For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

Book Industry Study Group

Does anyone know anything about this group? I received an email from them and I am at odds as to whether I should respond to them or not.

Thanks!
Susie

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Peter N. Jones on January 7, 2008 at 10:32am

Susie,

You got this email because of your registration with Bowker and acquisition of ISBNs. It is harmless to do their survey, but I have found it is not worth while - they will give you a free report, but for us small or independent publishers it contains no information of value. I just delete them now.

Cheers

__________________________________________
Director and Editor: Bauu Institute and Press
Editor: Indigenous Issues Today
Publisher: New Great Books

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Permalink Reply by SusieSunshine on January 7, 2008 at 3:11pm

Thank you, Peter, for letting me know. I appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Bill Frank on January 8, 2008 at 4:13pm

Hi, Susie.

I agree with Peter that these surveys are time consuming. I don't agree, however, that the BISG has no information of value to small publishers. They produce a report titled, "Under the Radar" that is very interesting and useful. The full report is quite expensive, but they have a free, summarized report that you can obtain on their web site.

Among the interesting tidbits in "Under the Radar" is the growth of small, independent publishers such as yourself. The numbers grew to 85,000 from 67,000 in 2002—making this one of the fastest growing segments of the publishing market.

Furthermore, "Under the Radar" details the different publishing segments. You can compare your performance against the growth of others in your category or niche.

Will the information in "Under the Radar" be earth-shatteringly useful? That depends. It will help you better understand the overall publishing market. It may also give you some ideas of niches or categories you are not currently reaching. It may not, however, radically change your tactics on how to best reach your target reader.

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Permalink Reply by SusieSunshine on January 9, 2008 at 2:26pm

Thank you, Bill for your insights! I hope I haven't gone and deleted the email from them yet. LOL... or else I will have to hunt them down instead of vice versa.

Thanks again!