While exploring the history and current use of on sale dates in the book industry, this 60-minute BISG Webcast provides highlights from BISG's best practice document titled On-Sale Date Compliance: Recommended Best Practices. It will also provide recommendations for the unified definition and transmission of on sale dates, as well as examples of what happens when this important month/day/year combo is misused.

1. This BISG WEBCAST will begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Please stand by.
Some considerations:
All participant phone lines are muted.
We’ll welcome your questions/comments at the end.
BISG WEBCAST
© 2011, the Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
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2. Creating a more informed,
empowered and efficient book
industry supply chain for both
physical and digital products.
physical and digital products
BISG is committed to the development of effective industry­
wide standards, best practices, research and events that
enhance relationships between trading partners.
www.bisg.org
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3. KAREN FORSTER
Associate Director
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
TOM CLARKSON
Principal
Cumberland Systems Review Group
TOM STOURAS
Vice President of Supply Chain and Sales
Operations
M ill
Macmillan
MARY MCCARTHY
Director, Product Group
Ingram Content Group Inc.
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4. BISG WEBCAST
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5. BISG WEBCAST
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6. In the beginning….
beginning
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7. But then things changed….
changed
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8. Industry Participation
• AAP • Harlequin
• ABA • HarperCollins
• Anderson Merchandisers • Ingram
• AWBC • Levy Home Entertainment
• Baker & Taylor • Macmillan
• Barnes & Noble • Partners
• BISG • Penguin
• Bookazine • Powell’s
• Books-a-Million • R d
Random H
House
• CSRG • Simon & Schuster
• Hachette Book Group • Tattered Cover
• Wiley
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9.  Booksellers that offer to deliver a new release
before its on sale date can divert sales from
compliant booksellers, violating a “level playing
field”
 Affects both online and bricks and mortar
bricks-and-mortar
stores
 Affects even releases of “long tail titles,”
because different titles are often included in
the same order
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10.  “On Sale Date”
◦ Date specified b a publisher on which a title, usually a
D t ifi d by bli h hi h titl ll
new release, can be made available for sale to
consumers or library patrons
 “New Release”
◦ Any title offered for the first time in a particular format
or variation on a format (e.g., a movie tie-in cover)
tie in
 “Affadavit”
◦ A legal agreement between a supplier and the receiver of
l h f d l
a new release that specifies conditions relating to
handling it
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11. 1. In general, an on sale date should be assigned to
l l d h ld b d
every new release being offered in the trade or
general library markets
2. Academic or professional titles should be
assigned an on sale date IF they are offered
through trade or general library markets
3. Publishers may assign a publication date to a new
release as before, but it should not be considered
to b the on sale d
be h l date
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12. 4. The term “on sale date” should be used
h “ l d ” h ld b d
exclusively; terms such as “strict on sale,” “street
date,” and “laydown date” should not be used to
avoid confusion
d f
5. Conditions (such as embargos) may be placed on
the handling and presentation of new releases
through affadavit agreements
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13.  Assign Tuesday as the on sale date for your titles
 Pack new releases separately from other titles,
where practical
 Flag titles as new releases on packing list
 Display on sale date in appropriate spot on BISG
p y pp p p
Product Label
 Apply distinctive labels to cartons containing new
l h ti l
releases, where practical
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14. Barnes & Noble endorses the recommendations of the
BISG Best Practices for On-Sale Date Compliance and
is incorporating these recommendations into its
vendor guidelines.
“During the transition to full compliance with Best
Practice, Barnes & Noble will continue its policy of
observing on sale dates established through affadavit
agreements with publishers.”
Joseph J. Gonnella,
Vice President, Adult Trade
Vi P id t Ad lt T d
Merchandising
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15. A publisher will be considered compliant:
1. If they establish an on sale date for all new
th t bli h l d t f ll
releases, and
2. If they adhere to that on sale date by delivering
y y g
new releases uniformly to stores across the
country no earlier than the working day before
the on sale date and no later than the on sale
date
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17. Why should publishers adopt the BISG
recommendation across all of their publications..?
 Creates a level playing field among different types of
trading partners.
 Creates timely availability across the market irrespective of
geographic or virtual locations.
 Consolidates consumer sales in a given week which can
help bestseller rankings.
 Publishers can organize promotional activities around the
on sale date.
 Helps all elements of the supply chain to plan and to
create efficiency
efficiency.
 On sale dates apply to physical books and e-books.
 Consumer expectations.
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18. The BISG recommendation is
flexible...
 It is recommended that publishers apply
on sale dates to all of their new releases
releases,
particularly trade publications, however
publishers can do whatever is best for their
books and market.
 It is recommended that Tuesdays be
typical on-sale days, however publishers can
on sale days
choose any day of the week that is best for any
particular work.
 Publishers can seek on sale date
compliance with title specific affidavits or
blanket affidavits depending on their particular
needs.
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19. Challenges...
Challenges
 Publishers who adopt on sale date
practices need to create operational and
logistic processes to manage the physical and
virtual distribution of their publications.
 Carton markings and segregating new
titles from backlist.
 Compliance among different kinds of
trading partners
partners.
 Metadata needs to be created,
maintained, and distributed.
 Availability needs to b managed f
l bl d be d from a
data point of view
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20. Mary McCarthy
Director, Product Group
Director, Product Group
Ingram Content
Group Inc.
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21. Current System is Confusing,
Time C
Ti Consuming and Ineffective
i d I ff ti
•Multiple Affidavits-often have to be edited
•Paper work, filing, double checking g g back and forth
p g g going
•Flood of information that just becomes white noise
•Customers do not understand what is, or is not, an on sale date. Dates
are being broken despite best intentions
•Publishers are asking to embargo titles that do not meet that criteria
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22. Benefits
•Easy to Understand, level playing field
•One message to everyone in a store
•Easy to understand for our non-traditional retailers
•Tracking of new titles
•One shipment of new titles
One
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23. Ideal System
y
•Everything “on-sale” the same day of the week.
(not Monday)
•Almost no embargoed titles
g
•Standard as to when the title delivers to different
channels
h l
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24. Thank you!
a you
We’ll now take questions
KAREN FORSTER
Associate Director
Book Industry Study Group, Inc.
karen@bisg.org
TOM CLARKSON
Principal
Cumberland Systems Review Group
tclarkson@csrgrp.com
tclarkson@csrgrp com
TOM STOURAS
Vice President of Supply Chain and Sales Operations
Macmillan
Tom.Stouras@macmillan.com
MARY MCCARTHY
Director,
Director Product Group
Ingram Content Group Inc.
Mary.McCarthy@ingrambook.com
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