We returned all stock of Good Gardening, Grow Your Own Organic Food today. After a month on the shelves we have not sold a single copy. My initial blog post about this title on September 30 generated plenty of discussion including comments from the publisher. I’d like them and others to comment now that I have had four weeks of no sales. from where I sit, my sense is that my comments of a month ago were right.
While I support new titles, I am frustrated at the cost to newsagents for supporting them. We invest retail space and our time in the hope of making our 25% margin. The magazine distributor is paid regardless. Ad agencies and other service providers are paid regardless. Not us. The cost of the failure of this new title to sell in my store is for me to bare – including the cost of financing the publisher as it will take me until the end of December to get a credit for the stock being returned today.
We should be paid a fee by publishers for new titles until they pay for themselves.
WE RECEIVED 11 AND ALSO HAVE NOT SOLD 1
We received 6 and sold 0. How’s that for cashflow negative!
Received 8 – have not yet sold any!!
Received 8 none sold, prominent location but not for long
Received 9 sold none not the only title this happens with
My local newsagent seems to have sold a few copies, there is only 1 copy on the shelf and I know there was at least 4. I did buy a copy as I do like Vasili’s Garden, and a lot of people I know do as well. Maybe the publiser should have included some promo about Vasili
Or he did what I did Andrew and early returned 4 of the 5 copies I had sitting on the shelf giving the impression of sales.
…and that one copy is still sitting in the same space on the shelf.
Sad thing is, it is not a bad mag – just needs some push by the publisher
While it’s not a bad magazine I’d question whether it is needed given what already exists. One reason new titles can be launched is the free access to our retail network for no risk in terms of our services.
Mark,
I think that new publications should always challenge existing publications, but I also believe that you should be able to order what you believe sells. I worked in the direct market for comic books in Canada for a number of years, and ordering was 100% upto the store.
Andrew, the problems with the newsagent magazine distribution model (as opposed to the distribution model for other channels) are that: access to our channel is free, we cannot control the titles we are sent, we cannot adequately control the volume we are sent and we have to pay to return stock which has failed to sell.
Have you actually read the magazine Mark? It’s very comprehensive and does stand up to the other gardening magazines in the market like Organic Gardener and Your Garden. The garden to table section is one of the key strengths in this gardening magazine. Competition in the market is good and more people are turning to titles like this to grow their own organic food. Perhaps your newsagents don’t suit the magazines demographic or core audience.
it does not matter if i like the mag or not, if it is a great magazine and it is not selling ( i didnt sell 1 copy) then maybe the publisher did not spend enough on promoting the mag to the target market, maybe they relied on the free ride from newsagents to push the mag for them. Sorry that system is no longer viable.
I actually tried harder with this mag than i would normally because the publisher took the time to connect with its retail arm (newsagents) thru this blog. I tried several different locations, even a brief stint on the front counter, plenty of browsers, just no takers.
Randel, I looked through the magazine and saw content satisfied elsewhere. It’s not up to me though, it is up to my customers. Not a single copy sold and for the privilege I have had to fund the launch by the publisher, this what frustrates me. I have become their bank for a few months. Don’t you see that? No one asked me for a loan.
Received 10 sold 5 – better than most by the looks of it
Got 8 copies, sold 1. I would call that a filure here.
It’s pretty obvious that not all publishers have a marketing budget like those of ACP, Pacific & News. It’s up to us newsagents to support the smaller publishers when they launch a new title and give it a go rather than complain about it. You have obviously made up your mind about the title so just return it and stop complaining.
Randel, Universal is a mid size publishing company. They have the capacity to promote the title and drive traffic.
I co-located the title for a month. So, no, I had not made my mind up.
Recd 16 – Sold 4
Good luck to us all when we try to cull or drop quantities with Network on-line. Let me guess….Cant do it because: 1. You cant cancel titles that dont have any sales data OR 2: You cant cancel this title due to its frequency. I suppose I’ll look forward to receiving more than the 16 we received for the first issue & so the never ending, spiralling circle continues.