|
If you have questions not answered here, please email: sales - at - IncentiveBooks.com
Click a category for FAQs related to...
IncentiveBooks.com
Incentives (in general)
Books-as-Incentives
Incentive Buyers
Publishers
Self-Publishers
Authors
Incentive Manufacturers/Suppliers/Marketers
Incentive or Premium Reps
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IncentiveBooks.com
Q: What is IB's mission?
Q: How did IncentiveBooks come to be in the books-as-incentives business?
Q: If books-as-incentives is such a big market, why hasn't there been a service like IncentiveBooks.com until now?
Q: Does IncentiveBooks have an affiliate program?
Q: What is IB's mission?
Our overall mission is improving lives through knowledge. To do that, our objective is to be number one in brokering large-quantity book sales between book publishers and organizations that use books in their marketing and HR incentive programs. Our goals for each constituent group are as follows:
- For incentive buyers, our intention to be a leading innovator in strategies and tactics to maximize the return-on-investment of using books as incentives.
- For independent publishers, our intention is to become their outsourced incentive sales department, providing them incremental income and simplicity without investing additional resources or having to learn more about the complex world of incentives.
- For authors, our intention is to provide them additional income and personal exposure by helping them put their books into the hands of more readers.
- For other incentive suppliers (marketers), our intention is to employ books, bundled with their product, to sweeten the attractiveness of their products to incentive buyers.
- For independent incentive sales reps, our intention is to be a single source of diverse, quality books, making it practical for them to represent books-as-incentives. Further, we will help them help their clients improve the ROI of their incentive programs by bundling complementary books with whatever other incentives those clients choose to use.
Q: How did IncentiveBooks come to be in the books-as-incentives business?
First, it's our passion. We love books and what they represent: books are one of the primary ways that wisdom and knowledge about the human experience gets passed from generation to generation. Books enlighten, entertain, educate, train and inspire. In the process, they make a great companion on a rainy day or in the tub, by the pool, on the beach or on a tedious flight. Books appeal to the senses...they feel good and smell good. For all those reasons, we dearly enjoy helping authors share their labors of love with as many people as possible. Through incentive sales, we can do that by the 1000s of books at a time, not just one book-at-a-time.
Secondly, authors, self-publishers and independent publishers need help in marketing their books. In a presentation at The Book Standard Summit 2005, Nielson BookScan reported that 93% of the books sold via retail scanners in 2004 sold less than 1000 copies! On the other hand, 55% of all books are sold outside of bookstores to what are called special markets. That includes book clubs, catalogs, gift stores, corporations, libraries, etc. Few authors and independent publisher understand the corporate incentives market. Even if they do, they can't afford the overhead to dedicate resources to it. Incentive Books, as their outsourced incentive sales department, makes it possible for them to reach that market.
Q: If books-as-incentives is such a big market, why hasn't there been a service like IncentiveBooks.com until now?
We asked both publishing and incentive industry experts exactly that question when we were first contemplating creating IB. Here's what we were told:
- Publishing houses are neither marketing nor technology driven. Their core competencies are selecting books they think will sell, designing and producing books, and getting distribution primarily in bookstore channels. They are not really in the marketing business - beyond initial publicity efforts, they largely expect authors to create demand for their books. Lastly, most publshers don't really understand the incentives market itself.
- Participants in incentive marketing channels don't understand the book business. They focus on manufactured products, like mousepads, housewares, electronics, etc.
- Independent representatives, who represent incentive manufacturers and marketing companies, won't represent individual publishing houses because the latter don't have a broad enough inventory to satisfy the wide variety of their clients' target audiences. And, they too don't understand the book business.
- The career of Terry Roberts, IB's Founder, is a unique blend of extensive experience in incentives, publishing and Internet marketing. That allowed him to both a) perceive the need for consolidating the books-as-incentives industry into a more efficient and educational process and b) conceive and implement the best methods for creating that process.
- Creating IB was a long, challenging process that most companies wouldn't have the commitment to see through to completion. What inspired us to see it through was a passion for our ultimate mission: improving lives through knowledge.
Q: Does IncentiveBooks have an affiliate program?
Yes, we have a program that pays attractive commissions to people who refer authors and publishers to us who become clients. Details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incentives (in general)
Q: What exactly is the incentives business, and what is the difference between "incentives," "ad specialties," "promotional products" and "premiums."
Q: Why are countries from all over the world and companies of all stripes - up to and including those in the Fortune 100 - involved in the incentives market?
Q: How big is the incentives business?
Q: Is the incentives business growing or declining?
Q: How do corporations and other organizations use incentives?
Q: How do incentive buyers find and buy the merchandise they use in incentive programs?
Q: What department or title in corporations and other organizations is responsible for buying incentives?
Q: How do recessions affect the incentives industry?
Q: What exactly is the incentives business, and what is the difference between "incentives," "ad specialties," "promotional products" and "premiums."
It is challenging to find definitive answers to this question. We've witnessed industry leaders providing conflicting definitions. All of the terms refer to means that organizations use to further their causes in a multitude of ways. It is the intent of a program more than what the item is that determines which term seems to best apply. For what it's worth, here's Wikipedia's take on it:
"An incentive program is a formal scheme used to promote or encourage specific actions or behavior by a specific group of people during a defined period of time. Incentive programs are particularly used in business management to motivate employees, and in sales in order to attract and retain customers." (IB note: incentives is the broadest term, and includes cash, travel and merchandise. The other terms are all merchandise only.)
A premium is a marketing term for a something given free with the purchase of a product or service
"Promotional products refers to articles of merchandise that are used in marketing and communication programs. These items are usually imprinted with a company's name, logo or slogan, and given away at trade shows, conferences, and as part of guerrilla marketing campaigns." (IB note: consider it synonymous with "ad specialties."
