Pricing the book, bookseller discounts, and TWC clout with the big Distributors.
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Posted by: Ted Magnuson 12/18/2003, 16:16:07

What kind of discount off list is TWC getting with on line booksellers? To elaborate on the complexities of this question- I see all kinds of strategies enter into this picture. For instance, a 'soon to be released' Writer's Collective novel is priced at 17.95 and then discounted to 12.57 by the bookseller. So- What kind of discount off list do these on-line booksellers get? Is it realistic to price a paperback at 17.95? With mass markets at 7.00, it seems the book has been priced out of the market. Albeit a 7.00 mass market is a pulpy thing and TWC book a little more durable and attractive. The online seller seems to have solved this problem with their discount and if the bookseller gets 55%, then their cost is 8.08. Their loss of margin is the authors gain as he can now net over 3.50 (not factoring in marketing and dues)on each book sold. If however, the discount to the online bookseller is 35%, the pricing picture could look more like this: the TWC catalogues the price at $12.59 and that is the price the book seller lists at. He still pays $8.08 for the book and the author still receives her $3.50. So back to the original question- what discount do online bookseller get from TWC? Next- What is a realistic discount for TWC books at Baker and Taylor, Ingrams, and othe distributors? Lightning Source seems to make a big thing out of how their publishers/authors get listed in catalogues sent to these big distributors. Again I've heard that some of the distrbutors want a 55% break off retail- giving them a 5% margin if the bookstores buy at 50%.

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