Penguin Group (USA)

E-commerce-Solution Shopping Made Easy
June 1, 2006

Last year, retail e-commerce totaled $88 billion, or 2.4 percent of total U.S. retail sales, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. In the first quarter of this year, U.S. retail e-sales hit $25 billion—2.7 percent of total retail sales for the quarter ($906 billion). And based on the average annual growth rate (in the mid 20-percent range) of the last few years, 2006’s year-end e-commerce totals are likely to top $110 billion. Book publishers in almost every market have launched e-commerce sites to tap the growing potential in e-sales. Major publishers such as Scholastic (ShopScholastic.com), Random House (RandomHouse.com), McGraw-Hill (Books.McGraw-Hill.com), Penguin Group

InBox Interview: Walden Media—Production Company Turned Publisher
May 12, 2006

Walden Media, previously a production company known mainly for its smash-hit “The Chronicles of Narnia,” recently delved into the book publishing industry. The company is partnering with Penguin Group USA to publish books for young adults. Debbie Kovacs, vice president of publishing for Walden Media, spent some time with Book Business Extra! discussing the company’s venture into books and expanding the Walden brand. Kovacs is responsible for Walden’s partnership with Penguin. She also maintains relationships with major U.S. and U.K. publishers whose books may be turned into films. She says her company is currently in the process of developing more than 20 books --

Best Practices in Fulfillment and Distribution
May 1, 2006

Len Kain, vice president of marketing, Dogfriendly.com, knows firsthand how much of a gamble fulfillment can be in the book business. While he’s figured out a system for just the right level of inventory, he concedes it can be a roll of the dice. As a small publisher, he’s learned to play the game of fulfillment and returns to his best advantage—to reduce losses and increase gains. For him, as for larger publishers and also distributors, developing efficient warehouse fulfillment and return procedures can involve a healthy run of trial and error. So what is working and what isn’t? Book Business interviewed two

Reinvent Your Unsold Inventory
December 1, 2005

You would think it was one of the best kept secrets in the publishing business. … It's not that publishers don't repackage and remarket returns and unsold inventory. It's that they don't want the consumer to know. "This is a secret because no one wants to talk about it. It is recycling at its best," says David Dunn, chairman of Dunn & Co., in Clifton, Mass., a self-proclaimed "book hospital" that repairs books and repurposes hardcover returns. If the public perceives such books as "recycled," the publishers would have a perception problem, and the consumer may reconsider the purchase. Traditionally, publishers deplete unsold inventory through discount