Indian Book Business

2008-12-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

The Future Of Print Books????????
I came across a lot of Posts & Talk about future of print Books,Many Publishers have given me a mixed response about Growth of e Books & other format Books.Its Very critical to discuss about the future of print Books.
In India we don't see a big threat to future of Print Books for at least next five years
I would be happy to have your comments

Indian Book Business

2008-12-01T08:45:00.001-08:00

Indian Book Market

2008-11-13T07:13:00.001-08:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagaFake.com

2008-07-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

அனைவரும் ஆவலோடு எதிர்பார்த்த "ஈரோடு புத்தக திருவிழா-௨008." இதோ 1ஆகஸ்ட் ௨008 தொடங்க இருக்கிறது .மக்கள் சிந்தனை பேரவை ஏற்பாடு செய்யும் இந்த நிகழ்வு புத்தக ஆர்வலர்களுக்கு வரமாகும். மக்கள் சிந்தனை பேரவை இன் இந்த சீரிய முயற்சிக்கு எமது வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

2008-07-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

ISBN Numbers & ISSN Numbers

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a unique, numerical commercial book identifier, based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created in the UK by the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966.The 10-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN) format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and published as an international standard, ISO 2108, in 1970; (however, the 9-digit SBN code was used in the UK until 1974). Currently, the ISO TC 46/SC 9 is responsible for the standard.

Since 1 January 2007, International Standard Book Numbers are of 13 digits, compatible with Bookland EAN-13s. Like the numeric identifier, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) identifies periodical publications such as magazines.
ISBN FAQ

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=I-RaByhWLisC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=ISBN+NUMBERS&source=web&ots=9eGUdU8643&sig=NvyzEFmygGuZjdTPCaAtmiHpDm4&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=8&ct=result#PPA84,M1

http://www.isbn.nielsenbookdata.co.uk/controller.php?page=158

you can search using ISBN in following websites

http://isbndb.com/

http://www.biblio.com/isbn/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources

Know How ISBN numbers are assigned

http://www.bowker.com/index.php/component/content/article/2

2008-07-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

1000 general Knowledge -My first Book published

My first Book on general knowledge is published By Aruna Publications- Chennai Today 2nd July 2008 Its available in all leading Book stores in Tamil Nadu,

Four Books on General Knowledge is about to be Published soon

2008-07-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

viruba.com -World Tamil book database

world wide Tamil Book Lovers Here is an "Aakshaya Paathiram" for you.

You have an online World wide database of Tamil Books, Tamil Authors, Tamil writers, Tamil Publishers,Tamil Book related events such as Tamil Book releases, book fairs ,even Tamil Book reviews published in various magazines & dailies updated daily

viruba.com Just log in & see what it can do for you

viruba.com has a collection of Books-2431,Authors-1042,Publishers-502, categories-104,reviews-189, Literary magazines-58, Other releases-254.

It also highlights the authors based on their education, Such as Phd's, M.Phils, researchers, universities etc.

I am sure you would appreciate, I haven't seen such an initiative in web in any language.I Have seen it has a average clicks of 28,000 daily .

I appreciate Mr.Kumeresan the man behind this portal.

I feel Writers, Publishers & Book Lovers to support Viruba.com for its Initiative

log on to www.viruba.com

2008-07-02T13:34:00.003-07:00

Neyveli Book fair,Erode Book fair, Coimbatore Book Fair,Madurai Book Fair are the Upcoming Book fairs .

Neyveli Book fair is done with elaborate arrangements, It kick starts on this Saturday on 5 July 08.

Thanks To Sixth sense Publications Mr.Pugalenthi for taking Pain of traveling to coimbatore in organizing Coimbatore book fair, he knows the knack of getting things done.sample he has included & delegated Jobs to Mr.Valaudham of Vijaya pathipagam & Namadhu nambikai Editor Marabin maindhan Muthaih

As a publisher, the greatest advantage of attending a Book fair is that you have book lovers pouring in You can test your books & Understand where u stand. you can also see where does your competitors stand.

As a Book Lover attending a Book fair is only option for you to browse books of various interest, More than that you have a variety to browse in each subject before you make your buying.

You take a decent discount still you are profitable. with online Book store you get better discounts & offers But you don't have a chance to browse the books, you can only its title page & brief description.

Book lovers if you have a chance Please do Visit this Book fairs

2008-05-19T21:23:00.000-07:00

Why we dont have small medium format Book store chains

Small Format Book Store is not coming up Because returns from Books is very very low,when compared to life style items .

In Total large format store Sales (Land Mark) average Contribution from Books is only 25-30% where you make a Margin of 25-35% , 20%-25% comes from Music where you get a Margin of 15-25 % & 30-40% comes from Gifts where you make 300% as majority of these Items are non Branded.

