- Wholesale- Trade Distribution- Physical and Digital publishing- Marketing Opportunities- Fulfilment- Print on Demand

Publisher Services

INDEPENDENTBOOKSELLERSAFFILIATE PROGRAMME

Gardners Books is a family owned business which has been trading since 1986.

We are a solid financial partner with a proven history of growth and investment in the wholesale business.

We operate out of a custom built 350,000 square-foot warehouse in Eastbourne, with a team of 750 staff and annual retail sales of over £250m

www.gardners.com

With over 18,000 publishers trading with Gardners, it is very clear that our services and solutions are in demand and more importantly are fit for purpose

Introduction

Gardners Books have developed an unparalleled range of services for publisher suppliers aimed at helping you to significantly grow your overall business, whilst at the same time considerably reducing your costs.

In many instances we are the sole supplier of book product to retailers and therefore the single conduit for informing retailers about your products. We work with every industry initiative and standard for efficient and compliant trading practices to any retailer

By working together as a one stop solution, we can cut down on waste at every level from payments, pulping, productivity, packaging, transport and beyond, all saving time, money and the environment

This brochure will explain just how Gardners can partner with you and help sell your products to mutual benefit.

Gardners customers can be found across the world both on the high street & online

Gardners Customers

You will find Gardners customers in every corner of the world and in every area of book retailing. From independent bookshops to major chain bookstores and supermarkets to museums & gift outlets as well as school and library suppliers.

And it isn’t only bricks and mortar booksellers either. We also offer a HomeDelivery service to over 1,000 Internet booksellers worldwide including the 360+ UK independent booksellers that use the Hive network (www.hive.co.uk) to provide an online retail offer for their customers.

Our Hive

network retailers

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Physical & digital products purchased for wholesale to high Street & online retailers

Products and formats

Our buying team has experience working with a wide variety of products across a multitude of formats including:

- Books and ebooks- DVDs and Music CDs- Book related products- Stationery- Non-book ranges

Through their extensive understanding of the trade, they will work closely with you to establish a mutually beneficial trading relationship.

Marketing & promotions

Our in-house Marketing team produce a wide range of support materials to highlight your new publications and promotional opportunities to retailers around the world. Including:

• We produce 3 monthly catalogues. The Select, Promotions, and Independent Booksellers catalogue - all of which cover a range of monthly new titles and promotions.

• Specialist catalogues including Educational, Travel, Childrens and Health Selects.

• Online with the weekly Gazette, www.gardners.com, www.gardnersentertainment.com & www.hive.co.uk.

For more information on these and many other advertising opportunities please email: advertising@gardners.com or visit www.gardners.com.

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Our recommended titles

In association with .co.uk

2012

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Trade Distribution

Publishers can take advantage of Gardners same day despatch service to our 15,000 customers as a complete and exclusive route to market for their entire list, or for particular market sectors.

We will maintain 100% availability at agreed stock levels sufficient to fulfil distribution arrangements. Additionally we will work closely with you to achieve efficient and cost-effective ordering cycles with your warehouses and printers, through ordering in agreed quantities, values and at specific times.

These arrangements enable us to deliver your titles next day to the UK mainland and within 7 days anywhere else in the world.

Unique online retailing with hive.co.uk

Launched in mid-2011, Hive is an initiative from our Independent Booksellers Affiliate Programme. Hive is a direct-to-consumer retail website selling books, eBooks, DVDs, music CDs, stationery and more besides.

Uniquely, the site has an expanding network of hundreds of independent high street retailers associated with it. These retailers receive a financial share of every sale made on both the site and its third party partners. They can also be nominated as ‘back-to-store’ collection points for consumer purchases.

Hive network retailers each have a custom store home page which can be located by an integrated ‘store locator’ on the site. Here they can tell customers all about their shop, news & events, recommended products and contact details.

Like any other major retailer, Hive features publisher/studio based promotions, filtered product search, social media channels, email newsletters, blog and much more besides. Visit www.hive.co.uk to see all of the latest bookshops, features and promotions.

To find out more about this exciting initiative and how to get involved contact us using the details on the back of this brochure, or alternatively visitwww.gardners.com.

What is Hive?

