Penguin Random House’s annual indie bookselling initiative for the holidays, two-day transit for orders, starts today, October 3, one month earlier than in years past.
Not only is the start date for the two-day transit shipping program before Columbus Day, but PRH will offer expedited shipping well beyond the Christmas holidays. The program continues through Valentine’s Day and ends on March 3, 2017.
As in previous years, orders from independent booksellers for physical titles received by 3 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday, will ship no later than the following business day, for arrival within two days. Frontlist and backlist books from Random House, Penguin, and PRH Publisher Services clients will be eligible for expedited shipping.
"What we originally envisioned five years ago as a two-month sales support effort, thanks to enormous enthusiasm and demand from our accounts, has evolved into an opportunity for customers to take advantage of not just two, but five months of ‘holiday’ consumer promotions," said Jaci Updike, president of PRH sales group.
The PRH shipping program, originally begun by Random House in 2011 has been so successful, that a number of other publishers have created similar programs to let indies take advantage of faster shipping during the holiday season.
Last month Macmillan announced an expedited shipping program that also launches October 3. The Macmillan program ends on December 23.