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: Why are countries from all over the world and companies of all stripes - up to and including those in the Fortune 100 - involved in the incentives market?
In a highly competitive environment as we have today, every organization is seeking better ways to attract and keep customers. Incentives are effective on both fronts. A study conducted by the Incentive Marketing Association (IncentiveMarketing.org) among a broad spectrum of companies revealed that 82% of them used merchandise or travel as incentives. Even more significant, they reported an 80% success rate in achieving their goals.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: How big is the incentives business?
Industry associations and publications peg incentive sales at around $46 billion per year. The ever-increasing need for organizations to attract new customers and foster customer loyalty is a large driver of that growth.
The promotional products industry represents another $18.8 billion.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: Is the incentives business growing or declining?
The Incentive Marketing Association reports that, in recent years, the incentives industry has been growing at 8% per year or so.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: How do corporations and other organizations use incentives?
They use incentives in many ways. Here are some examples:
For morale and motivation of employees.
As trade show traffic generators.
To promote brand awareness and loyalty.
As employee service awards.
For dealer incentives, co-op programs.
In company stores.
For public relations - corporate involvement with community, fundraising, sponsorship, school programs, media relations, corporate image.
For new customer or new account generation.
For internal promotions: sales incentive, quality programs, productivity, inventory reduction, error reduction, attendance improvement.
For new product or service introduction.
In employee safety and education.-
In non-profit fundraising and public awareness campaigns.
In customer referral reward programs.
As rewards for marketing research, surveys and focus group participation.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: How do incentive buyers find and buy the merchandise they use in incentive programs?
It varies depending on the purpose of the program, but The Incentive Federation's survey of incentive buyers identified the following ways in the case of consumer promotions:
From a promotional products/ad specialty distributor - 39%
Direct from manufacturer - 33%
From an incentive company/house - 31%
A local retail store - 18%
From a sales promotion/advertising agency - 33%
From a manufacturers' representative - 29%
Via the Internet - 29%
The IncentiveBooks.com channel plays a role in a number of those channels.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: What department or title in corporations and other organizations is responsible for buying incentives?
For marketing related programs, it's the marketing department. For employee related programs, it's typically the HR department. It larger corporations, a purchasing manager may place the order, but the directive to do so comes from a manager in one of the above departments. The decision maker typically doesn't have "incentive" or "buyer" in his/her title - the title describes something much broader.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
Q: How do recessions affect the incentives industry?
In general, history shows that incentive use initially declines somewhat in the early part of recessions, then bounces back rather quickly - more quickly than many industries. The main reason is that incentives are net revenue producers - their very purpose is to produce more revenue, directly or indirectly, than their cost.
More specifically, savvy executives who understand the competitive opportunities presented by recessions go on the offense and use incentives even more than usual to increase market share, customer satisfaction/loyalty/retention and/or employee productivity.
The more fearful, less confident executives initially go on defense and cut incentive budgets. But given the direct connection between motivated employees, satisfied customers and profitability, they typically resume incentive programs earlier rather than later.
Incentive Central, the incentive industry's clearinghouse for all things incentives, has published a great article on the subject.
Back to Incentives (in general) Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books-as-Incentives
Q: Why do organizations like using books as incentives?
Q: How big is the books-as-incentives business?
Q: What kind of organizations use books-as-incentives?
Q: What kinds of books do organizations want for incentive use?
Q: How are booklets used as incentives?
Q: What is a multi-media ebook and how can it be used as an incentive?
Q: How can a book be used in concert with the Web to maximize the ROI of an incentive program?
Q: How big do orders get for books to be used as incentives?
Q: Are books declining in popularity...does anybody read any more?
Q: How do recessions affect the use of incentives?
Q: Why do organizations like using books as incentives?
Organizations like many things about books as incentives. Among them are:
- They are customizable with their brand and message
- Have a much higher perceived value than ad specialties
- Makes a positive impression by demonstrating a desire to be helpful
- Provide a lasting brand presence; quality books typically are not thrown away
- They differentiate the organization: there's a perfect book for almost every situation
- They save them money over many other options
- They are relatively easy and inexpensive to mail
- They are easy to bundle with another product
- The incentive program ROI can be enhanced by inserting Web addresses into the books that tie into all manner of Web-based strategies
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: How big is the books-as-incentives business?
Our best estimate is that the books-as-incentives market is upwards of $1 billion per year. There isn't a definitive source for the size of the market. Part of the challenge is that many independent publishers/self-publishers don't submit their incentive sales figures to any reporting agency.
Our estimate is extrapolated from the size of the overall incentives/promotional products market, the percentage of organizations that say in industry surveys that they use books as incentives and the average size of an incentives order. Potentials in Marketing magazine has reported from industry surveys that 16.8% of organizations that use merchandise as incentives use books and that most incentive orders start at 5,000 units and go up from there.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: What kinds of organizations use books-as-incentives?
All kinds: corporations, associations, charities - any organization with an audience that it wants to incentivize to take some desired action, be it prospects, customers, partners, salespeople, dealers employees, contributors, etc.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: What kinds of books do organizations want for incentive use?
Buyers are looking for non-fiction books that educate, instruct, entertain and/or inspire and, of course, whose content is highly relevant to their audience and the kinds of products/services the buyers' companies provide.
Buyers demand a great cover design, compelling/motivating title, professional interior design/layout, editing, proofreading and production values.
Think about it this way: by offering a book as an incentive, an organization is associating its organization's brand and reputation with it. The organization is saying "this is a great book worthy of your time and attention." The book has to deliver on that promise in all respects.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: How are booklets used as incentives?
Booklets are used by organizations that prefer short-form content. That may be for reasons of cost, nature of the audience or topic, size, the desire to do a series of incentives rather than a single one, etc.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: What is a multi-media ebook and how can it be used as an incentive?