When you have this proposition you can make profit & grow,other than landmark,other large format stores like Oddyssey, crossword, oxford, corner Book store,reliance time out are trying hard to Hit this.as their books inventor y is very High when compared with its sale.Even discount sale are not helping them to cut down their inventory.

Landmark being backed by East West & West land one of the strong south based Book distributor is only an advantage.
"Higginbothams" of Simpson Group (old & Big name in Book trade),"Fountain Head" of India Book Distributors are not able to make it as they majorly rely on Books & stationery's.

Small & medium Format Stores have space constraint. you need a Minimum 200-300 Sq ft for stocking various ranges of Books to keep your customer happy.Small & medium Format Stores will need additional space allocation for various products to make it Profitable .

Many Intelligent entrepreneurs don't Jump in small & Medium format Book Store as they Know this constraint & ROI in book store is also very low & slow, compared to other retail Business.

2008-04-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Untapped segments.

Books are being sold only through the conventional Book store Model,Corporate & customised Business is Still left untapped in India, Except a Few Medical Publishers Like elsevier & Jay pee medical publishers separate division for customisation.

Customisation can also help as promotional tool for targeted audience & can promote the Book in the Target segment.customisation helps us to generate revenues with less overheads.

Customised Management Books & computer Books can be promoted for Gifting in large organisations for their Internal & external customers.

I have personally worked in selling customised books can help you in selling your books to a targeted audience, Many people doesn't involve in marketing Books for customisation as it involves lengthy selection & APPROVAL process.

Selling Books through schools is also left Untapped its a Huge market, I can name a few companies Like Scholastic, Sura Books, NCBH who have created a strong market presence by doing this.conducting regular exhibitions creates Point of sale & Brand awarness,

As a Book Seller & publisher we Know " NO PAIN..... NO GAIN"

2008-01-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

The Chennai Book Fair – an event most sought annual event of the publishing industry & Book lovers of Tamil Nadu was inaugurated on Jan. 4 The Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India, which conducts this book fair annually , 31st Chennai Book Fair has 528 Stalls displaying books and multimedia educational Products. This year BAPASI has introduced new concept of providing racks to 30 Small Publishers, which is mostly from Tamil. The Book Fair ground is spread in 1,50,000 Sq ft can accommodate 500 Cars and innumerable two wheelers.

Kalaignar Mu Karunanithi Porkizhi Virudhu , from the corpus fund of Rupees One Crore donated Donated by Dr.Kalaingar.Mu.karunanidhi from his peronal funds to honour writers was presented to Ma. Su. Sambanthan, Kavingar Puviarasu, Mu. Ramasamy and Smt. Tamilselvi for Tamil and Smt. Sarah Joseph for Malayalam. ( four from Tamil, One from other Indian Language, and One from English Annually.)

The 528 Stalls & 30 Stands cover a wide range of books in English and Tamil. Categories range from Educational, Exam Prep to Sporting,Multimedia CDs, Art and Religion.The book fair starts on January 4th till January 17 at St. George’s School between 2 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. on working days and 11 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. on holidays.

This Mega Event is a reality made by BAPASI President Mr.Gandhi Kannadhasan , Secretary R.S.Shanmugam & team of Office Bearers & Dedicated Volunteers 4 months long Consistent & committed Efforts.
Hats Off BAPASI Team.

When we Spoke with Exhibitors,we could notice a sense of Dissatisfaction about less Visitors during the take off week,They Pointed out reduced Advertisements & less media advertisements resulted in attracting less crowd than the normal.One of the Major reasons they pointed out was Aanantha Vikatan which prepared the mind of book readers through its articles, advertisement, Prizes & sponsorship (most Popular Singapore Ticket )last year, Distanced Itself from BAPASI this year.Experiment of 6 entrance also ended in confussion, Burning the Finger of exhibitors.

Many Visitors Pointed out repetition of Books with Many exhibitors (Booksellers & publishers).Also few felt the absence of Major Bookstores Like Landmark,Oxford & Oddessy which can be one stop for their Purchases.Increase in stalls numbers with out Uniqueness makes them feel frustrated by seeing repetitions inspite of walking long in aie Ground.Many also felt need of Property counters wher they can leave thier belonging & collect it back after thier shopping & resting chairs which would help them to take rest after heavy walk with purchase bags,as it more than 2 Km walk in the fair visiting stalls
Its High Time now to categorise the exhibitors to make it convenient for the Buyers.Many visitors Pointed out they were not aware start & end date in advance.

It's an appeal to BAPASI to work On concrete plans to retain The Visitors to Keep the Book readers alive Through early Promotions in print & media,and categorise the stalls
Looking all this makes me Feel, 'Makkal sindhani pervai' stalin Gunsekaran who organises Book Fair in erode, ends up every year ensuring Incraese in Number of Visitors & Volume of sales .Keeping the 150 stalls a constant & through consistant efforts to attarct crowd.He not only bring Smile in face of Readers also ensure happiness of all his exhibitors in every erode Book fair.Not person from Business or management bacground Stalin Firmly Belives & Understand that its delight of sellers & visitors is an important key sucess of Erode fair,Not Just statistical Increase of stalls without any marketing efforts.

