Covering All The Bases

In an age when everything seems to be for sale, that's definitely the case at military exchanges throughout the U.S. and abroad. From packaged goods to gas, every item is offered at a discount, and the profit goes to support the military departments' morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) activities. In the past year alone, sales worldwide from military exchange systems servicing both active-duty military personnel and retirees and their families totaled close to $10 billion, and donations to MWR programs exceeded $400 million.

Those sales figures may mean that military folks consume a lot of Hostess Ho Hos and Diet Coke, but they also reflect a healthy appetite for books. To provide a clearer picture of the types of books that men and women in the service prefer to devour, PW talked with booksellers, publishers, wholesalers, authors and representatives of the two largest exchange services—the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) and the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM).

In many respects, the book departments of post and base exchanges (PXs and BXs) operate much like trade bookstores. "The military does buy for its PXs more general-interest books, just like a general bookstore," noted Tom Harnish, marketing director for the Naval Institute Press. Despite the press's proximity to the Naval Academy, where it maintains a small bookstore, the Naval Institute Press works with the Navy just like other publishers. "Mostly," explained Harnish, "we send our catalogues to the Navy Exchange Command. It's the same as you would do to the head of Barnes & Noble. At the same time, you're approaching distributors, the people they use to place your books."

For Matthew Shear, v-p and publisher of St. Martin's paperback and reference group, the analogy is right on target. "Many of the bigger military bases have up to 500 pockets, which is like Target or Kmart," he explained. As in big box stores, books are simply one more stock item. "They're like shaving cream and razor blades; they're a staple," said retired Marine Col. Fred Peck, who runs a publicity service for military-related titles.

At NEXCOM, "books are 35% off in all our continental bookstores, and they are 25% off in our European stores," public affairs specialist Kristine Sturkie told PW. For AAFES, "the discounts vary from 10% to 25%, depending if it is a paperback or hardback, bestseller or not," explained books and magazines buyer Yolanda Thursday. She agrees with Harnish's assessment: "Consumers on military bases generally parallel the general population. Whatever the local competitor has success with will basically mirror what happens on a military exchange."

Navy exchanges typically stock equal quantities of hardcovers and paperbacks, with the majority—some 90%—supplied by Anderson News Group in Knoxville, Tenn. According to Thursday, Anderson is one of the top suppliers of the 22 she uses. Some publishers estimate Anderson's domestic share at AAFES to be roughly 80%. The News Group in Grand Prairie, Tex., is the other leading supplier of books and magazines to exchanges in the States, while PMG in San Antonio, Tex., handles most of the distribution overseas.

Online shopping also plays an important role in military purchases—not just because service people are used to receiving a discount at land-based exchanges, but more importantly because disposable income is tight. In November 1999, AAFES.com named another online discounter, booksamillion.com (the e-commerce division of Books-A-Million), its exclusive online distributor. As with land-based exchanges, profits from online sales get plowed back into MWR.

Willard Williams, owner and operator of Byrrd Enterprises in Alexandria, Va., found a new military niche in 1995 after he closed his bookstore in the Pentagon. He now makes his living by selling books into military clothing stores. "About 15 years ago we were asked to be of help to the exchange system by getting our hands on professional military books," he said. "Military clothing stores have a different kind of clientele than a main exchange. They have active duty, largely enlisted personnel. We carry almost exclusively nonfiction, instruction manuals and leadership books."

In many respects, Byrrd operates similarly to the news agencies that service PXs; it's responsible for maintaining the racks and keeping them filled. As in the main exchanges, the store managers have a lot of authority over what goes into the stores. "Individual managers," said Williams, "will grant you five feet of space, and some will grant you 25 feet." Part of the problem, as he sees it, is that store managers are not accountable for sales. "They make not a penny more," said Williams, "if they sell a thousand books or one book."

