The October issue of Ladies' Home Journal and the fall release Today's Kitchen Cookbook had a couple of things in common: both had Katie Couric on their covers and both publications are owned by Meredith Corp. The Today's Kitchen Cookbook/LHJ collaboration (the magazine featured a wide-ranging interview with Couric and some recipes from TKC) is one example of Meredith's determination to expand its book business by making use of its other corporate assets, which include some of the most well-known magazines in the country (LHJ, plus Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Parents).
Meredith began to rebuild its book business about five years ago as part of a strategy to lessen its dependence on advertising and circulation (those new segments, which include books and interactive marketing, now account for 29% of total revenue, up from 20% five years ago). To expand the book operation beyond its traditional areas of home and hearth, Meredith knew it had to recruit new talent. "We had become too home-grown," said Bob Mate, executive v-p of the Meredith publishing group. David Guendel came on board in fall 2001 as general manager of the book group and used his background at Western Publishing to expand into the children's licensing area.
Linda Cunningham joined Meredith shortly after Guendel's arrival, and after several years based in Meredith's Des Moines, Iowa, office, moved to New York last fall to spearhead the company's efforts to, in Mate's words, "move us into the agents' world where we have never competed." Cunningham is looking to acquire "recognizable names" who can benefit from Meredith's cross-platform approach. To that end, Meredith's spring list will feature a new title from Sarah Ban Breathnach (of Simple Abundance fame), Moving On, while the fall will see the release of A Hand to Guide Me by Denzel Washington. Washington is not the only celebrity who will appear under the Meredith banner; the company says it's close to a deal to publish the autobiography of a hip-hop artist. And Cunningham's one-person office will soon expand to include another editor and a publicity person.
To lure authors, Meredith is promising to utilize all of its media properties; executives point to the success of The Sonoma Diet to prove their point. Most Meredith magazines ran stories and/or excerpts from the book, as well as ads; Mate estimated the rate-card value of advertising Sonoma across the company's publications at $35 million. The book, released about two months ago, has spent five weeks on the PW's bestseller list and Meredith has shipped more than 500,000 copies. Last week, Cunningham met with the editors of Meredith magazines to pitch ideas to feature Washington's upcoming book.
Meredith's efforts have been noticed by New York agents. John Silbersack of Trident Media said he is "very impressed by what Meredith is putting in place." Not only has Meredith "repeatedly stepped up to the plate and aggressively competed in auctions," Silbersack said, but the cross-marketing opportunities make the house a viable option for the right author.
While there are parallels between how Meredith and Rodale leverage their other media properties to boost book sales, there are two crucial differences. Meredith has the advantage of owning 14 television stations that cover 9% of the nation's television households, and the company broadcasts ads to tie in to author appearances. And unlike Rodale, which makes a heavy investment in selling some titles via direct mail, Meredith, which got out of the book club business in 1995, has no plans to go that route. "Direct mail is a different business" than selling through retail, said Mate, noting that the explosion of big-box retailers has made direct mail less effective. "The volume is in the mass merchants," Mate said.
The popularity of its magazines gives Meredith clout at many mass merchandisers, something it uses to get books on shelves in such channels as Kroeger's and Wal-Mart. Its Trading Spaces books are sold in Linens 'n Things, while American Chopper titles are sold at Pep Boys. "People shop at big-box retailers. We can put books were the consumers are," Mate said.
Although Meredith declined to discuss revenue, Mate said the company is projecting double-digit sales growth over the next four to five years for the book group. For the first half of fiscal 2006, which ended December 31, profit and revenue in the book group, which has about 110 employees, increased in the high teens. "We have the machinery in place to grow at a fast pace," Cunningham said.