A multi-media ebook is a digital book, viewed via a browser, which contains images, text, audio and/or video. They can be extremely compelling, informative, entertaining and interactive. To see examples, please see Alive eBooks, our co-marketing partner.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: How can a book be used in concert with the Web to maximize the ROI of an incentive program?
An organization can have us insert Web addresses into the contents of the book (in all kinds of creative ways) to drive traffic to a variety of initiatives limited only by the imagination: online stores, new product introductions, trial offers, market research tools, customer relationship building features, community-building tools, customer satisfaction programs, etc. So the organization can not only realize the ROI of their incentive program on the front-end, but a second ROI from their back-end strategies. We believe this is the highest and best use of books-as-incentives and can suggest all manner of possibilities.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: How big do orders get for books to be used as incentives?
There have been incentive programs using books by major consumer product companies in which over a million books have been awarded or sold.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: Are books declining in popularity...does anybody read any more?
The sometimes heard comment that "nobody reads any more" is not supported by the book industry's sales data. Total U.S. book publishers' net revenues reached $40.32 billion in 2008, up 1.0% over 2007, while 2008 unit sales reached nearly 3.1 billion, down 1.5% over 2007, according to Book Industry TRENDS 2009, the Book Industry Study Group's comprehensive annual research study.
It is probably safe to say that some people don't read the same kinds of things they once did (newspapers) and that they may not read books (non-fiction especially) word-for-word as much as they used to. For some, a book is used as a reference source, as needed. As for books-as-incentives in general, the key - as it has always been - is getting the right book in the right hands for the right purposes.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
Q: How do recessions affect the use of incentives?
Recent sales figures indicate that book sales in 2009, in the midst of one of the biggest and most troubling economic setbacks ever experienced by the US, are down around 3%.
Any socio-economic condition presents organizations opportunities to offer books that help people contend with that condition, making its perceived value higher than it would be otherwise.
Back to Books-as-Incentives Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incentive Buyers
Q: What are some strategies for using books as incentives?
Q: Wouldn't a best-seller work best as an incentive because it has proven appeal?
Q: Why would I work with IncentiveBooks.com rather than work directly with the publisher?
Q: What is the overall process of buying books in bulk to use as an incentive?
Q: What should I consider in selecting books to use as incentives?
Q: If I'm interested in working with IncentiveBooks.com, what's the best way to proceed?
Q: Why do organizations like using books as incentives?
Q: What are your criteria when screening books to accept into your catalog?
Q: How long does it take to deliver books if I order them?
Q: What kinds of customization to a book are possible?
Q: A "mere" book can't work as an incentive for buying a pricier product or service can it?
Q: What is Incentive Books' payment terms?
Q: What if a buyer wants between 25 and 1000 books without customization?
Q: What if a buyer want more than 1000 books and/or customization to the book?
Q: What kind of quantity discount can a buyer expect?
Q: Are self-published books appropriate to use as incentives?
Q: How does an incentive buyer proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: What are some strategies for using books-as-incentives?
The possibilities are almost endless. Here are a few examples:
- For morale and motivation of employees
- As trade show traffic generators
- To promote brand awareness and loyalty
- As employee service awards
- For dealer incentives, co-op programs
- In company stores
- For public relations - corporate involvement with community, fundraising, sponsorship, school programs, media relations, corporate image.
- For new customer or new account generation
- For internal promotions: sales incentive, quality programs, productivity, inventory reduction, error reduction, attendance improvement
- For new product or service introduction
- In employee safety and education
- In non-profit fundraising and public awareness campaigns
- In customer referral reward programs
- As rewards for marketing research, surveys and focus group participation
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: Wouldn't a best-seller work best as an incentive because it has proven appeal?
Actually, no. A best-seller means lots of people already own the book. If they own the book, offering them another one isn't very compelling. At IB, we believe it is far more compelling for an organization to identify a high quality book that's flying somewhat "under the radar" and being able to say to their audience, "Look at this great book we discovered to help you <solve problem>/<take advantage of an opportunity>."
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: Why would I work with IncentiveBooks.com rather than work directly with the publisher?
Many self- and small-to-mid-sized publishers have little or no experience with the world of incentive programs and the service-level expected by corporate customers. They are not in a position to appreciate the nuances of brand image and counsel corporate customers on the many creative things that can be done to maximize the ROI of using books as incentives. Nor are they used to providing the level of project management and communications required by corporate customers.
Terry Roberts, Founder and CEO of IncentiveBooks, is a 25 year marketing and advertising veteran who created and implemented incentive programs for a wide variety of his 250 clients over the years, including numerous Fortune 500 companies. He lived in the corporate manager's shoes. He is also intimately familiar with the importance of protecting brand image, direct response advertising, lead generation and sales conversion. So, at Incentive Books we:
- Speak both the corporate buyers' language and the publisher's language, which allows us to anticipate and accommodate both parties' needs and create win-win programs
- We understand the corporate manager's needs, processes, values, priorities
- We can counsel buyers with creative ideas that enhance the ROI of their incentive program
- Understand how important and beneficial it is in this day and age to tie-in back-end Web strategies to books-as-incentives programs
- Provide the level of project management and client communications expected by corporate managers
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What is the overall process of buying books in bulk to use as an incentive?
In brief, the process is:
- We engage with the prospective buyer to learn they requirements and objectives and counsel them, as needed, on what can be done through book customization and back-end Web strategies tied to the book to enhance the ROI of their program
- We negotiate the preliminary terms of a bulk book purchase and customization
- We confirm the publisher's acceptance of the pricing, terms, customization, delivery, etc.
