According to the Book Industry Study Group’s (BISG) “Book Industry Trends 2006” report, retail, libraries and institutional channels account for about 40 percent of industry sales. Using the estimates from my last column, the wholesalers who serve those channels account for about 26 percent of that 40 percent, and master distributors account for about 8 percent to 12 percent (including what, for some, is a commonly accepted overlapping 25 percent of their sales to wholesalers).
Piecing Together the Distribution Puzzle
According to the Book Industry Study Group’s (BISG) “Book Industry Trends 2006” report, retail, libraries and institutional channels account for about 40 percent of industry sales. Using the estimates from my last column, the wholesalers who serve those channels account for about 26 percent of that 40 percent, and master distributors account for about 8 percent to 12 percent (including what, for some, is a commonly accepted overlapping 25 percent of their sales to wholesalers).