Received: from mail-1-63.rch003.net ([151.248.1.63]:44022) by stodi.digitalkingdom.org with esmtps (TLSv1.2:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:256) (Exim 4.89) (envelope-from ) id 1egxXo-0004Ux-EY for Lojban@lojban.org; Wed, 31 Jan 2018 10:55:43 -0800 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=k1; d=sc02.rmdlvry001.com; h=From:To:Reply-To:Subject:Message-ID:List-Unsubscribe:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Date; bh=s535TWPRpgLJa04UkWn7krQ8QPs=; b=LJ2cWudEYuTQLHttoOWI41vW2Xlh8OeRaC1XNap0ByxKaZ8uiDEHm26OQqIbPFcx92088H/0DqlE X2Lfl1kBt0JUu6hqfvlcDw6jZxnP+lgN0VsZ6AULSnLncXAGxKX+235JW/6SYbYyE64XJRAOyo0F lQ0EckcEdK96WEdJjvo= From: "Martin Foner" To: "Lojban@lojban.org" Reply-To: Subject: Welcome to 2018...Are You Ready for Publishing Success? X-BPS1: 6501012 Feedback-ID: 6501012:2074861:RM X-BPS2: 73291 Message-ID: List-Unsubscribe: , X-Mailer: RM Mailer (v5.4.794.0) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="=-Ba93Gh2s31kqmNUE31lRNQ==" Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2018 12:55:40 -0600 X-Spam-Score: -1.6 (-) X-Spam_score: -1.6 X-Spam_score_int: -15 X-Spam_bar: - This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --=-Ba93Gh2s31kqmNUE31lRNQ== Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Having trouble viewing this mail? Click here to view it in your browse= r. http://link.rm0003.net/v/R0WNvqDG8bckDvGNjkwwsA2 Make sure that you always get our messages: Add mfoner@nplconsult.com = to your contacts. Click here to unsubscribe or update your email address. http://link.rm0003.net/subscription/?t=3DR0WNvqDG8bckDvGNjkwwsA2 This email is being sent to Lojban@lojban.org. Use this link to be deleted or to update your email address http://link.rm0003.net/subscription/?t=3DR0WNvqDG8bckDvGNjkwwsA2 This message was sent by NPL PUBLISHING CONSULTANTS, a Division of Pro= fessional Publishers Group Corporation | POST OFFICE BOX 1010 | VENT= URA, CA 93002 --=-Ba93Gh2s31kqmNUE31lRNQ== Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

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Martin Foner’s Publishing Newslette= r

Because You’re Serious = About Success… or You’re Not

Volume 23, Number 2

WELCOME TO 2018… ARE Y= OU READY FOR SUCCESS?

Hello, Everyone&he= llip;

Welcome to my 23^{rd year of publishing this newsletter. Just a brief line or two below=
on each article. A Healthy and Happy New Year to you!}

IS 2018 THE YEAR YOU DECIDE T= O SELL… WHAT YOU MUST DO TO MAKE THE DECISION, TO GET READY, AN= D ACCOMPLISH A SALE.

This is the third installm= ent of a multi part ‘series’ on the process of selling you= r publishing company, from the thought process, to how to get ready in= all areas of your business, to actually being marketed for sale and c= losing. This issue we will delve into choosing a broker and pricing yo= ur company for sale.

WHY BRANDING IS SO DAMN CRITI= CAL TO YOUR SUCCESS… AND IT ISN’T JUST A TAG LINE…= BUT THE WAY YOU RUN YOUR COMPANY

This is the first installm= ent of a new series on why Branding is such a critical element of a su= ccessful company, and is even more important when differentiating your= publishing activities from the almost 200,000 other ‘publishers= ’ seeking attention in the marketplace.

MY COMPLIMENTARY OFFER TO REV= IEW YOUR TITLES FOR BULK AND CUSTOM POTENTIAL IS EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY = 28^TH

My offer to do a free bulk= and custom analysis of one of your titles is still valid… and = has been extended to February 28^th… because of the c= ontinuing response so far. Don’t miss this opportunity! I can&rs= quo;t imagine everyone hasn’t already seen this offer, but every= issue brings more and more titles to my inbox.

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** I just wanted to thank all my reader= s… you were kind enough to hear me out as to why I have decided= once again to speak my piece. No death threats. No deletes even! I gu= ess great business advice is far more important than politics. I even = had about a dozen… maybe twenty short emails reminding me this = is what I used to do and thanking me for now keeping it up. ** =

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A FEW INTERESTING LISTINGS

The first issue of the 201= 8 newsletter, last week, was dedicated to companies and lines availabl= e for acquisition we are representing. If you didn’t receive the= newsletter and are interested, email me mfoner@nplconsult.com and I will make sure to send you= one.

