Online Community for Authors

A few of the books that have done well for them are:

From Medium to Large Publishers  From Small To Medium Publishers
Guess How Much I Love You Love You Forever
Men Are From Mars, Women are From Venus  How To Behave So Your Children Will,Too!
The Christmas Box 
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff  Conversations With God
BH & G New Dieters Cookbook  Moments With Angels
Mrs. Fields 200 Best Cookie Recipes  Where's Mom Now That I Need Her
Disney's Treasury of Children's Classics  God's Little Devotional Book
Chicken Soup For the Women's Soul The Twelve Gifts Of Birth
Snow Falling On Cedars  With Love From My Kitchen
The Partner (Grisham)  All About Me
8 Weeks To Optimum Health  Moments For Sisters
Kraft Best-Ever Grilling Recipe Collection Secrets Of Fat Free Living
The Complete Photo Guide to Home Repair by Black & Decker

How does the buying process work?

If BAF is interested in your title for a national test, they will place a test order for between 400 to 600 books at an 80% discount. They then run concurrent tests across the country in a number of locations. It can take up to 90 days to get solid test results in. Based on the overall success of the test, they can do a rollout order of 10,000 to 250,000 books for either their fall or spring season.

They generally work at least one season ahead and more often two. They may test a seasonal Christmas title in October of this year and rollout a production run that dictates that they need stock in their warehouse by the end of August. Another title may be tested early in the spring and can often get test results quickly enough for a rollout the following Fall season.

Regional Books are less common, but BAF does sometimes have success with them. The test for a regional title is usually done with 200 to 300 test books. If a rollout is done the quantity is generally between 3,000 and 10,000 books.

The discount on a rollout varies and is based on the test results. Titles are to find the optimal pricing for the BAF customer. When the test is completed and they have their data they decide if they want to purchase film rights or do (or join on with a publisher on) an actual print run.

If they purchase film rights, they can pay a royalty based on numerous factors including the quantity they forecast for the book. The royalty is comparable to those paid by Bookspan (Book of The Month Club, Doubleday, etc.) or Scholastic Bookclubs.

If they do a print run or join on with a publishers print run, they look for discounts of at least 80% and in some situations closer to 90%. The books are not returnable, net 90 days from delivery to them and they pay the freight from your location to their warehouse. You can count on the invoice being paid within 90 days. They have always gone out of their way to pay on time.

The discount they look for is based on what it will take to make the title work in their system, not on how low they think the publisher will go. Sometimes it happens that due to royalties and print cost, the publishers end up going back to their author and working with them on the royalty to get it to where it will make the transaction work.

"I Will Lose Money On The Test."

Most publishers do. The big publishers know the value of the test and the potential of the rollout and jump on the chance to have a book tested. It may be a surprise to most authors and publishers that even the big publishers do smaller print runs for the most part to keep more of a "just in time" type of product flow. Most of the larger publishers end up losing money on a test, but they know that a rollout can help put a book on the map very quickly.

I recently presented an offer to a small publisher that could have generated a sale of between 50,000 and 75,000 books and they turned it down. They felt that they could not take such a big discount. With decision-making like this, it is no surprise that 70% of all one-book publishers are out of business in 24 months. The sad thing is that the publisher is sitting on the stock now and probably will still be sitting on the same amount of books if not more in six months, after the normal return cycle.