About CIROBE, there's good news and better news. First, the show marked its 10th anniversary last November; and second, the number of attendees and the value of book product changing hands has increased every year. By talking to new and almost-new exhibitors (veterans of two to three years), it's clear that the show still has plenty of healthy growth ahead of it with no end in sight. Brad Jonas, CIROBE cofounder, says this year's show has experienced an unusually strong growth spurt in the number of new exhibitors. Among them are Bradley's Book Clearance, Gibson Remainder Sales, Motorbooks Inc. and many more. By show time, Jonas expects that 20 or more new vendors will be added to last year's numbers.
An interesting fact about "new" vendors at CIROBE is that while many are actually show veterans, they are this year attending as vendors, instead of as retailers or CIROBE-experienced representatives of new companies. Mike Paper, owner of Bradley's, a Pittsburgh chain of four stores, has attended the show as a retailer for "seven or eight years," but this year is coming as a vendor of his own warehouse overstock. He says he will be "selling mostly by title," but will have some skids available.
Deborah Hastings, publisher of Federal Street Press, the promotional division of Merriam-Webster, scoped out the show for a couple of years as an attendee, before signing on as a vendor this year for her line of value-priced, branded dictionaries. "Previously I had thought it was a show more heavily weighted to remainders, but after attending for a couple of years as a spectator, I discovered that promotional books are very important there too."
Exley Gift Books, a U.S. division of a 25-year-old British firm, is getting a booth for the first time in 2001, but its representative, special sales director Henry Kazer, has been in the promotional and bargain book business for many years. The Exley team at CIROBE will also include a new hire, sales v-p Randy Kay, who has joined the company from Modern Publishing, a long-time CIROBE regular. "I've attended the show for 10 years, ever since it started," Kay says. For the last couple of years, Kazer attended CIROBE with Exley Gift Book samples although he did not have an exhibit. "I'd started attending a few years prior to this," he says, "dragging bags of samples around with me. I'm happy that Exley is getting a booth this year."
MBI, the parent company of Motorbooks International Wholesalers and Distributors, a leading publisher of books on cars, tractors, trains, boats, motorcycles and planes, is one of the few vendors completely new to the CIROBE scene this year. According to foreign rights manager Michael Heitzman, MBI decided to attend this year because "it is the venue to meet remainder dealers. I have dealt with many remainder dealers via e-mail and telephone, and feel face-to-face meetings are essential in developing long-term business partnerships."
The list of new exhibitors also includes Phaidon Press Inc., a company known for its lavish approach to book publishing and design, and specializing in the visual and decorative arts; the University of Hawaii Press, an academic and trade publisher of titles on Asia, the Pacific and Hawaii and children's books; and Sterling Publishing Company, publishers of crafts, how-to and illustrated books.
| The Skinny on CIROBE As usual, there's nothing like hearing the straight scoop from the horse's mouth. In this case, that means getting down with CIROBE's colorful co-founders, Brad Jonas and Marshall Smith. Herewith, the pair's observations and advice as they gear up for show #11. Smith: CIROBE is most easily explained by saying what it's not. It's not a traditional trade show. There are no screaming kids, carts or mascot characters running through the aisles. People are not there to schmooze, they're there to sell books. What you as an exhibitor want to concentrate on is selling all copies you have of a given book. Jonas: There are different styles of exhibitors. Some don't have a chance to meet these remainder buyers on a regular basis. This is the one place some of these people are available. And it's a self-selecting group. It's a great match-up of buyers and sellers. The other side of that is publishers' sales forces don't regularly call on people who buy bargain. That's the problem with white sales repped by the sales force. Frontlist buyers get offered white sales that they aren't interested in. In fact, the reps are selling to the wrong people, because they're not familiar with the bargain buyers. Smith: As a vendor you need to take a look at what you're selling: what is it, who wants it, what is the proper price? Bring as many titles as you can. People need to be reminded of your backlist. The more titles you bring, the more books you'll sell. Some of the people who have shown less robust growth over the years have been bringing the same books year after year. You don't want to keep slow movers forever. At some point, you've got to forget about margin and get rid of the stuff nobody really wants. Take the hit, get the cash and buy some more books. Jonas: As far as quantities and pricing go, there's no single mathematical formula that works for every book or every vendor. At early CIROBEs we had to tell publishers to put maximums, not minimums, on titles so they are able to spread the goods around and gain more customers. Smith: You can price books too cheaply. The first year, one of the university presses showed up with terrific illustrated books. They took too many orders for books that were underpriced and sold out immediately. If you have decent