Simon & Schuster
Distribution Services
Simon & Schuster offers a full range of distribution services to independent publishers, including but not limited to sales, fulfillment,
production, and digital support services.
We currently have over thirty client publishers that enjoy all of the advantages of the S&S infrastructure while focusing and dedicating their valuable resources
on being the best publishers they can be.
Why outsource?
Why Outsource?
Are you looking to grow your sales?
Do you feel your product is under-represented in the market?
Are you looking to reach new channels of distribution?
Are you looking to save money?
Are you carrying too much overhead?
Are everyday operational demands taking away from your ability to publish great books?
Are you worried about how the transition to ebooks affects your infrastructure?
Are you unhappy with your current distributor?
Are you looking to get to the “next level” but just can’t seem to get there?
If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you are a prime candidate to consider a change in your distribution services. Learn more about what we have to offer.
Our Services
Sales
ACCESS TO ACCOUNTS
We understand that not only do you need a strong advocate for your books with strong relationships with accounts and access to key buyers, but you also need to retain a connection with those key gatekeepers that have the pulse of what their consumers want to buy. S&S takes a unique approach to selling client product in that we invite client publishers to participate in the process to as much of an extent as you desire to make sure the full cycle of selling is realized and not only do you help sell your current product, but you also receive feedback on what to publish next.
BREADTH OF SUPPORT
We offer sales representation across all channels to offer your product the opportunity for the fullest possible distribution. We fully support your product in the main channels while introducing it to emerging special markets and exciting new export opportunities. We are thoughtful in how we sell and work with you to make smart distribution decisions, to ensure a strong net sale and avoid costly returns due to over-distribution.
IMPRINT AGNOSTIC SELLING
Clients are often concerned that their product will get lost in the shuffle and lose out to wholly-owned products when dealing with a large distributor. We take an "imprint-agnostic" approach to sales and do not differentiate between S&S products and client products when selling. All products are sold by the same sales force to the same accounts under the same process and all reps are incentivized equally for the performance of S&S product and client product.
Warehouse
Our newly-expanded, state-of-the-art warehouse facility is conveniently located in Riverside NJ, just a short drive from NYC and easily accessible by all major mid-Atlantic printers and Eastern ports. We have over 1 MM SF of warehouse space through which we ship over 150 million books annually. We currently support over 32,000 active titles, including over 2,000 new titles every year. We answer over 200,000 calls annually from over 15,000 active accounts. Our current clients account for over 20% of our current volume and we have ample capacity to add new clients to the mix.
DEDICATED CLIENT SUPPORT
The competitive advantage we offer our clients in the operations area is a dedicated client services team that has no responsibilities other than to be advocates for our client publishers. The warehouse shares the “imprint-agnostic” philosophy of our sales team, and treats client product with the same standards that we treat S&S product, but we recognize that as a client, you will have unique needs and requirements. We recognize this challenge as an opportunity to exceed expectations and this team dedicates itself to making sure all of your requirements are addressed.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
Your product is included in the same process as that of S&S wholly-owned and other client products and enjoys the same industry-leading service cycles and metrics. Other economies of scale include more effective collections and dispute resolution, more economical package consolidation and freight costs, simplified returns processing, more adherence to ever-changing customer requirements and many other operational benefits.
Digital Services
GET IN THE EBOOK GAME
S&S provides clients with a full service opportunity to create and publish eBooks. S&S will convert your current and future print books to the appropriate eBook formats using a combination of S&S resources and vendors at the same cost to you that we pay. We will distribute your files to the same full set of eBook resellers used by S&S using our digital distribution partners.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
Although the sales of eBooks for certain accounts can be small relative to print books, the process is still the same and requires the same resources. S&S already manages a process with every eBook reseller and we can consolidate your volume within our own and consolidate your results with those of your print books. The end result is a seamless, integrated process with consolidated eBook and print books sales, reporting and financial statements.
STAY CUTTING EDGE
Our digital team will also make sure your digital products remain on the cutting edge of technology. Our industry-leading digital team will work with your creative team to brainstorm the best possible design for your eBooks and will make recommendations on how to improve backlist eBooks. We can help you create everything from a simple eBook with flowable text, to flowable books with charts, graphs and illustrations, to a highly designed fixed format eBook. This team monitors the ever-evolving technical requirements and standards and will make whatever changes are necessary to keep your full suite of eBooks in compliance in the marketplace.
Production
PRINT ECONOMICS
S&S offers its significant economies of scale in printing and production costs to all of its client publishers. Clients that print with S&S enjoy the same pricing that S&S receives for print and bind, paper and components (i.e. jackets and covers). S&S drives savings by purchasing these elements separately and has aggressive contracts with the best vendors in the business and these savings are passed along to the clients of S&S.
PRODUCTION SERVICES
S&S also offers a high-quality production team dedicated to managing the production process for client publishers. This team will coordinate all of the production activities, but is also available for consultative requests, including quotes, estimates, recommendations on how to save additional money by changing specs and any other questions you may have regarding the production of your books. We can work with your existing vendors or introduce you to ours and if you need any specialized services, we can help you locate the right freelancer or other vendor to support your needs.
DIGITAL SHORT RUN
In addition to traditional offset production, S&S offers our clients a fully-integrated digital short run program to print very low reprint quantities of books, even of clients perform initial production activities themselves. This is a turn-key solution in which S&S manages the process from end-to-end and which allows clients to keep slow-moving books in print at a very reasonable cost.
Take the Next Step
We can help your business maximize its reach,
keep your customers happy,
and help you find efficient production and sales solutions.
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