Five Observations from 2023

  1. Most immediately Book Sales for the holidays arrived later in the season due to extra time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.   The season was bigger than ’19, less than ’20 and ’21 and on par with ’22 (good news in terms of resilience)

    • In general independent stores seem to have outperformed over the holiday period, as they have all year.    Indies are becoming better direct marketers and brand advocates.    Chain stores didn’t seem to do as well as other parts of the market.

    • .com market share grew during the last days of the season, primarily due to more options for .com retail (Target.com, Walmart.com, Bookshop.org, Thriftbooks) and speedy shipping.

    • Turmoil in higher ed retail, which will likely continue.

  2. The “Big Five”, and IPS Publishers (IPS distribution company publishers (PGW, Two Rivers, Consortium and Ingram Academic) are as big in aggregate as one of the big five.   These publishers ‘rightsized’ their inventories in 2023 leading to less pressure on printing and more emphasis on efficient supply chains, thus assisting with CF.

  3. Direct marketing is a thing, and we can expect publishers of all sizes to emphasize direct reader relationships, serving these readers in the channels that the reader prefers.

  4. Direct Sales from publishers are now in the single to low double digits. 

  5. For indie publishers there are few substitutes for reader awareness driven through awards, indie picks, and other traditional

Six Focal Points for 2024 and Beyond

  1. Direct marketing through audience identification, social and e-mail marketing, and direct commerce to capture reader information is going to grow and be more meaningful to publishers.  

    • It’s a ‘pull’ market and is no longer a ‘push’ market

  2. Amazon dominance in bookselling isn’t a fait accompli given other options.

    • Ignore other coms at your peril and for crying out loud, start with descriptions that work everywhere on line.Export strategies for books are changing through the influence of .com, print supply chain options, and the reach of global marketing.

  3.  Export strategies for books are changing through the influence of .com, print supply chain options, and the reach of global marketing.

  4. Self publishing is a force in book sales and share.    There is something to learn from self publishers, especially when it comes to marketing.

  5. Audio and global e distribution is now possible for every publisher.  

    • Barriers to audio are as low as they have ever been, and we are seeing growth in indie audio sales.

    • Keep your rights, or make the books

  6. Direct sales will increasingly be a thing.  See NYU and Indiepubs.