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Book conversion, analytics, management and promotion for Apple’s iBookstore

File Conversion & Upload• We can take either your physical book or file and convert to Apple’s

latest standard• Feeds are then provided to Apple of titles available for sale• Gardners provide all the new technology publishers require so no need

for expensive investments

Management Services• Each month we will provide you with sales data from Apple• We shall pay you monthly your agreed income from sales your eBook

titles achieved• We will work with you to promote and maximise your sales• We will explain what is required of you to work within Apple’s

commercial guidelines

Gardners offer a viable fulfilment option for publishers enabling them to fulfil website orders

Using Gardners established B2C serviceGardners Home Delivery Service for internet retailers is also used by a number of publishers to fulfil their website orders direct to consumers. The service can also include:

• Use of bespoke stationery• Gift wrap service• Promotional inserts

Print-on-Demand (POD)

In association with CPI - Antony Rowe, we offer a Print-on-

Demand service with 48 hour turnaround of both single and multiple copy orders direct to

bookstores or to the consumer.

Digital Rights Managementfrom our Digital Warehouse

Our Digital Warehouse is delivering digital rights management (DRM) service Internationally. This ensures that relevant rights such as territorial and agency

restrictions are adhered to and that digital files are only being sold in thecorrect places.

Tips on presenting products to our buying team for the first time

Presenting titles to Gardners

Before you present any titles to the buying team there are 2 things you need to ensure have been done. Firstly please make sure that each book has an ISBN and secondly you will also need to register your titles with Nielsen Book Data. For more details on both of these steps please visitwww.nielsenbookdata.co.uk

For new publishers, we ask that you send a sample of your product along with any information you may have and full contact details to the following address: Buyers New Title, Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QH

Please note that we are unable to return sample copies. Our buying team will look through submissions received and make contact with you, so please ensure that you supply full contact details. For further information please e-mail: buyersnewpublishers@gardners.com

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Regular presentation of new titles

• If you have a trading relationship with Gardners please use the electronic submission form, which is available on our website, to submit your titles*

• NYP titles for Select need to be submitted in line with our schedule**• Jacket images can be uploaded to our dedicated FTP site - For more details

on image submission via FTP please contact: simon.pallant@gardners.com• If you have a backlist catalogue of titles that we haven’t previously stocked

and you would like to have considered for submission, please e-mail: sph@gardners.com in the first instance

* If you have any queries with regard to the electronic submission of titles please e-mail: sph@gardners.com

** For a copy of the schedule please contact your buying representative

Publishers Quick Answer Guide | Wholesale Services

This page is designed to give publishers that are new to Gardners Books a snapshot of what we provide and the criteria we use for listing books. To find out more on the services below visit the dedicated publisher section at www.gardners.com or alternatively email: buyersnewpublishers@gardners.com orsph@gardners.com.

What is Gardners role?As a wholesaler Gardners provides a one-stop shop for any book retailer, with the widest range of stock titles available in the UK, plus a Special Order Service whereby we source books for retailers that we don’t stock. For the Publisher this allows them access to over 15,000 retailers across the UK, and overseas.

What books do Gardners stock?Gardners will list (i.e. make available via our Special Order Service) English language books that are available to the UK market. Gardners stock around 500,000 titles at any one time, but will only stock selected books that are available through a UK source (see below). Books that are listed, but not stocked, are sourced through the Nielsen BookData teleordering service.

What do I need to do to get my book stocked or listed?Gardners use the following criteria to determine whether a book should be stocked or listed:

• Nielsen BookData – All publishers must be registered with Nielsen BookData• ISBN – All books must have a valid ISBN and a visible barcode (most commonly on the bottom right of the back cover)• UK Source – For stock titles, the publisher must have UK Representation and the stock must be available from a UK

location.• Pre-printed – For stocking, books must be available printed, rather than Print on Demand

If your book(s) fail to meet the above criteria then Gardners will not stock/list them until they do.Contact information for Nielsen BookData and the Publishers Association is given in the Publishers section of the Gardners website and both are represented at the London Book Fair. They will be able to help you with any of the missing points above.

If they do meet these criteria then you should follow the following procedure:Multiple Books – send a catalogue, with some sample Review Copies, to: Buyers New Publishers, Buying Office, Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6QH. Please ensure any books are marked clearly as samples. Single Book – send a Review Copy (not a manuscript) to the address above. Please note that samples will not be returned.