- We execute the final purchase agreement
- We handle the payment process
- We obtain creative/content materials from the buyer that are needed for book customization and provide them to the publisher or production house with instructions
- We keep all parties posted on project status
- We facilitate any required buyer approvals
- We confirm delivery of books to the buyer per the terms of the purchase agreement
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What should I consider in selecting books to use as incentives?
Typically, you'll want to look for non-fiction books that educate, instruct, entertain and/or inspire and, of course, whose content is highly relevant to your audience and the kinds of products/services you provide.
Look for a professional cover design, compelling/motivating title, professional interior design/layout, editing, proofreading and production values.
Think about it this way: by offering a book as an incentive, you're associating your organization's brand and reputation with it. You're saying "this is a great book worthy of your time and attention." The book has to deliver on that promise in all respects.
Lastly, the cost of the book has to allow a positive ROI on the incentive you're contemplating offering. Significant discounts off cover price are typical for books purchased in quantity.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: If I'm interested in working with IncentiveBooks.com, what's the best way to proceed?
There are three easy ways:
1. If it's about a specific book on our site: Browse our online book catalog http://www.incentivebooks.com/book_listing.php?printed_book=Yes and on any book's detail pages, click the "Have Us Contact You About This Book" button near the middle of the page. Complete the simple inquiry form and submit it to us. We'll contact you promptly.
2. Call us 800-401-4306.
3. Email us at custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: Why do organizations like using books as incentives?
Organizations like many things about books as incentives. Among them are:
- They are customizable with their brand and message
- Have a much higher perceived value than ad specialties
- Makes a positive impression by demonstrating a desire to be helpful
- Provide a lasting brand presence; quality books typically are not thrown away
- They differentiate the organization: there's a perfect book for almost every situation
- They save them money over many other options
- They are relatively easy and inexpensive to mail
- They are easy to bundle with another product
- The incentive program ROI can be enhanced by inserting Web addresses into the books that tie into all manner of Web-based strategies
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What are your criteria when screening books to accept into your catalog?
Books can be self-published or from an independent publisher. We look for non-fiction books that educate, instruct, entertain and/or inspire. The book must fit the target audiences and categories of companies with which we feel we have the greatest opportunity for success.
We require a professional, dynamic cover design, compelling/motivating title, professional interior design/layout, editing, proofreading and production values.
Our client-buyers are going to associate their organization's brand and reputation with a book. They're saying "this is a great book worthy of your time and attention." The book has to deliver on that promise in all respects.
Lastly, we're always looking for authors with a fresh perspective and information.
We have to inspect a book before we can say whether we feel it fits our program or not. Go to http://www.incentivebooks.com/publishers_submit_your_books.php to submit a book for consideration.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: How long does it take to deliver books if I order them?
It is highly dependent on a number of factors, the most notable of which is the extent and nature of any book customization you would like to have done. If you want as-is books and the publisher has a sufficient quantity already in inventory, they can be shipped almost immediately. If you want a great deal of creative customization done to the book, delivery might take 4 - 6 weeks from when you give final approval of the customization.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kinds of customization to a book are possible?
It is limited only by imagination, affordability and physical production capabilities.
On the simple end of the scale, your logo can be imprinted on the cover or applied with a sticker. Other straight-forward changes are adding a message-from-the-President page in the front, or product/service information about your company in the back of the book.
You might want a "can't-be-missed" card-stock insert glued into the book.
On the complex end of the scale, you might want a book split into 12 booklets you can mail as a series, each with a printed wrapband and wax seal in a gift box.
IB is expert at making suggestions to make the most of your incentive program. Contact us as follows to explore possibilities:
1. If it's about a specific book on our site: Browse our online book catalog http://www.incentivebooks.com/book_listing.php?printed_book=Yes and on any book's detail pages, click the "Have Us Contact You About This Book" button near the middle of the page. Complete the simple inquiry form and submit it to us. We'll contact you promptly.
2. Call us at 800-401-4306.
3. Email us at sales - at - IncentiveBooks.com.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: A "mere" book can't work as an incentive for buying a pricier product or service can it?
Nobody is going to buy a Mercedes because you offer to give them a free book for doing so. But most sales processes are a series of steps: for example, lead generation, qualification, assessment of buying interest, trial, closing and after-sale customer care.
A book can be the perfect incentive (or part of same) to move a prospect to the next step in your particular sales process.
So, a Mercedes dealer may hold a special weekend event offering lunch, a book on the history of Mercedes and meeting a race car driver to anyone who comes in to test drive a Mercedes. And if we were involved in that promotion, we'd want to see the book customized with a special offer about purchasing a Mercedes.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What is Incentive Books' payment terms?
It can vary with the complexity/size of the purchase, the size of the publisher, etc. Typically, there is a deposit required with the initial order, with balance due before shipment of the books or perhaps within 30 days of shipment.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What if a buyer wants between 25 and 1000 books without customization?
In our Website catalog of books, go to any book's detail pages, scroll down a bit and use the "Buy This Book As-Is" feature to order and pay via shopping cart on the spot. Click on the blue link for your desired quantity, then when the cart page appears, enter your desired quantity in the quantity box. Cick the "Recalculate" button, and your correct discount for that quantity will automatically be shown. Check out normally from there.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What if a buyer wants more than 1000 books and/or customization to the book?
There are three easy ways to start the process:
1. If it's about a specific book on our site: Browse our online book catalog http://www.incentivebooks.com/book_listing.php?printed_book=Yes and on any book's detail pages, click the "Have Us Contact You About This Book" button near the middle of the page. Complete the simple inquiry form and submit it to us. We'll contact you promptly.
2. Call us at 800-401-4306.
3. Email us at custserve - at -IncentiveBooks.com.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: What level of quantity discount can a buyer expect?