Toilet Facilities (specially for women )& water Logging Near the food court (Its Stincking smell) needs Immediate attention.

Added attraction at the fair grounds is 4800 Sq ft Over crowded Food Court, which provides variety of South Indian, North Indian, Chinese, and Fast Food beside the Fresh Juice counter.Food Court made its Bottom Line up in this event.

With few crowd & More stalls can the Book Sellers & Publishers make thier Bottom line?

2007-11-19T09:33:00.000-08:00

31 st Chennai Book Fair is due on January. Bapasi ,the fair organiser is gearing up for all time High of 530 stalls (above 500).
Bapasi had a general Body meeting regarding this Book air on 10Th November 2007.there were hot debates regarding increasing the stall rent & allocation of Prime stalls/4 stalls.

It ended with win win agreement between organiser & members with following conclusions,

The stall rents will not be raised
4 stalls will be in all rows no exclusive prime stall rows
organisers can increase the stalls numbers
Bapasi can use the fund allocated for food for advertisements.

at the end organiser claimed they would require more funds , the funds in Proposed Budget may not be sufficient for organising,But still they were happy as the opposition for 4 stalls /Prime stalls if let for vote would have lost & Put organisers in soup.

members felt happy that their rent is not increased their stall rent they were very happy that their major mental block 4 stalls Are the prime stalls are not in separate row .

whats pathetic is even organisers & Participants (members ) never even bothered to think the convenience & benefit of visitors, they never thought of increasing the audience who come as paid visitor/ Pass Visitor.

Every year all the participants & organisers Hype that there is Increased audience & Increased sale. every one knows the fact there is growth ,is that sufficient?

are we taking steps to increase the sale of exhibitors, than organising & just wearing an organiser badge?

as an organiser are we doing Justice to the participants & Visitors ?

as an exhibitor are we doing fair trade practise?

as an exhibitor am i taking steps to increase the walk ins?

as an exhibitor how do i differentiate from others exhibitor?

do we have exclusivity in each stalls are its a big Book market?

What we need to think is y do pavement Book shops make money out side the exhibition venue ?Answer Is simple he is able to convince the Buyer That he offers More things for less ,Also value for Money

if organisers can translate this Book fairs will be Win win to Both Organiser/Exhibitors & Visitors

lets Dream to make it happen at least in 2008

2007-05-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Publishing companies -marketing activities.
Do publishing companies market Books in India?
Does a Book seller Brief about the Book If being asked?
Do Publishers Give book briefing to Book sellers?
Are Publishers Helping Booksellers to Increase their market share?
these questions make Look different But The answer to All this questions is 'NO'
Except a few Majority of Publisher reps don't have knowledge to explain about the Book,this is Because of lack of product knowledge.Publisher's never even attempt to train their staff.
It is worst in case of STM Publisher's reps promote Books to Highly educated masses (Prof,Researcher's,P.G's).They stand in front of them like courier delivery Boys,Just hand over product information Brochures,Complimentary copies,Inspection copies.Many a times they cant even explain the advantages of their Book over the Competitor's which is a vital factor in deciding the future of the Book.
4P's of marketing
Product
Price
Placement
PromotionBasics of marketing as its said
Do any Publishing company train their Rep's about their Book,Contents, advantages, Pricing,target audience,
Do they take steps to make Books availability?
Do They perform activities to Promote their Books other than sending Brochures & meeting ?
Without even making an effort to do the bare minimum ,Expecting the market to grow by its own is a Crime ,Only Magic can make it happen.
I Find Few publishers who sincerely attempt & Succeed,Jaypee Brothers Is a Classical example of success in Implementing Right & Consistant efforts in Implementing marketing Strategy,This has not only made them leaders in their segment also has gained them International reputation.
In Tamil regional Publisher's SURA Books which is Known for success by School Exhibitions is now Attempting Book Exhibitions In Book stores repliacting The Success of Anuragam-kalaingan pathipagam,Anatha vikadan & NCBH which was poieneer in Mobile Book shops & School Exhibitions.
Attempts Of New Horizon media(KIZHAKKU/Kilakku Pthpigam) to Sell Books to unconvetional Book store audience Needs to be appreciated & rewarded.

2007-04-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Book Sellers Discount structure in India.

The Normal discount structure to Book sellers is based on the category of Books they sell, it varies from 15% to 40% on current titles, Up to 70%-90% on remainders.

Educational text books (Like Dhapathirai publisher's) are offered only 15% to the Book seller's other's like technical publication Pune which sells through Prgathi books offers 25%

In well known Publisher's like TMH,PHI,Pearson etc,Bookseller's get a discount of minimum 30% to 33% ,and even more depending on the quantity & reputation.