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BITCOIN, YES, NO, OR WHAT?

I have been asked a couple= dozen times about this Bitcoin and other related cryptocurrencies. Fr= ankly, I think the statements made by banks, brokerages, Warren Buffet= , and other sage investors should have made it clear…but just i= n case…

I would refer you to the T= ulip Craze of 1634-1637… unfortunately, most of us don’t = remember it too well… I do, but even my memory is a bit fuzzy o= n the details. Simply… prices for special tulip bulbs went from= one guilder (or less) to well over 60 guilders, because of this panic= about bulbs. It took only a few weeks to go back to one guilder.

It is always something&hel= lip; the new shiny object being jingled in front of you… and th= is time it is technology. The last time around, it was penny stocks, o= ften hustled in boiler rooms. Buy cheap, sell high. But what you didn&= rsquo;t know was that you were on the pretty severe upside and as soon= as the criminals got their profit figure, they sold out and the stock= crashed back to tiny fractions of a cent, leaving you with massive lo= sses.

It is hard enough when to = tell you to purchase gold and silver and platinum, and these metals ha= ve actual real-world value.

Yes, many have profited fr= om Bitcoin… those days are likely long gone.

Look it up today and they = show you a loss of 28% last 30 days…but it is actually 41% from= their all time high of less than 30 days ago… a bit disingenuo= us. Down 41%??? You missed all the fun.

Now, make an investment st= rategy including some stocks, bonds, your home (real estate), currency= (as in cash in the house), and metals (your real insurance against th= e insanity of the world. And stop being distracted by the shiny things= jingling in your face.

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IS 2018 THE YEAR YOU DECIDE T= O SELL… WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO MAKE THE DECISION, TO GET READY,= AND TO ACCOMPLISH A SALE.

This is a multi part &lsqu= o;series’ on the process of selling your publishing company, fro= m the thought process, to how to get ready in all areas of your busine= ss, to actually being marketed for sale and closing.

Part Three… How to Choose a Broker= and What You Can Expect to Have to Do 12 Months Ahead of Your Sale

How to Choose a Broker&hel= lip;

Is a bit simpler than you = might imagine.

First, there aren’t = that many of us.

Second, if you only want e= xperienced brokers who specialize in publishers, that limits your list= to under ten.

Third, if you only want ex= perienced brokers who specialize in publishers, and who have 20 or mor= e years of experience in the field, and who have bought and sold for t= heir own accounts as well, you are limited to maybe two or three, at m= ost.

So, what are you looking f= or?

Experience… in term= s of decades, not years.

Publishing broker exclusiv= ely… doesn’t deal in auto body shops, restaurants, and fa= ctories. Why? Because every industry is different and requires a speci= alist to maximize your potential as a for sale entity.

Remember when we discussed= re-casting your financials in the last newsletter? And I told you if = possible to secure an accounting based broker? If you can, I would, an= d if your choice of broker isn’t, then you need him or her to ar= range to hire, at his or her expense, an accountant to do the re-casti= ngs.

And lastly, if at all poss= ible, a Publishing Consultant or at least five years of owning publish= ing companies… Why? Because someone with experience running pub= lishing companies will see potential faults and flaws and as well, opp= ortunities and benefits, within each company.

Quite a list. (In all tran= sparency… personally, I do tick all the boxes.)

Is their fee an important = factor? Not usually as fees are fairly standard from 15-20% on very sm= all sales to 5-6% on very large sales. To find the right person and pa= y an extra percentage point… and make the sale and for the righ= t price… is worth many points.

An average length of contr= act will be a year.

Fees will be as above. Und= er $50K sale 15-20%... over $5MM sale 5-6%.

Up front fees are not usua= lly applicable, though I have charged fees up front to do intense fina= ncial analyses, reviews of marketability of lines of the publisher, an= d consulting analyses of making changes in operations to benefit the b= ottom line. But to just take on and list the company for sale… = there should be no up-front fees.

One note here… some= brokers will mitigate their investment by charging a small up-front f= ee and then reducing the commission percentage, or refunding the fee o= n sale. This is usually offered to the Seller as an option and not a m= andatory issue. For example, you can pay a 10% commission on sale, or = $2,500 up-front and a 7.5% commission on sale. For a $300K sale, it sa= ves the Seller $5,000… and the brokers gets a little up-front b= oost to help in paying for marketing.

What You Have to Do 12 Mon= ths Ahead of the Sale…

Gather your financial docu= ments and going back five years…further if things have been cho= ppy in the meanwhile… whatever it takes to show consistency and= profitability. This means Profit & Loss statements, Balance Sheet= s, charts for trend lines for revenues and profits, and you will be as= ked, I hope, for an accurate separate list of ‘personal’ b= usiness expenses to be deducted from the business expenses to come up = with a real profit figure.