Because of the wide spectrum of variables in producing a book for an incentive buyer (cover type, dimensions, size, quantity printed, method of printing, quantity/grade of images, turnaround time, availability of existing inventory, out-of-print status, availability of digital files, etc.) it is impossible to state a standardized discount schedule.
However, deep discounts off the cover price are typical as the quantity ordered increases, making books incredibly competitive with many other incentive products with far less perceived value.
Due to our special relationship with publishers, they are eager to work with us to provide you highly competitive pricing. We bend over backwards to make every purchase a win-win. Contact us to get a specific quote for what you have in mind. Here's three easy ways:
1. If it's about a specific book on our site: Browse our online book catalog http://www.incentivebooks.com/book_listing.php?printed_book=Yes and on any book's detail pages, click the "Have Us Contact You About This Book" button near the middle of the page. Complete the simple inquiry form and submit it to us. We'll contact you promptly.
2. Call us at 800-401-4306.
3. Email us at custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: Are self-published books appropriate to use as incentives?
Absolutely. It's all about the quality of the book and its fit with a given organization, its target audience and its objectives. And self-published authors have wonderful flexibility in making a deal come together.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
Q: How does an incentive buyer proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
There are three easy ways to get the ball rolling:
1. If it's about a specific book on our site: Browse our online book catalog http://www.incentivebooks.com/book_listing.php?printed_book=Yes and on any book's detail pages, click the "Have Us Contact You About This Book" button near the middle of the page. Complete the simple inquiry form and submit it to us. We'll contact you promptly.
2. Call us at 800-401-4306.
3. Email us at sales - at - IncentiveBooks.com.
Back to Incentive Buyers Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Publishers
Q: What are the benefits to the publisher of working with IncentiveBooks.com to market to the incentives market?
Q: What kind of publshers are suitable for working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Are the books IncentiveBooks sells for me returnable by the buyer?
Q: Are a publisher's back-listed and out-of-print books eligible for the IB program?
Q: How much does it cost for a publisher to participate in your program?
Q: What kind of credit risk would a publisher face with your program?
Q: What kind of inventory risk would a publisher face with your program?
Q: What if a publisher has dozens, hundreds or even thousands of books that are appropriate for the IncentiveBooks program?
Q: Does a publisher have to provide drop-shipping of books for your buyers?
Q: What kind of profit can I expect from deals you bring me?
Q: To create a Basic Listing for a book in your catalog, what information must be compiled in advance and what are the specifications for images?
Q: Do you represent all types and sizes of publishers?
Q: What markets does IncentiveBooks sell to?
Q: How does IB avoid conflict with my other sales and distribution channels?
Q: If a publisher signs up for your program, can it still do incentive sales on my own without going through you?
Q: Is your sales representation agreement require exclusivity?
Q: What if the publisher has both hard and soft cover versions of a book?
Q: What kind of control does the publisher have over the kind of deals that IB does for him?
Q: What if a publisher signs up for your program and subsequently wants out of your program?
Q: How does a publisher proceed who's interested in working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: What are the benefits to the publisher of working with IncentiveBooks.com to market to the incentives market?
Many, if not most, publishers don't have the resources, and some don't have the knowhow or inclination, to market to the corporate incentives market. So the first point is that working with IncentiveBooks.com puts them in front of a $36 billion market that they otherwise wouldn't be in front of.
IncentiveBooks represents the potential - with no investment of additional resources - for significant incremental sales from a source that is totally compatible with whatever other marketing or distribution they may be doing. Furthermore, all books are non-returnable, so there is zero inventory risk!
If that weren't enough, incentive sales keep your back-listed and out-of-print book in play, since most incentive deals require a custom book run in significant quantities that reduce per-book production costs and allow attractive margins. In some cases, you may be able to piggy-back an additional non-customized run of books at an attractive cost - books that you can use for other purposes.
Selling to the incentives market is relatively fast pay. While bookstores typically pay in 90 days or so, most incentive sales not only call for a deposit of as much as 50% - which should cover your printing costs by the way, so you have no out of pocket costs for printing – and payment of the balance within 30 days of delivery.
There are additional unique benefits that IB brings to the party: By consolidating independent publishers into a single source of supply that understands incentives, we open up access to traditional incentive sales channels – like independent sales rep, incentive houses and premium product distributors – that are not accessible to the individual publisher. These channel members are involved in multi-million dollar incentive programs for their large corporate clients.
We project manage the process, acting as a “buffer” between you and corporate buyers. We understand their language, marketing, incentives and processes so you don’t have to.
We encourage repeat business by coaching our corporate buyers on how to make the most of using books as incentives. We provide optional services that enhance their ROI and make the management of their programs extremely easy, which incentive surveys reveal is one of their most important criteria for incentive programs.
Lastly, the mere existence and marketing of IncentiveBooks.com promotes the very idea of using books as incentives to the corporate market.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kind of publishers are suitable for working with IncentiveBooks?
First, they have to be publishers of non-fiction books that meet the criteria discussed herein. And they have to embrace IB's objectives, methods and policies. Beyond that, our clients range from self-publishers to household-name publishers with thousands of books.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Are the books IncentiveBooks sells for me returnable by the buyer?
No. All sales are final. There is no inventory risk.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Are a publisher's back-listed and out-of-print books eligible for the IB program?
Absolutely. They can be entered into our program, published in our online catalog and printed only as necessary to fulfill orders secured by a purchase agreement and buyer deposit.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: How much does it cost for a publisher to participate in your program?
There is a modest fee per book per year to cover our hosting and database management costs (our primary revenue source is a commission on consummated sales). If a publisher wishes to put multiple books into the program, quantity discounts are available. Contact us for details:
800-401-4306
custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kind of credit risk would a publisher face with your program?
