Ingram Changes 'Micro' Press Terms

A year and a half after Ingram Book Company asked micro-presses to sign on with a distributor in order to continue doing business with them, it has created new terms for those that want to stay. Micropresses do less than $15,000 in net sales over a two-year period.

Kelley Maier, senior v-p of product management and marketing at Ingram Book Group, told PW that these small presses, which were previously in a program called Ingram Express, should go with a distributor. But, she said, "some publishers refuse to take that step." Maier noted that the direct arrangement with Ingram is not always the best way to provide visibility for such presses. "We don't aggressively go out title by title and sell those books," she said.

Under the new micropublisher contracts that took effect last month, publishers that have worked with Ingram before agree to sell books to Ingram at 60% off suggested retail, pay freight charges and grant Ingram payment terms of 90 days from the end of the month. Currently, some 1,000 such publishers have chosen to stay with Ingram.

At the same time, Ingram modified its terms for small presses seeking direct representation for the first time. Audrey Seitz, v-p of marketing for IBG, said, "These new terms have been designed to give publishers entree into Ingram's title promotion programs at significant discounts."

The two main changes involve up-front promotion payments: a one-time setup fee of $250 and a nonrefundable $400 fee to participate in Ingram's New Title Visibility Program, which includes one ad in the catalogue and one ipage banner.

"We're trying to break the no visibility/no sales cycle where a new publisher comes to us and makes no additional investments," said Seitz.