Friday, February 04, 2011

Children's book buying study

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/45943-what-do-children-s-book-consumers-want-.html?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+Children%27s+Bookshelf&utm_campaign=ba1d57c6b7-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email


Senior Editor at Scholastic NZ Penny Scown comments:

Some interesting stuff in this study, including:
In her presentation, McLean encouraged independent booksellers to take heart. "It's not as bad as you think," she said. "Seeing a book matters. They don't come in to buy a book. They're buying a book they see." Added Gallagher: "A lot of purchasing habits are common across the board."

Close to 80% of book purchases are not planned, and of those, 40% are pure impulse—double that for adult titles.

Which is why, as we know, it’s so hard to sell junior fiction when it’s shelved spine out. No matter how much work you put into a cover, if the buyer can’t see it, they’re not likely to buy it!

5 comments:

Alessandra said...

Very interesting, thank you for sharing.

ciao
A.

jules older said...

" it’s so hard to sell junior fiction when it’s shelved spine out. No matter how much work you put into a cover, if the buyer can’t see it, they’re not likely to buy it!"

WHICH is why, when I'm in a bookstore, I always turn my books face forward.

Melinda Szymanik said...

This study also demonstrates how much children's authors are disadvantaged by not having the public lending right extended to school libraries

transpress nz said...

having your new books shelved spine out on some side shelf is a common problem for publishers, and at one point we seriously investigated the cost of putting holograms on our spines. If it's a thick spine you can put an author pic on it which helpsd but a thin spine is just going to get submerged :-(

Anonymous said...

Don't we all, Jules, don't we all!