Very little if any. Wherever possible, IB collects an advance deposit from our buyer that covers both our commission and your production costs, including customization. You will have the opportunity to review the terms of a special-run sale in advance.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kind of inventory risk would a publisher face with your program?
None. For smaller orders of non-customized books, you can fulfill them out of existing inventory or choose to print them if the order warrants. For larger orders or for customized books, you would have a purchase order and deposit in advance, and all books we sell are non-returnable.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What if a publisher has dozens, hundreds or even thousands of books that are appropriate for the IncentiveBooks program?
We don't have a number limit. It is more a matter of the fee structure and selecting books we think have the most likelihood of success through our program. Please contact us to discuss how to proceed: 800-401-4306
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Does a publisher have to provide drop-shipping of books for your buyers?
No, IncentiveBooks.com includes an automated system for handling fast and cost-effective drop-shipping to individual recipients of books. It includes an authentication system to ensure only one book per person can be awarded.
Having said that, if you have drop-shipping capabilities, there may be occasions where we would have you handle same.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kind of profit can I expect from deals you bring me?
Since every larger or custom-book sale is negotiated and there are so many variables in the cost of book production, it is difficult to give a specific answer. Our agreement provides that when we present you with an offer from a buyer that provides you at least a stated bottom-line net profit over and above our commission plus your total book production costs, you are beholden to accept it. We do that to protect ourselves from having done all the considerable work to close a sale with nothing to show for it. However, our goal is always to get you the best deal possible and exceed that net minimum as much as possible. (Remember too, our buyer pays you for any customization costs in addition to normal book production costs.)
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: To create a Basic Listing for a book in your catalog, what information must be compiled in advance and what are the specifications for images?
We provide a simple MS Word form that summarizes all the requirements and allows you to easily prepare all the information required for a book listing in advance. Download it here.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Do you represent all types and sizes of publishers?
Yes, our clients range from self-publishers with a single book to household-name publishers with thousands of books.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What markets does IncentiveBooks sell to?
Our Target Market is for-profit and non-profit businesses, including but not limited to all forms of operating businesses, professional associations, trade associations, charities, social organizations and sole proprietorships in the U.S. and other countries that purchase books in quantity (bulk) for use in their own incentive and/or promotional programs. (The Target Market falls into what the book publishing industry has categorized as “Special Sales.”)
The Target Market is not in the business of re-selling books marketed by our publisher-clients. Rather, the Target Market uses books purchased from our publishers to promote their business’ interests with external and/or internal audiences (buy product, contribute, join, submit inquiry, take survey, request demo, achieve a goal, learn a skill, etc.)
While the Target Market will often give away for free the books it purchases from Publisher, some may charge for the books to recover all or part of their book costs - or even make a profit on same. However, unless otherwise approved by our publisher-client, the Target Market explicitly excludes bookstores, book distributors and wholesalers, gift stores and any other entities that are in the business of re-selling the publisher’s books. IB will make best efforts to avoid book sales that represent competitive conflicts with any of our publisher-clients re-seller channels for their books.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: How does IB avoid conflict with my other sales and distribution channels?
We sell only to for-profit and non-profit organizations that use books for their own self-promotion, not resale. For more details, see the preceding question and answer.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: If a publisher signs up for your program, can he still do incentive sales on his own without going through you?
Yes, our sales representation agreement is non-exclusive. However, we offer a discounted commission on sales as an incentive to encourage our clients to refer prospects for incentive sales that they encounter to us to take advantage of our expertise in advising the client on how to make the most of books-as-incentives, negotiating the deal, closing the deal, drop-shipment and project-managing the whole process through to completion. (A third party such as ourselves can often negotiate a better deal than the principal.)
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Does your sales representation agreement require exclusivity?
No. Please see the preceding question and answer for details.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What if the publisher has both hard and soft cover versions of a book?
We will assess if one is more suited to the most likely incentive buyers for that book. It comes down to the importance of cost to the buyer vs. perceived value to the buyer's audience. Whichever version we feature in our online catalog, we can note in its description that the other version is also available.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What kind of control does the publisher have over the kind of deals that IB does for him?
On smaller (under 1000 quantity) orders of as-is books, the publisher pre-approves a standard discount schedule stated in the sales rep agreement. But on larger orders, or orders requiring book customization, IB will always review the terms of the deal with the publisher in advance to ensure that it is acceptable. IB has no interest in deals that aren't a win for our publisher-clients.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What if a publisher signs up for your program and subsequently wants out of your program?
The publisher may terminate the sales rep agreement for convenience without cause with two weeks written notice delivered by certified mail to IB.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: How does a publisher proceed if interested in working with IncentiveBooks?
If you have additional questions before deciding if you're interested in participating in our program, or you're a publisher with multiple books that may be relevant contact us:
800-401-4306
custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com
If you are interested in participating in our program and want to see if your book meets our criteria, submit your book(s) for consideration:
It is very important to IncentiveBook's credibility with buyers to represent only books that we have screened for quality and relevance to incentive programs. So the process starts with having us review your book and determine if it meets the desired criteria. Here's how to proceed:
If you've registered on our site before, simply log into the site and click on the "Submit Book for Consideration" link on the left side of the page. Complete the form and submit it to us.
If you have never registered on our site before, go to our Submit Your Books page and read the instructions.
Back to Publishers Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Publishers
Q: How does the IncentiveBooks program work for a self-publisher?
Q: What are the benefits to a self-publisher of working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Why is the books-as-incentives market such a secret to authors?
Q: Is your book worthy of incentive sales?
Q: How does a self-publisher who's interested proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Q: How does the IncentiveBooks program work for a self-publisher?
It works exactly as it does for an independent publisher that publishes other peoples' works. Please see the Publisher FAQs above. However, as a self-publisher, you are in an excellent position to respond quickly and be highly flexible in accommodating the requests of corporate buyers.
