Partly in response to dissatisfaction with the PIF (Product Information Fee) charges that have been part of doing business with Ingram, we recently developed a new wholesale coop program that has three different options. The program, which is for publishers who have been Ingram Book Company vendors for at least one year, primarily requires that a publisher establish a budget for Ingram advertising and leaves the publisher free to apportion the advertising dollars on any mix of Ingram trade book promotion or advertising vehicles, at significantly discounted small press rates.

Option A

The first option eliminates all title management fees for any publisher who commits to annual Ingram trade advertising spending equal to at least 1% of Ingram’s prior year net purchases, but not less than $500.

For instance, a publisher who had $75,000 in net purchases from Ingram in its last calendar or fiscal year would commit to an advertising budget of $750 and would not pay any fees for title management of their backlist or new titles throughout the year. And a publisher whose 2002 net purchase figure was below $50,000 would have to commit to the $500 floor.

Publishers choosing this option will automatically participate in Ingram’s title visibility programs via:

·
Title annotations in Ingram Advance®, Paperback Advance, Children’s Advance, and Christian Advance for qualifying titles, provided that Ingram makes a minimum buy of 300 copies of adult titles or 200 copies of children’s or paperback titles.

·
ipage® title detail

·
ipage® Merchandising and Promotions features and title lists

·
Multi-channel E-newsletter features and title lists

·
Title promotion and marketing plan development throughout all Ingram channels through our Publisher Marketing services

·
Content@Ingram™ Book Company, Ingram’s book information database

·
Companion™, Ingram’s CD-ROM book inventory and ordering product

·
Recommended Store Inventory Program

·
Recommended Inventory Store Expansion

·
Profiche

·
Bookseller’s First Choice™,a popular standing order program for independent and college bookstores

·
Microfiche

Option B

This option, which is designed for publishers who want to establish a coop advertising pool at levels below 1% of prior year net purchases, also has a $500 floor, and it involves title management fees that are capped at 25% of the established coop advertising pool. These fees are charged at the beginning of the year so that publishers choosing this option will know exactly what they will be paying for title management for the next 12 months.

For instance, a publisher who had $90,000 in net purchases with Ingram last year might choose to commit only .75% of these net purchases–$675–to coop advertising. In that case, we would bill the publisher 25% of that amount–$168.75–at the first of the year, and that payment would cover all of the title visibility programs listed above for all of the publisher’s titles, both backlist and new. The balance of the publisher’s established wholesale coop pool or budget–$506.25–would be used for advertising in Ingram’s catalogs or other special advertising options at the publisher’s discretion.

Option C

Instead of establishing a coop advertising pool, publishers can opt to pay one-time fees of $50 per title for titles set up in the Ingram Book Company database during the previous quarter. By choosing Option C, publishers elect to establish no advertising budget or wholesale coop pool with Ingram. The $50 per title fee does, however, give the publisher all of the benefits of the Ingram title visibility programs as stated above.

Unlike the former Product Information Fee program, which billed publishers quarterly based on a title’s sales, this option is structured to help publishers budget effectively and requires only one setup fee for the life of a title.

Also, it is important to note, Option C is the default for publishers who have been Ingram vendors for at least a year.

Axing Annotation Fees

Along with lowering the initial buy amount required for a title to be annotated in Advance, Paperback Advance, Children’s Advance, and Christian Advance from 500 to 300 copies for adult hardcover titles and from 300 to 200 for children’s and trade paper titles, we have also completely eliminated the annotation fees previously associated with these catalogs. Ron Powers, Ingram’s Director of Merchandise, Small Publishers, notes that the elimination of these fees is an especially important change for publishers in specialty categories such as children’s and Christian titles, who may have previously paid both PIF charges and fees for Children’s or Christian Advance.

For more information, publishers who can exercise these options should contact their Ingram buyer or Sherry McCreery in Ingram Publisher Advertising Sales (615/213-3599).

New vendors who do not yet qualify for participation in one of the options described above can participate in our new “New Vendor Program,” which offers a number of discounted advertising options that I will explain in an upcoming article.

Audrey Seitz, Vice President of Marketing at Ingram Book Company, was most recently Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising with Joseph Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her career in marketing and promotions has included management positions in healthcare, broadcasting, entertainment, advertising, and research management organizations.

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