Ironically the short discount Inland publisher's books which was selling less earlier started selling more in quantity, As these Books

are priced at lower end.
covers the entire syllabus ,
are written in an simple English.
helps in exam point of view to score marks

students prefer Inland publishers than renowned publishers books like TMH,PHI, Pearson.

As educational institutes are Mushrooming Increase in Intake has reduced the quality of students,quest for knowledge is vanishing & Thirst for scoring marks is increasing this has resulted in booming the sale of inland publishers.

Non availability of stocks of leading publishers Books (like TMH,Pearson,PHI etc) with the wholesalers during beginning of semester & academic year is also another major reason to support Inland publishers

Mostly these inland Publisher books are Authored by professor of college in a particular area,these books are being recommend by his friends who works in various college in that area as a gesture of friendship .Hence its being felt discount is not necessary as the books directly goes to the college from the author turned publishers,the small discount they offer goes to his friend who recommends & sells the Books in that college.Book seller who has been working with publisher for ages finds no role to play in this new system.

seeing this opportunity even leading Book wholesalers who represent leading publishers contact the college directly to keep themselves fit & alive in this race

Educational Book sales through books store has reduced which resulted in increase in demanding Discount structure on other books (like general books, regional Language books,Management,Fiction,Non Fiction & children's books) which has to depend on Book stores for sales,to meet the overheads of running a bookstore in a competitive environment.

English Books which was sold at 30% discount to bookstores now is being sold at 33-35% and even more based on Volumes & reputation.

regional language books which are Sold at 20%-25% discount is now being sold at a discount of 25%-33% and even more based on volumes & reputation.

Children's books in English are sold at a discount ranging 33%-40% depending on the publishers .

many books are sold on sale or return (consignment ) basis & return & replacement.

credit period to book seller's which was earlier 30-45 days, is now increased to 90-120 days but realisation of payment takes even 10-20days more from leading book stores.

Distributors/wholesaler's who operated before at a gross margins of 10-15% are now reduced to 5%-10% with this reduce in operating margins wholesalers in India who wish leverage on their distribution & liquidation of stocks through their business contacts , turn as publishers by hiring local authors who are being offered a throw away royalty.

With Globalisation Bigger giants doing extremely well in various Industries, Reluctant Publisher's have shown a path to wholesalers who turned as publishers & Author turned publishers to flourish in the market.

its looks fishy on one side the discount structure of leading publishers is being increased, but the sales is not increasing,on the other hand inland publishers discounts are as low as 15% -25% but still their sales grow year after year.

Increase in discount & credit was done only to increase the sale & profits, but its not reflected in our balance sheet. If sales demand is created by publishers, Booksellers will satisfy themselves with the descent margin they are offered.

The key to success lies not in offering more discount & credit days , But In creating demand for your books in Books stores through enquires & sale . Also through ensuring prompt availability of your books in wholesale & through supply in time to book stores.

2007-04-16T01:48:00.000-07:00

Increase your sales through walk-in's

The best way to increase your sales is to increase your book sales in retail outlets,It looks simple But whether its easy, all that looks simple is not that easy because all that looks simple has to executed.the best way to increase retail sales is to increase their walk in & enquiries. Increasing the walk in is not that easy a lot of systematic act ivies, campaigns & promotions are required to increase store walk in,Even Bigger stores Do Regular activities to Increase the Walk in of customers,to name a few

Recently oddessy has promoted an offer of Buy 3 books & get the lowest priced book absolutely free.they do regularly do authors meet.
Landmark Did its mega Discount sale up to 60%, They also regularly organise author's meet.
Oxford does book launches,author- readers meet & Discount sale regularly.

the above mentioned are very few examples,you have to design your own activity to promote walk ins.
publishers can join hands with Retailers in getting activities done,they can supply their books for exhibitions that are organised by the book stores, offer extra discounts for discounts fair, Book stores can also associate with like minded companies like Pepsi,Coke, Fan ta,Reliance to do promos & campaigns

store walk ins is directly proportional to your growth ,Increase your walk in customer, he is going to be your treasure for your future.Make him feel delighted by your approach & service he will make you feel delighted when you look at your sales figure & Profits.

from next time u meet a small book store owner don't look just only for orders & payments,see how you can help him to sell more , offer a helping hand by talking with your bosses in your company.Update him whats happening around in the market & provide tips that can help him to increase his sales & walk in's.

many times Bigger companies rep's /executives don't respond to small orders they received from small book stores they are not given importance as they are small even if you cant supply directly, guide him from where he can get stocks from.

Remember every a book that sells in Bookstore is contributing for your growth,Your companies growth,Ocean is made of small drops & journey of thousand miles starts with a single step

good luck for your success journey.