You will need a boilerplat= e of your author agreements, and if they have changed over the years, = a copy of every incarnation.

Most importantly, for futu= re pricing, will be your current inventory. Not only dollars but units= in stock and on consignment. Then you will need to provide a computat= ion of what your last year’s unit sales were for each title in t= he line. If that number was unusual, low or high, then two years of nu= mbers. Anything in excess of one normal year of sales is considered &l= squo;excess inventory’ and will be purchased at a steep discount= to print cost.

So, spend this year dispos= ing to customers all excess inventory. Even at 50-60% off direct to cu= stomers… you will be making much more than taking 20-50% of pri= nt cost in a sale… and you can pump your final year revenue num= bers at the same time.

Tangentially, you will als= o need to provide a list of all titles, copyright, new editions, and u= nit sales annually for at least five years and a figure of historical = sales, day one to today.

Finally, to complement you= r company’s narrative, a package of marketing materials, catalog= s, websites, promotions, and the like.

That ought to keep you bus= y for a month or two as time ticks.

In the next issue… = decisions to make about pricing, financing, staying on, and actually p= reparing for the promotion of the company for sale.

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PHYSICAL BOOKS, EBOOKS, AND A= UDIO, SOME STATS

Briefly… a few new = surveys have come out since Jan 1… and the results are interest= ing… at least to me as a supporter of physical books.
Physical book sales were U= P roughly a percentage point 17 over 16. Not much but an encouraging s= ign that eBooks have not taken over. Yes, they were also up but the le= ast percentage increase since they began to take hold. THAT is encoura= ging.

Recent surveys show that n= ot only college age 18-24 students but now high school age 12-18 stude= nts prefer physical books for both school work and for personal readin= g… 75% prefer. That is a big percentage!

And finally, for those of = you who questioned Bezos when he acquired Audible… audio AGAIN = is the hottest segment of the publishing market, up again over 30%. Ye= s their starting number was bupkis, but this trend has continued now f= or a third, possibly a fourth year, if memory serves.

Conclusions… keep p= rinting books, and if you have students… print more… and= if you have or are thinking about audio books as an option… no= w would be the time to get it done!

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WHY BRANDING IS SO DAMN CRITI= CAL TO YOUR SUCCESS… AND IT ISN’T JUST A TAG LINE…= BUT THE WAY YOU RUN YOUR COMPANY

This is the first installm= ent of a new series on why Branding is such a critical element of a su= ccessful company, and is even more important to publishers… one= book or a thousand… when differentiating your publishing activ= ities from the almost 100,000 other ‘publishers’ seeking a= ttention in the marketplace.

Let’s start with the= basics.

What is Branding?
Branding is taking your Me= ssage and making it so much a part of everything you do that it become= s YOUR Message and customers and potential customers, alike, begin to = identify you with that Message.

Here are some classic old-= fashioned Branding Messages:

Fly the Friendly Skies

Gillette…the Best a= Man Can Get

We Try Harder

And some that make more se= nse…

Pop… Pop.. Fizz&hel= lip; Fizz… oh what a relief it is

Spend 15 minutes and save = 15%

The Ultimate Driving Machi= ne

Every Book on the Planet i= n One Place (turned out not to be true and is why they dropped the tag= line)

You get the idea.
And it doesn’t take = a million dollars to figure it out and it certainly doesn’t take= a million dollars to execute a successful Branding campaign… b= ecause once you start, every last thing you do will contribute to your= Branding campaign.

Yes… your letterhea= ds, your book covers, your website, every email, every tweet, every Yo= u Tube interview, every press release, every mailer, every phone call = on hold, every talk, every encounter, business cards, signage… = to the point where your Message cannot be escaped.

I don’t care how muc= h you come to dislike it…and if that is the case, you have the = wrong wrong Message… it has to be drilled into every brain (or = empty space masquerading as a brain) in your organization, so they can= re-drill the Message into every customer and potential customer.

You might even consider re= -naming the company once you go through this exercise. Even the name o= f your company should reflect your Message. By the way you don’t= have to change the name, just the dba or imprint.

I know all about the war a= bout defining Mission Statements…but this is a bit different. A= Mission Statement defines who you are and what you wish to accomplish= . “To become the leader in worldwide Model train information, th= rough books, magazines, website content, and videos.”

Great, direct, and on-poin= t Mission Statement.

As a Branding focus&hellip= ; it won’t do.

How about: “Everythi= ng You Want to Know About Model Trains”

Make sense?