The selection is ultimately up to those same store managers, in association with the AAFES book buyer. "We have to get clearance on every book," said Williams. "We can't initiate orders, we can only suggest. In a way it's similar to a general bookstore. Once in a very great while AAFES suggests a book that we carry. Recently the Gen. Wesley Clark book, Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat [Public Affairs], was suggested."

Despite the fact that Williams successfully sponsored Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden in several military venues when the book came out in hardcover from Grove Atlantic, he characterizes such an event as "a very difficult thing to arrange." Transportation can be costly and timing is very important, with the best slots on payday weekends and grand openings.

Anderson News Group finds that domestic military locations do well with a variety of books. "Not only do the bases sell a large selection of the bestsellers in paperback and hardcover," said corporate purchasing director Bill Golliher, "they sell categories that are only minimally represented in other retailers. Science fiction, fantasy, westerns/historical fiction and military history are very strong for most locations." Given the numbers of families with young children, children's books are also strong, as are bargain titles.

Similarly, Shear of St. Martin's noted, "The military still sell by category. They support true crime, romance and Western, even though Target has shied away from categories." And it's not just books with military settings or themes that have done well. "We do a tremendous business in military accounts," said Shear. "All kinds of books sell at military bases. We just put in 400 display units at exchanges for Prevention magazine editor Holly McCord's The Peanut Butter Diet." As he views it, "Military sales are like anything else. It's another way of reaching an audience that likes to read."

At HarperCollins, books like the Oxford American Dictionary, Spanish and German dictionaries, wrestling books and occasionally children's series such as the Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books are popular at PXs and BXs. According to Brian Grogan, director of wholesale sales, "It's easy to pigeonhole bases." To reach military stores, he meets directly with AAFES as well as the distributors for military titles. He puts together marketplace sell sheets and demographic sell sheets and provides displays. "Some of the bases have clean-floor policies, but they'll make exceptions for the right book," he commented. As for sales, despite September 11, he hasn't seen any decrease at all.

For Kevin Hanover, marketing director for Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group, "the thing we like about military history is it may not sell tens of thousands of copies, but it's steady and the books stick." Among his top military-oriented books are John S.D. Eisenhower's The Bitter Woods: The Battle of the Bulge and his Allies: Pearl Harbor to D-Day. In addition, the Marine Corps and the Army War College use some Da Capo titles in their courses, including, Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, by Bernard Fall.

Fantasy publisher Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro Toys, has such strong sales for its books and games at BXs and PXs here and abroad that it suffered a dip in sales from base closings a few years back. "We have a strong military presence," observed Dave Gross, editor-in-chief of Star Wars Insider and Star Wars Gamer magazines. "Dungeons & Dragons is still the most popular."

Because the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers are popular on base and off, civilian stores don't always require special stock to attract the military. That's the case for Joan Scott, owner of the Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, N.C., near Ft. Bragg, who finds it hard to measure the military effect. "We do have a lot of military customers in town. We have families that come in, and we do well with children's books, which are 20% to 25% of our sales." She carries a fair number of World War II books and books on the Civil War, which she would stock regardless of the army post. The spinner rack with Delta Force and World War II paperbacks is one of the store's few nods to servicemen.

McKinzey White in Colorado Springs, Colo., which is located near the Air Force Academy, Ft. Carson and several other bases, is more aggressive in its marketing to military personnel. "We do 20% discounts for the military," said manager Jason Stewart, "and we have a larger military section than most bookstores. We have a cubby set aside for it." The section is divided into the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, military equipment and general military history.

At Olsson's Books and Records in Washington, D.C., senior buyer Jim Tenney added used and out-of-print military books to the Georgetown store three years ago. "We shelve them with the new books. It's very successful. We're always looking for books on weekends at library and estate sales." Because the store numbers many CIA staffers among its clientele, it has long had sections on military intelligence and terrorism. The Olsson's in Alexandria, Va., which is near the Pentagon and Ft. Meyer, stocks more general military titles. Manager Jim Hardcastle observed, "The military are mainly interested in histories like Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldier[Touchstone] or Hampton Sides's Ghost Soldiers [Doubleday], as opposed to technical stuff."

