Magazine distributor NDD sent us this More Sudoku title yesterday.  A check of our data shows that supply was not warranted.  A check of the performance of other Sudoku titles shows that supply was not warranted.  We don’t need more sudoku titles!

More Sudoku is a good example of imported magazine junk which we do not need in Australia.  We have plenty of locally published Sudoku titles – more than the soft segment of the crossword category needs.

While NDD will say that sales of the title justify distribution of the title to newsagents, I would only believe this with evidence.  NDD is paid a fee to ship the title out to newsagents and a fee to process returns – if this title is managed under usual arrangements.  Newsagents pay for the title and carry the cost of floor stock for the shelf life.  Newsagents and the publisher have a risk.  NDD does not.

NDD is developing a track record for responding to my blog posts like this with threatening correspondence from their lawyer or similarly threatening  correspondence from their General Manager.  The last letter sounded like a kid in a playground as it said what about Gotch and Network, the other two magazine distributors.

The best response from NDD would be to kill off cash-sucking titles like More Sudoku,  and set fair performance benchmarks which make NDD commercially responsible for the fringe product they push on newsagents.

they have good titles like Notebook, Vogue and Gardening Australia which cause newsagents little or no grief yet they also have trash like More Sudoku which sucks cash and space for little return.

I don’t mention Network and Gotch as often as NDD here because they account for fewer oversupply issues in my experience.  Also, I have considerably more control over the titles and quantities I receive with them.

While blogging here has improved my personal situation with NDD, there are fewer oversupply situations than previously, I know from what I see in other newsagencies that mine is not a universal experience.  Their attention to my supply should be equal to their attention on supply to all newsagents.

Universal Magazines demonstrated this morning that they have listened to concerns expressed by newsagents here and elsewhere.  They have changed newsagent terms for Complete Bride magazine.  Billing is now delayed by two months, supply is split into two deliveries, newsagents no longer have to return full copies and supply allocation is now more finely tuned to sales.

These are welcome changes.  I hope other publishers take note.

The changes improve newsagent cash-flow relating to Complete Bride magazine.  They also dramatically reduce the cost of returns – given the weight of the title.

Newsagents should be encouraged by the moves made by Universal for they demonstrate that a publisher is able to significantly alter their terms and distribution arrangements to better serve newsagents.

While it was initially a rocky road with Universal (and their lawyers), the result is good for newsagents and hopefully good for them.