books and they're priced properly people will find them. You don't need gimmicks. Jonas: They're after product, not T-shirts or tote bags. You don't have to create a general sort of a buzz. Much of what you're selling is in finite quantities and up for grabs. Of course, now promotional people are producing books at all times, and that kind of product can be re-ordered. Smith: The only people who've ever complained about having a bad show had bad books or badly priced books. On the other hand, there are people who price books too high because they literally don't want to sell them. They are totally intent on making a huge margin. There is a distinct psychology to this. You have to be careful because it can backfire. Jonas: Publishers will get different margins on different books. They need to look at what they're trying to get out there. Some experienced exhibitors are coming only every other year, because CIROBE does such a great job for them in getting rid of overstock. Another thing: don't sell books you don't have. Once you have completely subscribed a book, take it off the table. It drives customers wild to place orders for a title and find out later it's been over-sold. Smith: There seems to be some feeling out there that because we have so many rules at the show that we're the enemy. We're not. Exhibitors should pick our brains about stuff. Not many things that happen on the show floor happen by accident. Also, some exhibitors think what's good for them is good for the show, and that's not always true. We have a good sense of the larger picture. We're trying to give everyone an equal opportunity, whatever their size or market clout. One last point about planning your schedule. The show is over at 4:00 pm on Sunday. Rookies sometimes plan their time too tight and think they'll be able to leave early and catch a five o'clock plane. One year, I watched a guy write over a million dollars in business at 3:50. The point is, don't back yourself into corner time-wise. It's amazing to me how much business gets written Sunday afternoon. --M.L. |
They Need Their Space
Second- and third-year exhibitors are a happy group--they're coming back because of successful experiences in previous years. And all these exhibitors that PW spoke to have increased their booth space with each succeeding year. "We've gone from having just one table," says Chris Eaton, v-p of purchasing for American Book Co., "to this year having a dozen tables and a breakout room. The first year we attended, we brought four sales people; this year we're bringing 20. It is for us a nonstop order-writing show."
Although remainder sales, says Craig Cohen, associate publisher for Powerhouse Publishers, are "only a small part of our overall business, which focuses on art and photography monographs, the show has proved very worthwhile. We're very happy to be attending for the second year." Third-year closeout software distributor, Rom-Man president Richard Van Dam, says "our space and our business at the show have increased substantially over the first year." Rom-Man will be liquidating what remaining book product they have at this year's show, ending its brief foray into the book closeout business.
Another enthusiatic attendee is Canterbury Books president Kent Rhodehamel. "Our first year we had a single table and were way off the beaten path, but luckily near the University of California Press, which everybody has to see because of their great white sale. Our second year we had two tables and moved further into the mainstream." This time Canterbury will have still more tables--and Rhodehamel hopes for an even better location.
Saul Scheinberg, president of Son Schein Books, another third-year exhibitor, says, "This show has been a very good experience for us. The first year we came, we took only one table. This year we are bringing four sales people and will have three tables." Son Schein specializes in value-priced children's books.
The Ayes Have It
The variety of customers the show draws and the convenience of having them all in one place is one of CIROBE's biggest attractions. "The customers make CIROBE the most important part of our sales plan for the year," says Eaton at American Book Company. "It's critical to keeping our inventory moving and keeping our customers informed of what is available. In the remainder market more searching is required by buyers, the market keeps changing, quantities are limited and there is always something new. We always pick up a good number of great new customers who are 'quality' buyers."
Says Rhodehamel, "Anybody just getting into this business and wanting to grow their customer base has to be at CIROBE--to reach the customers and to be taken seriously." Rhodehamel lays claim to over 200 "solid, regular customers" and looks for new ones to show up this year. His strategy is to find "the best books I can so customers say, 'I have to place an order there!' "
Hastings at Federal Street Press knows from her earlier CIROBEs that "there are buyers here that don't show up anywhere else. We want to see more of the market and want more niche retailers as customers. All the players can be found at CIROBE. Even the biggest guys like B&N come to this show." Scheinberg of Son Schein concurs: "CIROBE is one of the main ways we acquire new customers. And it is a very good way to service our existing customers too." Eriz Bredmehl of Strictly by the Book, which has been attending CIROBE since 1999, seems to speak for just about all of his colleagues when he says "We always find lots of new customers through the show--it's exceptionally worthwhile for us."