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: What are the benefits to a self-publisher of working with IncentiveBooks?
You enjoy all the benefits of both the publisher and the author described in these FAQs and throughout our site.
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Why is the books-as-incentives market such a secret to authors.
There are several reasons:
- Until IB, there was no visible sales channel where you could see such deals being done, which helped it fly under the radar
- Few author have ever been exposed to the implementation of incentive programs in the corporate world
- Many smaller publishers are not familiar with it or don't have the resources to dedicate to it, so they don't talk about it much
- Authors of the most popular books on book marketing give pretty short shrift to the topic. They tell you it can be very rewarding, but don't provide much detail on how to do it
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Is your book worthy of incentive sales?
If you are further along the path than someone else in knowing how to do something, coping with an issue or gaining insights about the nature of things, then you are in a position to provide value through your book to others who aren’t as far along that path of understanding as you are.
The key is to be authentic. Win trust by admitting you don’t have all the answers, that you're still learning, but that you are willing to share what you've learned so far to be of value to others. Claim only to be an expert in your own life experience and no one can ever claim that you’re not an expert.
Your book needs to be non-fiction. It must educate, instruct and/or inspire so that it's easy for an incentive buyer to grasp how it relates to his/her organization's products/services and target audience. It must have a great, compelling title. The buyer's audience needs to grasp in seconds the book's value to them!
Lastly, invest in professional cover design, interior book design/layout, editing, proofreading and quality book production.
Do this…and you are worthy!
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: How does a self-publisher who's interested proceed to work with IB?
If you have additional questions before deciding if you're interested in participating in our program, or you're a self-publisher with multiple books that may be relevant contact us:
800-401-4306
custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com
If you are interested in participating in our program and want to see if your book meets our criteria, submit your book(s) for consideration:
It is very important to IncentiveBook's credibility with buyers to represent only books that we have screened for quality and relevance to incentive programs. So the process starts with having us review your book and determine if it meets the desired criteria. Here's how to proceed:
If you've registered on our site before, simply log into the site and click on the "Submit Book for Consideration" link on the left side of the page. Complete the form and submit it to us.
If you have never registered on our site before, go to our Submit Your Books page and read the instructions.
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Yes. Affiliates earn commissions when their referrals sign up for our program. It is even two-tiered, so you can recruit others to refer as well and you earn an "over-ride" commission on any sign-ups they refer. Details.
Back to Self-Publishers Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors
Q: Is your book worthy of incentive sales?
Q: Can a self-published author work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Can an author who used an outside publisher work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: What are the benefits to an author of working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: How does an author proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Q: Is your book worthy of incentive sales?
If you are further along the path than someone else in knowing how to do something, coping with an issue or gaining insights about the nature of things, then you are in a position to provide value through your book to others who aren’t as far along that path of understanding as you are.
The key is to be authentic. Win trust by admitting you don’t have all the answers, that you're still learning, but that you are willing to share what you've learned so far to be of value to others. Claim only to be an expert in your own life experience and no one can ever claim that you’re not an expert.
Your book needs to be non-fiction. It must educate, instruct and/or inspire so that it's easy for an incentive buyer to grasp how it relates to his/her organization's products/services and target audience. It must have a great, compelling title. The buyer's audience needs to grasp in seconds the book's value to them!
Lastly, invest in professional cover design, interior book design/layout, editing, proofreading and quality book production.
Do this…and you are worthy!
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
Q: Can a self-published author work with IncentiveBooks?
Absolutely. We love the quick decisions and flexibility that self-published authors bring to helping us satisfy the requests of corporate buyers. All the publisher FAQs herein apply to self-publishers.
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
Q: Can an author who used an outside publisher work with IncentiveBooks?
There are really three questions hidden within that question?
1) Can we represent your book to the incentives market?
2) Who pays the listing fee for the book?
3) Does IB offer any other services directly relevant to authors?
1) Can we represent your book to the incentives market? We can work with whatever party own the rights to marketing the book and therefore has the authority to authorize us to represent a book to the incentives market. In most cases, that's the traditional publisher/self-publisher. However, with new publishing models with differently-divided rights occurring more and more, who we work with comes down to who has the appropriate rights to engage us.
2) Who pays the listing fee for the book? In some cases, the publisher is more than happy to engage us, but don't won't to pay the modest listing fee per book per year to be in the program and our online catalog. In those cases, the author may choose to pay the fee instead, while the publisher signs the representation agreement.
3) Does IB offer any other services directly relevant to authors? There are two levels of listing in the IB online catalog. A Basic Listing is the listing related to the book itself. A Premium Listing is an upgrade with a modest fee that adds an additional tab to the book listing entitled, "Other Products/Services by This Author." This is where the author can market other products and services - related to that book's topic - that they market to corporate buyers. It might be CDs, DVDs, training programs, coaching, consulting, speaking, etc. Often a corporate buyer will want to place an order for a quantity of the author's books plus have the author provide other services as well. There is a modest annual fee per book per year to the author for a Premium Listing. Example of a Premium Listing.
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
Q: What are the benefits to an author of working with IncentiveBooks?
Assuming you as a self-publisher or your independent publisher elects to participate in our program...
It's likely to be the best thing you've ever done to promote your practice and other products and services. Success provides you greater exposure, credibility, pride and self-confidence.
Unlike bookstore channels, you have little or no competition! Because authors and independent publishers don't understand this market, organizations receive very few, if any, proposals.
Selling to the incentives market is totally compatible with any other marketing or distribution program you’re doing. And it doesn’t matter if you self-published or used a traditional publisher.