Military college stores also stock many of the same titles as their civilian counterparts. At the Naval Academy's Midshipman's Store, which donates its profits to MWR, "the Naval Institute Press is a primary source for us," commented computer and book department manager David Solyers, who also singles out "the Tom Clancy genre and science fiction, Cliffs Notes and thesauruses" as strong sellers. The store carries some books just for returning alumni, like Jack Clary's Navy Football. Since the midshipmen live on the Academy grounds all week, the store, which is set up like a small department store, carries lots of soft drinks, snacks, toothpaste and shampoo. As a result, the book section is relatively small.

Similarly, the USMA Bookstore, which services the Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., has had to deal not only with issues of size but limited hours of operation. It closes for lunch and is open only on weekdays. "Our mission," said manager Agatha Gerardi, "is to be able to offer the cadets a full spectrum of books. In fiction, of course, we'll do a lot of Tom Clancy. They read a wide variety of things, classic literature and science fiction." Financial constraints are also a determining factor in book purchases, even though most trade books are discounted 15%. Hardcover New York Times bestsellers are 30% off. "Hardcovers are hard to sell," opined Gerardi, "except for military books. They are encouraged to buy to build their own military library." The library is such an important concept that some instructors walk through the store with the cadets and single out the hardcovers that they need to own. Gerardi also posts the Army's recommended reading list in the store.

Barb Burg, v-p and director of publicity for the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, has worked on three successful base tours recently—for James Bradley, former marine John Glenn and former Secretary of the Navy and Assistant Secretary of Defense James Webb. When she sends an author to a BX or PX for a signing, she tries to schedule a full day that typically includes both the signing and a talk at an officers club as well as local media interviews. "We use both the base media and the local media," she said. "We usually pick bases where we can do a retail event in the same place." Lately, she's noted that bases have gotten choosier. Still, she remarked, "if they'll have you, they have a clearer sense of who their customer is. It's a better match."

The well-named romance writer Merline Lovelace, a retired colonel in the Air Force, isn't afraid to use her base advantage when it comes to booking exchange signings. The former commander of the Eglin Air Force Base returns for each new book and is also a frequent guest at Tinker AFB near her home in Oklahoma City. When she switched uniforms and became a writer a decade ago, she said, "I consciously targeted military bases. When I first started touring, I had to pick up the books." Nowadays, Lovelace often sells up to 500 books at an exchange signing, and Anderson News Group's rep usually brings in the books for the BX manager.

For Lovelace's tour to promote her newest novel, The Colonel's Daughter (Mira), she's facing new challenges because of higher security levels following the terror attacks. According to Harlequin public relations manager Tania Charzewski, "If possible, we'll have at least one base signing and one civilian signing. That way if we have a problem at the time, we can still go ahead with the tour."

If Lovelace's tour is delayed until spring, she might run into romance writer Linda Hudson-Smith, who just published Fire Beneath the Ice. A military wife whose husband is retired from the Air Force, Hudson-Smith said, "I'm familiar with bases, and I wanted to give something back." In 2000, she pushed her publisher, BET/Arabesque, to do a military tour with her and several other romance authors to 15 bases. She is looking forward to a new Arabesque tour, still in the planning stages, that will bring them back on base.

Serious nonfiction can be a big base draw. When Mark Bowden's New York Times bestseller Black Hawk Down about the Battle of Mogadishu during the Somalian civil war first came out, "we did a lot of military bases," recalled freelance publicist Scott Manning. "Hundreds of people came out." Manning arranged phone interviews with base newspapers in advance of Bowden's appearances at PXs and bookstores near the bases.

Before September 11, military stores served as an important secondary outlet for trade books. As the war against terrorism continues, its significance can only increase in the months ahead. But there is little doubt that today's new influx of soldiers will want the same types of books that service people, and their civilian peers, have always sought—entertainment and information to make sense of their lives—at a discount.