Study Guides Battle Heats Up

In the latest move in the battle of the study-guide publishers, Barnes & Noble–owned Sparknotes has decided it will not sell its books in any outlet not owned by the chain.

The decision reflects perhaps the boldest B&N Publishing gamble to date: with the right placement and pricing, Sparknotes is hoping to capture a publishing category without placing a single copy in another store. "We'd really like to associate Sparknotes with the [B&N] store; there's a lot of resonance between the two," said Sparknotes publisher Dan Weiss. He called the move a "strategic decision," not a policy, implying that it could change if Sparknotes feels it is necessary. Barnes & Noble, of course, had already stopped carrying Cliffs Notes and other study guides in its stores.

Spark, which now has several hundred nonguide titles and guides to more than 1,000 classic novels, has been expanding its line in a number of ways to compete with Cliffs and other publishers. It has added a series of "No Fear Shakespeare"—page-by-page translations into modern English (e.g., The Tempest's "What a blow was there given" becomes "Ouch, what a comeback")—and a series of SAT Vocabulary novels—narrative books aimed at teens that contain words that appear on the test.

The question, now, is can Spark's Internet-flavored approach and the reach of one powerful store with many college outlets beat an established brand and the reach of everyone else?

In its public comments, Cliffs' publisher John Wiley remains exceedingly diplomatic. The publisher compliments the bookseller even as it has tried to find ways to compensate for the loss of one of its biggest Cliffs' clients. "Would we like them to carry Cliffs Notes? Yes. But our relationship with them has been exceptional," said Dean Karrel, v-p, trade sales, for Wiley.

The rhetoric over who has the better brand, though, has clearly grown juicier. Spark, which produces shorter, jazzier guides, says a new generation comes to it through the Web site, where all Spark guides are available for free. "We think we've replaced Cliffs Notes in the consumer's mind," Weiss said. "We believe it's the modern brand: born on the Internet; remains free on the Internet. We don't think we're directly competitive with Cliffs Notes—we think we're the successor to them."

Wiley, which noted that sales at other outlets have picked up since B&N stopped selling its books, argues that students have known Cliffs Notes for generations, and the books' placement—at college stores not owned by B&N, at independents and through institutional channels and other markets—keep it in prime position. "There's always going to be competition," Karrel said. "When you have the strongest brand out there, you really don't have to worry."