Reinvent Your Unsold Inventory
Dunn also recommends that in the case of classic books, publishers should look to update and reprice them for a new audience.
Finally, Dunn recommends there be no layers in a publisher's creative staff. "They need to brainstorm all of your options to move inventory. It needs to be a team effort," he says.
There are fortunes to be made in unsold inventories, Dunn says, and publishers should explore all options to move them.
7 Tips for Moving Unsold Inventory
Publishers can turn returns into real dollars using the following tips for moving overstocks:
1. Re-cover hardbacks as softbacks. Publishers often turn their hardcovers into softcover editions by replacing the hardback with a paper cover stock, to recoup some income for the original hardcover print run.
2. Repackage similar or multiple titles by one author into a multi- book set.
3. Repackage books and add pages that create a special edition targeted to a specific audience.
4. Sell overstocks through alternate channels, such as online distributors, direct mail and catalogers.
5. Turn softcover remainders into hardcovers for specific markets, such as the library and educational markets.
6. Be creative. Initiate a program that maximizes the sale of a title, updating and repackaging the intellectual property as often as possible, for different audiences.
7. Have your creative staff brainstorm as a team to come up with innovative, new packaging ideas.
