The gamble that John Whalen took when he left Running Press in 2005 to establish his own company in Kennebunkport, Maine, appears to be paying off. Cider Mill Press will release about 50 new titles this year, bringing the total in print to nearly 100. The company's business model depends on developing titles that will backlist, and to that end, Whalen reports that of Cider Mill's first list of 28 books, about 75% have gone back to press. Among that first class, a series of Peanuts classic titles have been strong sellers and, combined with a box set introduced last Christmas, have sold about 300,000 units. A more recent hit has been bumper sticker books; Watch Out for the Idiot Behind Me includes individual bumper stickers that can be peeled off; it has sold 50,000 copies.
All of Cider Mill's titles are designed and packaged to appeal to the gift store market. “If it works in the gift market, it will likely work in bookstores,” Whalen said. His goal is to generate 60%—65% of sales from the gift market; although Cider Mill is well represented there, the company has not quite achieved that mark. To help broaden his distribution, Whalen will switch distributors January 1, moving from Sterling to Simon & Schuster. Whalen credits Sterling with helping him develop his packaging style and pricing model, but believes S&S can expand the number of outlets that carry his titles, particularly internationally.
Cider Mill's expanded list includes more titles from Apple Sauce Press, the children's imprint launched last year. A licensing deal with Wham-O has yielded The Hacky Sack Handbook and The SuperBall Operator Manual. A new agreement with Crayola will result in a Silly Putty book next year. This fall Cider Mill entered another new segment—spoken-word audio—with the release of Ticket to Ride and Lennon Revealed.
Cider Mill cracked the $1-million mark after its first year, and sales are headed to mid-seven figures in 2008. Whalen anticipates doing 40 to 50 titles in 2009.
