A leading distributor and publisher speaks out!
1.
Tanya, as CEO of a mid-sized book
distributor, how do you feel a distributor should work with its publishers to
grow their brands? A distributor has a direct line of communication with buyers at
bookstores, libraries, wholesalers, etc – so it’s critically important to
communicate any feedback from those parties to our authors and/or publishers to
help their brands grow and thrive. Our initial pitch happens early enough that
we sometimes we get specific feedback on a cover, a title, or the content of
the book that can still be tweaked to make it a more marketable product. Greenleaf Book Group is unique in that we have
an in-house brand strategy team to provide guidance on audience and brand
development, to develop ancillary materials and keynote presentations, short
videos, etc.
2.
What do you love about being in
the book industry? I love that I’m surrounded by people who are smarter than I am!
I’m also fascinated by the shifting landscape in publishing. It’s interesting
to see where certain companies are changing or staying the same in response to
the developments in our business, and of course it’s exciting to see innovative
new companies getting started.
3.
What challenges are ahead for
your side of the business? Like any publisher or distributor, the shrinking footprint of
brick and mortar bookstores is a challenge. We’ve been working to diversify our
account base for many years and have been fortunate to be able to offset the
shrinking accounts with non-bookstore partners like airport bookstores and
chains such as The Container Store and Bed, Bath and Beyond.
4.
What kind of authors and
publishers do you look to represent? Ultimately, we’re looking for the same criteria that our retail
partners look for when considering a book: a marketable, differentiated message
with quality packaging and strong marketing support. We also want collaborative
authors and publishers who will work in partnership with us so we can all sell
more books!
5.
What are some of your more recent
success stories? We’ve been blessed to work with Joe Cross on The Reboot With Joe Juice Diet (a New York Times bestseller for us) and
two follow-up titles. Many people discovered Joe through his documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, which
provided him with a tremendous platform to drive book sales. We’ve also been
successful in reenergizing older titles through innovative eBook promotions. The Clutter Diet by Lorie Marrero is a
2009 release that just hit the Wall Street
Journal eBook bestseller list this year!
6.
Which genres would you like to
grow for Greenleaf? We do especially well with non-fiction, and business books have
always been a strong suit. We’ve seen tremendous growth with our health titles
in the past few years, and I’ve love to see that continue.
7.
Do you have any advice for
first-time authors seeking to determine which publishing path to walk down? Take the time to understand your
specific goals and the pros/cons of each publishing model. When it comes to
choosing between self-publishing, traditional publishing, or a hybrid model
like Greenleaf’s, it’s largely a matter of determining the right fit depending
on your goals, resources, timeline, target market, and the importance of owning
your rights
.
RESOURCE OF THE
YEAR
2015 Book PR & Marketing Toolkit: All New
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions,
and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer.
You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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