What happens next?The publisher will be contacted if we decide to stock the books. Where it is agreed to stock books, Gardners will then discuss commercial terms with the publisher. Almost without exception, books from new publisher relationships will be taken into stock on a consignment basis (i.e. we hold stock and pay monthly on sales achieved). Other commercial terms (e.g. discount levels) will also be agreed. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks, we have decided not to hold your books in stock at this time.

Sales/marketing/PR/promotions.This is the responsibility of the publisher. Gardners makes all listed titles visible to our customers through our website and in-store links, with details of availability/terms etc, and we can promote stocked titles through our weekly and monthly publications. In some cases we can also present appropriate titles to our Key Account customers. Please see our website for Marketing opportunities.

What other services do Gardners provide?• Print on Demand (POD) – Gardners has close links with the key UK POD providers to ensure that POD titles are available

with the shortest lead times possible.• Website Fulfilment – Gardners provide a Home Delivery Drop-ship service to fulfil consumer orders through a publisher’s

or retailer’s own website. • Distribution – Gardners does offer distribution services to selected publishers who meet commercial criteria. (NB. See

separate sheet for details of our distribution services.)

www.gardners.com

Publishers Quick Answer Guide | Trade Services

This document is designed to give publishers that are new to Gardners, details of the services we offer in the field of book-trade Distribution. For further enquiries on these services please refer to Bob Kelly, Publisher Services Manager - email: bob.kelly@gardners.com

What criteria do Gardners use to decide if trade distribution is appropriate?UK Base – Firstly, we will only consider a distribution relationship with publishers who are based in the UK.

In addition, it is imperative that the titles are represented to the trade in order to generate UK sales. Whether this is via a UK-based sales/marketing presence, or one based overseas, is not important, as long as it is effective in selling the titles to the target audience. Although Gardners does offer some promotional assistance through our weekly/monthly publications we do not offer Sales and Marketing as a service, per se.

(NB. For publishers who do not meet these UK-based criteria, the Publishers Association can help with appropriate providers.)

Minimum turnover/linesThe publisher should normally be able to demonstrate a realistic expectation of turnover in excess of £50k per annum at RRP and have a minimum of 5 lines. However, these targets are both negotiable where appropriate.

What terms will be required?• General – Final discount and credit terms will be agreed on a case-by-case basis. Gardners must be lodged with Nielsen as

the Trade Distributor and be Full Stockists.• Invoicing – Stock will be held on a consignment basis and Gardners will provide monthly statements of sales and other

management information. Invoicing will be against sales achieved each month and within the credit terms agreed.

I meet the base criteria – what next?Send your Catalogue, and any samples, with a covering letter, to:

Buyers New Publishers, Buying Office, Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN23 6QHOne of the Buying team will assess your proposal and contact you to discuss further details.

Enquiries about our other services can be sent to Bob Kelly, Publisher Services Manager - email: bob.kelly@gardners.com

What other added-value services do Gardners offer to publishers?Gardners has the largest title range and the most extensive portfolio of customers of any UK wholesaler and we can offer a wide variety of added-value services, for example:

• Website Fulfilment – Gardners provides Home Delivery Drop-ship services for a wide range of customers’ websites, including both Publisher and Retail Customer sites. For publishers/customers without interactive websites, we offer a bespoke hosting service, that is both user-friendly to set up and cost-effective.

• Digital/eBook sales – Gardners has developed a Digital Warehouse facility which can house your eBooks and provide a comprehensive range of e-commerce services for booksellers and publishers. Further information can be found overleaf and in our other corporate literature.

Publishers Quick Answer Guide | eBook Services

What eBook formats do Gardners make available?We currently carry eBooks in both PDF and ePub as supplied to us by the publisher. We are an approved aggregator for the Apple iBookstore but we are, at present, unable to make Kindle editions available.

We don’t currently have any eBooks available. Can Gardners create eBooks for us?Yes, we can convert into both PDF and ePub for you. Once you have ePub files, we can carry out conversion for you into Apple ePub - because of complexities, conversions must be quoted.

We already have files converted. How do we upload them to Gardners?Once we agree the terms & conditions, we will send you file upload and metadata instructions for uploading via our FTP site.

