Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled mass markets"

A couple of posts back, I talked about publishers' fondness for trade, and how booksellers seemed to be sweating it a bit. However, it is a fact that mass market sales have declined both in number of units sold and also sales dollars. In prior years, sales dollars stayed steady while units sold declined because of increased cover price. (And they thought we didn't notice). However, through the three quarters of 2004, sales declined by 8%. So, is this a case of trade cannibalizing the mass market market , or is mass market merely passé?

Publishers Weekly talked about the state of the mass market in this week's issue and they noted this from Jack Romanos, President of Simon & Schuster, regarding the declining number of retailers and shelf space:

More troublesome is that outlets that once were major supporters of the format, such as certain discount stores (e.g., Woolworth's), don't exist any more, Romanos said. Penguin Group USA president David Shanks is another publisher who's convinced that there are fewer outlets for mass market titles, even as the output rises. That combination results in less shelf time for titles, plus higher returns. The reduction in outlets has also resulted in the elimination, or near elimination, of entire genres, with male-oriented subjects such as westerns and men's adventure affected the most.

So, is it perhaps the content on the shelves that might be affecting this trend. Another little tid-bit from Mr. Romanos:

The sales decline is "wreaking havoc with the formula we use to calculate how much we can pay for advances to authors," who have traditionally earned back about half the advance through the sale of mass market paperbacks" Romanos said.

And this one from Penguin Group USA President, David Shanks:

Shanks also noted that deals for many New York Times bestselling authors are "based on the fact they will sell lots of copies in mass market paperback." Many authors are selling "far fewer" copies when their hardcovers are reprinted than in the past, Shanks said, and the "rate of backlist sales is not what it once was." Applebaum agreed that "relatively few authors" sell as many mass market copies as before, adding that publishing "is in a period where everyone needs to recalibrate" how deals are done.

How many readers, having glimpsed the towering Danielle Steel wall of books, could have predicted this? Okay, everybody raise your hand….

Yes, all this gloom and doom is nothing new. So what are the bright spots? They had a couple of items from John Lindsay, v-p of marketing for Levy Home Entertainment, first of all:

Sales are strongest in what he termed "subcategories" such as romantic suspense that blend elements of two genres.

And also, this:

To give the segment a spark, Lindsay said, mass market houses "need to be more promotional." Levy noted that too many racks "look all the same," and suggested that publishers spice up displays with promotions and different authors. Finding a way to better highlight new authors would also boost sales, Lindsay said, and Levy hopes to launch such a merchandise program early next year.

Levy is the BIG book distributor who sponsored the "Get Caught Reading At Sea" promotion where selected titles and authors who tied into a cruise with readers. In their August 2005 newsletter they site significant increase in sell-through (most increases were 30+ percentage points) through their cruise promotion. Now, THAT is awesome.

And in the "let's try something new" department, Penguin is experimenting with a larger mass-market format, with an increase of ¾ inch increase in length, and 1/16 inch increase in width. The books are designed to fit in existing racks, but will have a larger font, and yes, you guessed it, an incremental price increase as well. Their first title to be released in the new format will have a cover price of $10.

So, there are some good things to look forward to. Another bright spot, Sears has been opening up new outlets called "Sears Grand" with a substantial book department. In light of the merger last week with K-Mart, perhaps Wal-Mart is about to get some competition in the book department? Hmm…..

Have a great week.
Kathleen