To date Minimum Advertised Pricing, or MAP, which prohibits retailers from advertising a price at less than the manufacturers’ suggested retail price—but allows retailers to sell at whatever price they choose—has mostly been used for nonbook items like Oakley sunglasses, Rolex watches, and pool cues. However, if book publishers had been using MAP two years ago, it might have prevented the 2009 pre-holiday pricing war that erupted among Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon. The Supreme Court had already paved the way two years before that for at least some use of minimum pricing with its ruling in Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. that MAP isn’t necessarily unlawful. And some publishers have adopted a partial MAP program. Random House’s 2011 co-op policy, for instance, explicitly states that retailers can’t receive co-op for items advertised at more than 45% below the cover price.

But Schiffer Publishing in Atglen, Pa., which specializes in art, antiques, photography, and military history books, has tried to make MAP a more integral part of its offerings and link it to the cover price by setting up a separate Schiffer LTD imprint just for those books. “In the type of publishing we’re in, in the niche markets, our authors are actively involved in selling books, and they have experienced the problem with advertised discounts. It hurts the authors, artists, gallery owners, and booksellers. The goal is to have specialized retailers on an even playing field,” said president Pete Schiffer, who first enjoyed success with MAP when he was in the bicycle business. Schiffer restricts distribution and doesn’t ship its MAP titles to those who do not sign or follow the company’s policy

For its initial MAP trial in spring 2010, the company launched the LTD imprint with three titles that it had created internally. Over the first four seasons it has published 45 LTD books, only a small percentage of the 300 titles it publishes annually. “The selection of these books involves a conversation we have with the author to determine if LTD fits their goals,” said Schiffer. “I only offer it to a few authors that could benefit and whose books could benefit. But the decision does rely with us. We want to keep it as an option.”

Despite the low numbers of participating books, at least to start, Schiffer deemed both the imprint and MAP a success. Many bookstores, museums, and distributors have signed on to the program, he noted, and given positive feedback and “great comments.” However it could be an uphill battle convincing other presses to use MAP. When Schiffer tries, “they get a smile on their face, and they usually say, ‘Let me know how it goes,’ ” he said, adding that he hopes they will see value in the model and adopt it, too.