

Some libraries have received massive amounts of funding to grow large collections, which some UPs have benefited from

Continues to grow, although still relatively small Many differences country to country: Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt

all have relatively stable book distribution infrastructures Censorship is an issue

Africa

While book markets are more robust than many think – Nigeria’s is in the billions of dollars – the distribution infrastructure if very different – sellers will spread out their wares on sidewalks – and very low prices are required – 60-65% discounts

South Africa a small, isolated market Libraries seeing modest budget growth

India

Large, and young, population with desire for education Currently, library funds haven’t been released from central

purchasing (new government, desire to stem corruption), so core market for UPs is hurting

Require 60-65% discounts at least Piracy and reimportation are significant issues

It’s a BIG world

Start small and build over time Match your list to the country’s interest and English-speaking abilities Ask questions of other UPs – we like to talk! Contact multiple rep groups, if possible, to interview: you will learn a

lot

Maximize your international sales

- a checklistStephen Lustig: Business Development Director, Eurospan

Groupstephen.lustig@eurospangroup.com

www.eurospangroup.comwww.eurospanbookstore.com

AAUP Conference, Philadelphia 17th June 2016

Five key components of an internationalsales strategy 1. International interest in my books2. Marketing to end-users and resellers3. Sales: end-users, resellers and sales reps4. Distribution5. Revenue

Contract everything out? – or do all, or some, of the above myself?

International interest in my books1. Is the content too US-centric?2. Benchmarking and comparisons3. Co-editions and foreign language rights

Marketing – it’s all about discoverability1. Promotion and publicity2. Metadata3. Authors4. Reviews

5. Textbook adoptions6. Conferences7. Trade book fairs8. Imprint profile

Sales: end-users, resellers and sales repsResellers1. Terrestrial and online

booksellers2. Title information3. Cross-border selling 4. When is a US sale not a US sale?5. The “A” word

Sales reps1. Title knowledge2. Feedback to the publisher3. Critical mass of titles in

a subject4. Publisher’s expectations5. Management

Distribution1. Consignment or firm purchase2. Currency and payments3. Shipping4. Print on demand

Revenue1. Currency2. Discounts3. Bad debt risk4. Business models: agents, reps and distributors

• The market for University Press titles can read English

• They will only buy my books if they know they exist

• The buying process for end users and resellers has to be easy

Maximize Your International Sales: How to launch or revamp your international sales programBrian MacDonald, University of Toronto Press June 17, 2016

My background / My press

University of Toronto Press• Founded in 1901• Largest and oldest university

press in Canada• Publish 200 books a year in

humanities, social sciences, & business

• US warehouse opened in 1968 in Buffalo, NY

• International sales = 63% of total sales (13% overseas sales)

Me – Sales and Marketing Manager• MBA grad majoring in

marketing and international business

• Been working in marketing and sales management for over 5 years (when hired)

• First job in book publishing

How to launch or revamp your international sales program

• How to evaluate current reps

• What to focus on – what territories?

• How to find sales reps

• How to evaluate prospective reps

How to launch or revamp your international sales program

• Replacing stagnant reps

• How to manage international sales reps

• Other resources – AAUP, Livres Canada Books

What we did

• Improved sales rep responsiveness

• Expanded sales coverage

• How your sales reps can help beyond presenting your titles

How well did it work?

• International sales results (2012-2016)• International Sales – increased by 57%• Overseas Sales – increased by 83%• UK and Europe Sales – increased by 38%• China – CNPIEC – sales increased by 3,700%!• China – CEPIEC – sales increased by 44,000%!!

• What worked / what didn’t work

My Background/My Press

NYU Press Founded in 1916 (it’s our centenary!) Publish 120 titles/year in humanities

and social science International sales = 10% overall

sales in print, 7% digital

Me: Sales and Marketing Director With NYU 6 years Previous international sales at OUP

(10 years), CUP (3 years), Random House (3 years)

NYU international sales 2% in 2010

Unforced Errors

Titles matter Price and discount do, too Don’t forget about Canada! Make your titles available Find a good partner

Questions?

Jessica Lawrence-Hurt: jclh@mit.edu Stephen Lustig: stephen.lustig@eurospangroup.com Brian MacDonald: bmacdonald@utpress.utoronto.ca Mary Beth Jarrad marybeth.jarrad@nyu.edu