We don’t have world rights for some/all of our eBooks. Can Gardners restrict the territories in which they are sold?Yes, we can restrict sales by territory at isbn level. What’s more, all of our customers must undertake to respect all publishers territorial and intellectual property rights.

How secure will our files be?Gardners has its own servers and uses the latest industry standard DRM software when delivering files.

Do we need isbns for our eBooks?Yes. In fact it is recommended that you have different isbns for each format.

Do our eBooks need to be registered separately on Nielsen BookData?Yes. As with print editions, it is the publisher’s responsibility to ensure full and accurate listing on Nielsen BookData.

Who do Gardners sell to?We sell to 15,000 customers around the world including both Internet and bricks & mortar booksellers. In addition, we have both public library and schools & academic library eBook loan platforms via our sister companies, Askews & Holts Library Services and BBfS.

What are the terms and conditions of sale?It is essentially the same as your physical book relationship with Gardners. We have the relationship with the retailer & buy from the publisher on wholesale terms & sell to the retailer on our retail terms. Your agreement with us is on a non-exclusive basis.

Can Gardners work on both Agency and Non-Agency terms?Yes. We are currently working with publishers on both of these models.

Who sets the retail price of the eBook?That responsibility remains with the publisher in exactly the same way that it does with physical books. However, the retailer is of course free to discount off the rrp if the book is sold on a non-agency basis. Please remember eBooks carry VAT.

How does the reporting and payments work?Gardners report the sales monthly to the publisher & then pay against the invoice raised by the publisher for the sales made.

Is there a minimum quantity of eBooks that I need to start with?Yes, we require each publisher to have a minimum of 10 eBooks ready to go (or a minimum of 10 titles for conversion) in order for it to be cost-effective for both parties.

What do I do next?Please download the eBook questionnaire for publishers and return it to the address at the bottom and we will contact you.

www.gardners.com

Publishers Quick Answer Guide | Supplying Waterstones

Waterstone’s buy many of their books from small publishers via Gardners. In order to sell your books to Waterstone’s branches via Gardners, it is necessary to register with Waterstone’s, via Gardners. To do this please e-mail the Independent Publishers Co-Ordinator at: ipc@Waterstones.com and ask for a Waterstone’s trading application form. This form is also available to download from www.waterstones.com

• Once the form is completed please return the form to Gardners.• Once you are registered, Waterstone’s will notify you that you may market your books to their branches.

However, submitting this form does not guarantee that Gardners will hold stock, but we will process any order we receive. When Waterstone’s orders copies of your books the orders come to Gardners, we order from you or your distributor, the book is delivered to Gardners and we supply the branches. You invoice us and we then invoice Waterstone’s.

• Waterstone’s will not accept deliveries direct to store, they must come via Gardners Books.• We constantly review the level of business that we do with you, with a view to holding stock of your books if

the sales warrant it.• All the marketing initially is down to you, the publisher.• Finally, provided that all the details are correct with Nielsen BookData, all our other customers will be able to

order your titles from us.

Why do I have to fill out this form, I already trade with you?Waterstone’s have asked us to ensure you fill out the forms so that they have the correct data. They then use this data to ensure Nielsen Booknet Teleordering are sending the orders to the right place.

Can I deliver direct to the store?No. Waterstone’s insist that we deliver the books, along with the electronic invoice and delivery note they need, to ensure you get paid. If you deliver into us, we will generally get the books to Waterstone’s within 48 hours.

Where are my orders?When a Waterstone’s branch places an order through Gardners we will supply from any stock that we have. If we don’t keep stock, we will order from you the same day through Nielsen Booknet Teleordering. If we don’t send you an order it’s because Waterstone’s have not ordered from us.

Do my books need to be in stock?Books do not need to be in stock as we are able to obtain any book quickly providing that Nielsen have all your details. If you wish to optimise the process you should consider registering for email orders from Nielsen’s. This has a cost implication but does ensure the customer gets the goods earlier.

When would Gardners hold stock of my book?We review all titles regularly and if a title is selling well we may then take some into stock on a consignment basis.

For more information and help completing the Waterstone’s Trading Application form, please refer to the dedicated publisher section on our website at www.gardners.com

Gardners Books Ltd, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QHTel:+44(0)1323 521 555 Fax:+44(0)1323 521666

www.gardners.com