Dodging the snowstorms that hammered the eastern seaboard, I have returned from our latest trip to visit with our buyer at Barnes and Noble in New York City (actually the weather was beautiful - check out the snow at Central Park!). It was another fantastic meeting, and our relationship with the world's largest book retailer continues to grow!Barnes and Noble will now be carrying all Tate Publishing e-books on their website, which will make our e-books also available for the B&N Nook Reader. This is another great step, and it will prepare Tate Publishing to be at the forefront, taking huge steps in the digital marketplace. (In fact, we are already in discussions with Apple to have our books formatted and available for the new iPad and the iBook store later this year!)
In addition, the excellent writing and cover design of Tate books continues to allow us to take further steps at the bookstore level, with more local and regional buys becoming a reality for our authors and their fine books.
Selling books at the retail level is tougher than ever. And with over 550,000 new books published in 2009, the marketplace - particularly at the retail level - is more crowded and competitive than ever.
But the Tate Publishing model provides opportunity for success not only at the retail level, but also beyond retail and into the market that has now, in the 21st Century, fragmented into thousands of niche markets. Many publishers live and die only by the retail market, which makes the shelf life of each book fairly small. Our plan lengthens the life of each and every book, taking it to the retailers, to the digital marketplace, and far beyond into these niche markets for continued success.
Some Tate authors are seeing their best success 2-3 years after their release date, which is generally unheard of in the publishing world. The reason this is true is that we have a marketing staff that can tailor our approach for each specific book based on the niche for that book. As we schedule both retail and niche marketing events for our authors, more readers can be found, and word of mouth - still one of the very best forms of advertisement - can grow.
We are excited about our future with B&N and with a marketing plan that is truly the best plan in the industry. As we continue to grow in the retail and niche markets, our authors will continue to receive the best service and the best plan for success available.
