Barnes & Noble continues the steady expansion of its publishing program. Its most recent efforts involve the rebranding and extension of a series of how-to books, as well as heavy doses of promotion for a new title, Law & Order: Crime Scenes.
Barnes & Noble Basics is a three-year-old line of how-to books that the company is quietly expanding and repositioning based on reports from store managers across the country. The books, a kind of stripped-down version of the For Dummies guides on such topics as using the Web, grant writing and job interviews, come about through an unusual, bottom-up process. The company polls store managers about which topics are selling well, while at the same time asking them to define "holes"—topics on which there are few books to meet customer requests. After consulting with the central New York office, editorial director Barb Chintz makes a decision. "These books are directly in response to what customers are telling our store managers," Chintz said.
Unlike such one-off titles as the much-advertised Law & Order, Basics is a heavily branded effort with specific growth plans. There are currently 21 titles in the line, with three more scheduled for spring and plans to add about six or seven every year. In addition, the house is adding several spinoff series on subjects like health, which has four titles out and five more coming.
The books originally were part of Silver Lining, an imprint B&N started in 2000. The publisher said it decided to call the books B&N Basics earlier this year, as part of the larger corporate decision to give all books a B&N stamp. As a result of that rebranding, the publisher is now concentrating on selling and promoting Basics through B&N stores and BN.com; the books are not available at most other retail outlets, though distributor Sterling has made some available through Amazon.com.
At a relatively low $9.95 and with endcaps and other prominent placement in B&N stores, Basics has practically overnight become a force in the crowded how-to market. The publisher, though, said it thinks its entry shouldn't affect its sales of competing titles. "We continue to sell a lot of For Dummies and of those other guys," Chintz said. In the end, she said, the customer will make the decision. "What we have that's special are four-color books at a low price, and the sales are speaking for themselves," she said, adding, "There's plenty of room for all of these books."
Pushing Law & Order
Meanwhile, B&N is putting lots of promotional muscle behind one of its lead titles for the fall, Law & Order. "It's a major publishing event and we're treating it as such, with all the same support for the book that any publisher would do," said Michael Fragnito, publisher of general trade books at B&N. "But we have the in-store support, which is pretty significant."
By in-store support, Fragnito means that stacks of the books are being displayed on tables near the front of every B&N superstore in the country. And the retailer is posting signs advertising the fact that the show airs nightly on TNT in exchange for prime-time television spots promoting the book. Fragnito called the deal a "quid pro quo arrangement" and said, "I think it's an example of two very powerful brands linking up to work together." B&N launched the book in October with full-page ads in USA Today, the New York Times and the New Yorker.
The book, which had a 70,000-copy first printing, has a list price of $30, although B&N is selling it for 20% off, or $24, in its stores. While any retailer is free to carry the book, Fragnito said he expects that "the vast majority [of copies] will be sold at Barnes & Noble." Customers can buy the book for less on Amazon.com, where the standard 30% discount puts the price at $21. Members of Books-A-Million's Millionaire's Club can order it online for $20.12. Borders is not stocking the book.
The oversized 160-page book features pictures by series photographer Jessica Burstein, with TV series producer Dick Wolf providing the text. Fragnito maintains that most publishers would charge $40 or $50 for the title and touted its price as part of B&N's strategy of making high-quality books affordable. But Fragnito insisted publishers shouldn't feel threatened by B&N's aggressive pricing and promotion, saying that the entire industry will benefit from the efforts to provide compelling titles that draw more people into bookstores.
"What it foreshadows for authors and agents who are seeking a way to get their books in front of the readership in America is that it's a great opportunity," Fragnito said. "It's not what we will do for every book, but we will pick lead titles and promote them with all the tools at our disposal."
