Meeting with independent publishers

I am meeting with several independent magazine publishers over the next couple of weeks to talk about the relationship between their business and newsagents.  The discussions will be informal and aimed at mutual understanding.  They are not commercial negotiations.  These meetings have come about because of contact through this blog.

As recent moves by the publisher of Australian Traveller have shown, dialogue can lead to better commercial terms for newsagents and better outcomes for publishers.

Newsagents and good independent publishers have a lot in common.  We need each other too – they provide our point of difference and we provide a cheap distribution channel.   I say good independent publishers because not all can wear this label.  The best publishers are those who are honest about print run size, circulation achievement and how they commercially engage with newsagents.

The more publishers I talk with the more I discover that there are considerable differences between publishers.  All we see in our shops are the magazines and sometimes it is not clear which titles are from which publisher, making it hard to assess the impact of their supply model and new title launch schedule.