You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
W H Smith has defended its record on book marketing promotions, after being accused by Biteback Publishing’s Iain Dale of being “very willing to take publishers’ money and sell no books in return”.
Dale made his criticism in an outspoken keynote speech at the Independent Publishers Guild Conference last week (8th March). In his address, he said W H Smith’s returns were between 75% and 90% for titles in promotions, and some boxes of books were returned unopened.
A spokesperson for W H Smith told The Bookseller: “The approach of charging for in-store space is reflected across the whole of the retail industry, and is widely used across all markets. W H Smith always discusses the sales potential of individual titles with the publisher and aims to select an appropriate space in store.
“However, there are rare occasions where titles do not perform to the levels both parties expect, reflecting how difficult it can be to forecast exact sales given the dynamic nature of the books market. We will continue to work closely with publishers to determine the most appropriate launch plans for their new titles.”
But Dale reiterated his comments, saying he had received a “phenomenal” industry reaction to his IPG speech, and had been inundated with emails and letters from his peers. He said: “Some returns are expected, but we get far more from W H Smith’s than elsewhere—they need to address it.”
Other independent publishers said they had experienced difficulties in assessing how titles in paid-for promotions were faring. Alma Books publisher and m.d. Alessandro Gallenzi said: “It is an issue that is very relevant to us, and I wholeheartedly agree with what Iain Dale said.” Gallenzi said Alma’s difficulties had been with promotions at WHS Travel, also experiencing 75%–90% returns, and that he would opt out of future promotions with the retailer.
Icon Books sales and marketing director Andrew Furlow said the publisher did “very good business with WHS Travel”, but with “the high street stores, we take each deal as it comes . . . We have to be cautious."
Another sales director, who declined to be named, said: “I think most of the people in the room [at the IPG Conference] agreed with what Iain said. It is frustrating. The sale of books at W H Smith is being dominated by Richard and Judy Book Club titles.” But he added: “They can and do sell large volumes of the right product.”
Oneworld publisher Juliet Mabey commented: “You have to pick your books carefully for a
W H Smith high street promotion to avoid potentially high returns. But for the right book they can generate fantastic sales.”
Another small publisher said that W H Smith had recently opened up its promotions to smaller publishers, but warned that these smaller publishers had to be certain that they had the kind of books and brands that could justify the shelf space.