Deconstructing Distribution
Consultant and publisher Howard Fisher (www.TheFisherCompany.com) suggests that a publisher needs to be doing at least $10 million to $12 million in sales before it should consider operating its own warehouse.
Outsourced distribution
Eric Miller, president, and Paul Williams, executive director, the National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives (NAIPR.com), suggest that publishers must clear several important hurdles before they can work effectively with independent reps, primarily:
Eugene G. Schwartz is editor at large for ForeWord Reviews, an industry observer and an occasional columnist for Book Business magazine. In an earlier career, he was in the printing business and held production management positions at Random House, Prentice-Hall/Goodyear and CRM Books/Psychology Today. A former PMA (IBPA) board member, he has headed his own publishing consultancy, Consortium House. He is also Co-Founder of Worthy Shorts Inc., a development stage online private press and publication service for professionals as well as an online back office publication service for publishers and associations. He is on the Publishing Business Conference and Expo Advisory Board.