The simple question to ans= wer is this?

What makes you different o= r better than any other provider of the same product/service/informati= on?

If you aren’t the be= st at what you do, then narrow it down…

“California’s = Premiere Model Train Clearinghouse”

Until you are both differe= nt and better than anyone else doing what you are doing.

My company started in 1984= and started using… “The Nation’s Clearinghouse&rdq= uo; but with a name like KIDSRIGHTS… everyone instantly got wha= t it was we were a Clearinghouse for.

Then we had… &ldquo= ;We review thousands of materials so you don’t have to”&he= llip; that one didn’t last long.

We finally settled on, and= this one wasn’t even the best it could have been, but it served= us well… “The Very Best Materials for the Very Best Prof= essionals Worldwide”

This one also put our cust= omers in a class of their own…being called the very best&hellip= ; it was a nice side benefit to this Message.

Enough for one session&hel= lip; in conclusion…

YOUR Message becomes YOUR Branding

It goes everywhere with you… on paper, in catal= ogs, on books, websites, social media, answering the phone, everywhere= , all the time!

One sentence or less is best

NOT your Mission Statement (not likely at least)

Will serve you when you are doing $100K or $100MM

In the next installment, w= e will discuss what I mean by ‘it is everywhere with you’,= and how it works to make customers and potential customers think twic= e before buying from someone else.

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MY COMPLIMENTARY OFFER TO REV= IEW YOUR TITLES FOR BULK AND CUSTOM POTENTIAL IS EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY = 28^TH

*** HERE IS MY SPE= CIAL OFFER TO YOU. I am offering ALL publishers an opportunity to have= ONE BOOK analyzed by me for its Bulk and/or Custom Sales potential, a= nd even give you a report of a couple primary target markets to approa= ch… AT NO CHARGE… COMPLIMENTARY… just so you will= begin to have the idea of why Bulk and Custom Sales are so important = to your survival.

I have done this once befo= re eight years ago. It was very strongly received with 500+/- books su= bmitted to me to analyze. Yes, it took about six weeks to get to every= one, but I got a great deal of positive feedback… and we all ne= ed that. Currently, I have received over 500 requests this year = and have extended the deadline once again by thirty more days. =

Feel free to submi= t your book now. Send me an email with your book information, a link t= o it on your website, a copy of the Table of Contents, full size front= and back covers, and your email and contact information. If you p= refer to send me an eBook of your book, that is ok also, with the othe= r information… to .

Subject line: Bulk= -Custom Book Analysis

Remember, fiction, childre= n’s fiction, romance, sci-fi, etc., anything of a fiction nature= really doesn’t lend itself to this process, and I will likely r= eply with a blank page to those requests. Non-fiction works for the mo= st part, informational, business, self-help, technical, are good.

I will analyze ALL= the books I receive, other than those mentioned above, one per publis= her, extended through the 28^th of February.=
And, if you would like to = speak confidentially about the potentials of success with your titles = and bulk, customized, and special sales… contact me at <= a href=3D"mailto:mfoner@nplconsult.com">mfoner@nplconsult.com .= I have over thirty years of experience in Bulk and Custom sales= … tens of Millions of Dollars in revenues… my la= rgest individual unit sale was 250,000 units of one title, on one orde= r. We should talk if you want to succeed in Bulk and Custom s= elling. Many dozens of publishers have done well from using the expert= help I can offer.

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If you believe your publis= hing business, or any commercial business you own, isn’t up to w= hat it should be creating or earning… then you should contact m= e at mfoner@nplconsult.com= . I can help you gr= ow your company to your goals and then help you exit profitably.

If you want to acquire ano= ther publisher, or line, or even a few titles, then you should contact= me.

If you want to sell your c= ompany, or lines, or a few titles, contact me.

If you want to succeed as = a self-publisher… contact me.

If you finally get the ide= a how critical it is to have a Strategic Plan, then for certain and ri= ght now, you should contact me at mfoner@nplconsult.com.

© Martin Foner, 2018.=   mfoner@nplcon= sult.com

There should be an unsubsc= ribe button somewhere at the footer of this email, but if there is not= , simply email me directly at mfoner@nplconsult.com<= /a>, and I will have you removed from= future emailings.

While it is considered opt= out instead of opt in, if you don’t unsubscribe, we will consid= er you as approving us to continue to send you newsletters and related= publishing information. If you do not approve, you need to un= subscribe, not mark this spam or do other untoward things… just= unsubscribe is enough.

NPL Publishing Consultants= , a division of Professional Publishers Group Corporation, Post Office= Box 1010, Ventura CA 93002. ww= w.nplconsult.com
=20
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