By building a track record of book sales, you open the door to other opportunities - traditional publishers, literary agents, other sales channels, partners, clients. It only opens other doors for you, while closing none
Unlike books sold to bookstores, books sold as incentives are non-returnable. You’re not left wondering how many are going to come back, and especially in damaged condition.
Lastly, if you opt for our Premium Listing, in addition to your book you can market your other products and services - related to your book's topic - to corporations, associations and other non-profits. That could be DVDs, CDs, training, consulting, coaching, speaking, etc. Corporations often buy a quantity of books and also want the author to provide them related services.
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
Q: How does an author who's interested proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
If you are self-published and still have questions about the program, contact us:
800-401-4306
custserve - at - IncentiveBooks.com
If you are self-published and are already interested in our program, submit your book for consideration.
If you used an independent publisher, ask your publisher to contact us to learn about our program. It couldn't be simpler with the email form we provide right here on IB.
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Yes. Affiliates earn commissions when their referrals sign up for our program. It is even two-tiered, so you can recruit others to refer as well and you earn an "over-ride" commission on any sign-ups they refer. Details.
Back to Authors Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incentive Manufacturers/Suppliers/Marketers
Q: How is IncentiveBooks relevant to other incentive manufacturers, suppliers or marketers?
Q: What are the benefits to an incentive manufacturer/supplier/marketer of working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: How does a manufacturer/supplier/marketer who's interested proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: How is IncentiveBooks relevant to other incentive manufacturers, suppliers or marketers?
If your firm sells to the incentives marketplace – whether it’s travel, a gift card, or merchandise – you can sweeten the appeal of your incentive to buyers by offering the option of bundling a book with your offer. There are great books available to complement virtually any incentive.
To illustrate:
With travel to Brazil: a beautiful pictorial book about Brazil would be ideal
With a gift card: how about a broad-interest book as an incentive to
purchase a higher-value gift card?
With merchandise:
A BBQ cookbook to go with a BBQ incentive
A make-over book to go with a jewelry incentive
A golf instruction book to go with a golf equipment or travel incentive
The best part is, neither you nor customers has to inventory books, ship books or keep track of books. We'll set it up so all your customers have to do is provide us the name and e-mail addresses of their incentive recipients. We'll drop ship the books to each person.
You or your customers don't even have to know how many books you'll need in advance. We can set it up on a print-on-demand basis so you (or your customer) pays only for the actual number of books used. There's no book inventory risk!
Contact us and let's create the perfect book sweetener program for your incentive(s).
Back to Incentive Mfg/Sup/Mkters Back to Main Menu
Q: What are the benefits to an incentive manufacturer/supplier/marketer of working with IncentiveBooks?
With books, your clients never have to worry about sizes, colors, models, warranties, breakage or return issues.
Books are customizable. That may be a sticker on the cover, a special offer loosely inserted, or a paper band around the book with a special message. We believe that one of the most exciting benefits is the ability to include marketing content in the book, especially the addresses of Web pages where you can create additional revenue streams, build community and relationship, provide customer service, or mine the audience for intelligence about new products and services.
Books, in general, have a much higher perceived value compared to most brandable incentive merchandise.
Books aren't thrown away. They have a lasting presence, which means they provide your clients brand visibility over a period of time.
Books, especially non-fiction books, allow your clients to demonstrate a desire to help their incentive recipients because they provide useful information. That reflects positively on the client in a world where people have become pretty cynical about for-profit companies at least.
Each book is unique. Organizations like things that differentiate them from their competitors...things that tie into their brand image and the values they want to convey.
Books are relatively easy and cheap to ship because they're small and lightweight. That saves your clients money over a lot of other options.
Books are relatively easy to bundle with other products to increase sales conversion.
Incentive Books offers a variety of optional services that improve the ROI or ease of administration of any incentive program. Please check out....
Book Customization with Your Brand and Marketing Content
Automated Book Fulfillment Program
Book Pre-Testing Program
Book Inventory Risk Elimination Program
Back-end Web Services to Enhance Your Incentive Program ROI
Back to Incentive Mfg/Sup/Mkters Back to Main Menu
Q: How does a manufacturer/supplier/marketer who's interested proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Please call IB's Founder Terry Roberts: 800-401-4306.
Back to Incentive Mfg/Sup/Mkters Back to Main Menu
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incentive or Premium Reps
Q: How is IncentiveBooks relevant to incentive or premium reps?
Q: What are the benefits to a rep of working with IncentiveBooks?
Q: How does a rep proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Q: How is IncentiveBooks relevant to incentive or premium reps?
Rather than suggesting that you try to sell your clients on using a book as an incentive vs. any other incentive, we suggest that you offer your clients the option of sweetening the attractiveness of whatever incentive offer they're interested in by bundling a complementary book with that offer. (Please see some examples above under the Incentive Supplier section.)
Providing a book with an incentive to help recipients make the most of that incentive is far more compelling - which can dramatically increase the ROI of the program.
Back to Incentive/Premium Reps Back to Main Menu
Q: What are the benefits to a rep of working with IncentiveBooks?
At IB, we understand both the world of books and the world of incentives. We can help you look like a hero to your clients.
By consolidating many publishers into a single source - as well as sourcing any other book we not already have in our catalog - we make it practical for you to represent books. Just tell us what you need and we'll do our best to make it happen.
Back to Incentive/Premium Reps Back to Main Menu
Q: How does a rep who's interested proceed to work with IncentiveBooks?
Please call IB's Founder Terry Roberts: 800-401-4306.
Back to Incentive/Premium Reps Back to Main Menu
Q: Does IncentiveBooks offer an affiliate program?
Yes. Affiliates earn commissions when their referrals sign up for our program. It is even two-tiered, so you can recruit others to refer as well and you earn an "over-ride" commission on any sign-ups they refer. Details.
Back to Incentive/Premium Reps Back to Main Menu
|