The Independent Book Publishers Association held Publishing University 2024 in Denver from April 25–27, on the theme “Rise and Disrupt.” Approximately 325 members were in attendance, about the same as last year's PubU. The gathering drew 37 exhibitors, up from 25 in 2023. In addition, “this year, we had more sponsors participate than we’ve ever had,” IBPA CEO Andrea Fleck-Nisbet said in her welcome address.
To kick off the opening keynote panel on how to “Rise Above Supply Chain and Other Industry Disruptions,” Fleck-Nisbet said that distribution and market access are top priorities for IBPA members. “It’s never been easier to put a book into the market, and it’s never been harder to sell that book,” she said. “Revenues are not growing commensurate with new titles being introduced” and “there are too many channels and not enough outlets for discoverability.” Although Fleck-Nisbet did not elaborate further at this roundtable, IBPA has been exploring the idea of a distribution cooperative in the wake of Small Press Distribution's closure, and members discussed this at PubU.
She asked Independent Publishers Group CEO Joe Matthews how independent publishers can develop a business plan, build a profitable backlist, and find distribution—not necessarily in that order. Matthews agreed that “beautiful and well written books” alone won’t win a distributor, although “at IPG, we don’t have a [backlist] size or dollar requirement” that publishers need to meet beofe IPG will take them on as a client. Instead, a distributor needs to be persuaded that a publisher has the marketing and publicity “to cut through the noise,” and “the ‘why to buy’ that Barnes & Noble is going to want to hear when you go to sell that book.” This might mean a regional angle, a genre or subject focus, or a dedicated social-media following. When a publisher has a “built-in audience” and a “niche,” Matthews said, “we know we’re going to grow their sales” with “access to thousands more customers.”
Ultimately, Matthews said, a small press needs to see 65% of their revenue come from backlist sales. The trick for smaller presses, Matthews continued, is to find a way to get to a publisher's "big pile of intellectual property" and backlist to cover the cost of developing a frontlist. He and Fleck-Nisbet both called this a “chicken-and-egg problem,” and lamented the lack of subsidies and other financial support for independent publishing in the U.S., compared to Canada and the U.K. Matthews has contacted philanthropists including the MacArthur Foundation and McKnight Foundation about supporting the indie publishing community, and Fleck-Nisbet said organizations including IBPA might lobby for alternative funding models.
In the meantime, “we actually do kind of want to see your business plan,” Matthews concluded. “Sell us, convince us, and then we’ll want to be part of your mission and convince bookstores of the same thing.”
Inventory Control and Discoverability at B&N
Following Fleck-Nisbet and Matthews’ conversation, Barnes & Noble category manager of children’s books Scott Berkowitz talked about how indie publishers might crack the trade retail market, with prompts from the Collective Book Studio’s publisher and founder, Angela Engel.
“I come in peace,” Berkowitz joked to the IBPA audience, then spoke about new B&N locations, “pushing 700” by the end of 2024. He said B&N is “first a bookstore, second a community center, and we want to highlight local authors and have individual storytime events…. We try to find out ‘what does the neighborhood need?’” Indie publishers and authors, he said, should pitch their books and events at B&N locations specific to their niche: “Sometimes the best option—because we don’t want to return anything and we want to ensure sell-through—is to do a more targeted distribution.”
When it comes to taking big risks on titles, Berkowitz said, “Thank you, no thank you.” Returns mean “time away from selling books and being on the floor,” he explained. “Returning books just doesn’t rub us the right way, and there’s a financial component to that too. James [Daunt] instilled in us that you need to buy smarter and better.”
He explained B&N’s inventory control system, or ICS, which tracks books’ performance. “This is a really special weapon we have, and I think it will be appreciated in this room,” Berkowitz said. The tool helps staff buy, allocate, and restock inventory across locations. For instance, “on the Upper West Side you’re going to sell a ton of children’s and board books,” while “Union Square is going to have lines around the block for YA. When you realize how much variation there is, … you need to have that micro expertise. That has been the primary reason of why our returns have gone in the low single digits.”
The huge number of titles B&N receives does make it harder for indie publishers to be discovered at B&N—Berkowitz commented that this September alone, he is choosing from among 2,200 frontlist titles for readers ages 0–7—but a few breakout stars do achieve success. Berkowitz sees B&N booksellers “trying to rally around” Nathalie Alonso’s picture book Old Clothes for Dinner?!, illustrated by Natalia Rojas Castro and published by Barefoot Books in early March, because of its family story, Cuban recipes, and Spanish vocabulary. After tracking the book with the ICS, B&N “replenished it. I think we bought maybe 800 or 900 [copies], and now every week we're getting some new orders,” Berkowitz said. The conversation also turned to B&N's competition with independent bookstores, and a suggestion that authors and publishers strategically promote book -- first at independent bookstores to demonstrate community demand and then at B&N.
In conclusion, an audience member asked each panelist to identify one thing they would “rise and disrupt.” Matthews said, “We have to raise the list price on books. It's not going up at the rate of inflation [and] it's a silent squeeze on our margins.” Berkowitz wished for BookTok to “pay more attention to picture books.” Engel imagined “my own Collective Book Studio branding stores,” bricks-and-mortar spaces with indie publisher inventory. Fleck-Nisbet said, “We need to get rid of returns!” and cheers erupted in the room.
The next PubU, on the theme of “Connect. Collaborate. Transform!,” will be held in Saint Paul, Minn., from May 15–17, 2025.
