April 2006
VISTA International Appoints New Group Chief Executive
VISTA International has announced the appointment of George Lossius as Group Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Lossius was previously Managing Director of VISTA's Applications & Technology Group.
Mr. Lossius succeeds Mike Tait, who is standing down as Group Chief Executive. Mr. Tait joined VISTA 18 months ago with a priority on replacing VISTA's then investor 3i, with a new investor who would strongly support the company's future strategy. Having achieved this earlier this year, the focus turned to a requirement for a strong global operational management, and as he was finding the necessary regular travel to the USA increasingly difficult due to family matters, it was agreed that a change in leadership was most appropriate.
"We are extremely pleased with the progress we are making on our product development initiatives. The imminent roll out of new products will greatly strengthen our ability to provide value to customers. New technology and publishing solutions, coupled with capital for expansion and a large customer base, all point to an exciting time for VISTA and the publishing community." said Mr. Lossius.
"The directors of VISTA would like to thank Mike for his leadership over the last 18 months, and he leaves VISTA a profitable and far stronger company. Mike and I have spent the last few months on a transition of responsibilities, and I look forward to building on these achievements with our new investor. We all wish him the greatest success in his next endeavor." said Mr. Lossius.
Mr. Lossius, who has previously held executive positions at VISTA in the USA, France and UK, has most recently been overseeing VISTA's technology investments in new products, services and VISTA's expansion of offshore initiatives, and he will continue to oversee these activities.
Shortlist Announced for VISTA Award for Industry Achievement
VISTA is pleased to announce the shortlist of candidates for the VISTA Award for Industry Achievement. The candidates for the award, presented as part of the British Book Trade Awards, have been narrowed down to six finalists. These outstanding individuals have been recognized as innovative leaders in the Book Trade, fostering better business operations within their own company or throughout the trade as a whole. They are:
- Stuart Biles, Director, BBC Books
- Simon Master, Deputy Chairman, Random House
- Stephen Page, Chief Executive, Faber & Faber
- Howard Scott, IT Special Projects Director, Macmillan Distribution
- Andrew Senior, Head of Creative Industries, The British Council
- David Young, Chairman and Chief Executive, Hachette Book Group USA
The finalists were short-listed from an extremely strong list of nominations made by readers to Publishing News. The winner will be determined by a distinguished panel of judges from all aspects of the publishing industry and receive the award during the British Book Trade Awards ceremony, which will be held during the Booksellers Association Conference on Tuesday, May 9, 2006.
The VISTA Award for Industry Achievement is presented to an outstanding individual who, during the course of the last three years, has exhibited leadership and innovation within their own company or, more generally, to the evolution of the book trade. The winner will, in the opinion of the judges, have been a significant agent of change, bringing specific improvements to the way in which a company or the trade as a whole operates, leading to improved business operations and/or customer services.
The award, co-established by VISTA International and Publishing News, emphasizes the important statement that a key focus for the publishing business is in the infrastructure, processes, programs and operations, which are crucial in this age of technical convergence. An individual working behind the scenes, a dedicated volunteer to a standards committee, or another "unsung" hero will finally be recognized for their individual contributions.
For more information on the British Book Awards go to http://www.britishbookawards.co.uk.
Appeals Court Rules in Lightning's Favor
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington recently overturned the District Court jury verdict from last year that found Lightning Source (and its licensee Amazon) had infringed on the On Demand Machine Corporation's patent for print-on-demand manufacturing.
The judges unanimously concluded that "no reasonable jury could find infringement on the correct claim construction." That's because the appeals court interpreted the patent more narrowly. They note that "the printing of a single copy of a book, using computer technology and high-speed printing," existed before On Demand's patent was awarded, and said that patent only covers direct kiosk-style consumer sales.
They vacated the previous award of $15 million in damages and additional royalties, which had been posted by Lighting Source as a bond while on appeal.
Source: Publishers Lunch
Marketing Tip from the Publishers Marketplace
For many members, Amazoom is one of our most practical undiscovered tools. This simple screen lets you perform fast, clean searches of Amazon's book database, without all the junky lists, distractions, and misleading results that Amazon itself serves up.
The first screen returns most of the basic bibliographic data you're probably looking for, including the ISBN, pub date, price, and sales rank. The detailed view also shows the EAN, Amazon's idea of competitive books, top customer reviews, grabbable jacket images in three different sizes and more.
Now we've added a one-click "add to tracker" button on every book that comes up in Amazoom, so it's easy to include it on your Book Tracker list.
Separately, a lot of members haven't figured out that you can use your Tracker as a way of searching our massive (and unique) bestseller database. So we've added a simple search box to the main Bestsellers page that lets you search the thirteen lists we track (comprising over 100,000 individual entries) back to September 2003.
Amazoom Bestsellers
Source: Publishers Marketplace
Making Information Pay-- "Worth getting up an hour early." 2006 Making Information Pay attendee
The 2006 Making Information Pay event, held on April 27th was a smashing success! For the third year in a row, VISTA was the primary sponsor of this event, the biggest supply chain event in the US. And this year was no exception with another sell-out crowd with a record breaking 240 people.
People responded enthusiastically to the direct mail program, with 50% registering before the speakers were announced, indicative of the great reputation MIP has in the industry. The morning of the event, people started to come in as early as 7:30 am €“ a half hour before it actually began. Why? With over 200 people there, this was a prime networking opportunity. To accommodate this, there was an hour for breakfast and an extra long coffee break.
Joe Gonnella, BISG's Chairman of the Board, opened the festivities and Ted Hill, President of THA Consulting, hosted the speaker sessions. Speakers included:
- CHRIS ANDERSON, Editor-in-Chief, Wired magazine
Presentation: "The Long Tail of Books"
Mr. Anderson's keynote address presented selections from his highly influential Wired Magazine article, The Long Tail, wherein he describes an entirely new economic model for the media and entertainment industries.
- KIRBY BEST, President & CEO, Lightning Source
Presentation: "New Markets for the Deep Backlist and Small Sellers"
- IAN BRADIE, Press Distribution Director, Cambridge University Press
Presentation: "How to Keep Your Titles Alive with Print-On-Demand"
- MARK SUCHOMEL, President, Independent Publishers Group
Presentation: "Best Practices for Publishing & Distributing Mid-list Books"
- CAROL FITZGERALD, President, The Book Report Network
Presentation: "Best Practices for Target Marketing on the Web"
- BORIS WERTZ, COO, Abebooks.com
Presentation: "How to Cost Effectively Sell Books to Micro-Markets"
George Lossius also spoke to the audience about VISTA's role in publishing and as a sponsor of this event. If you would like to view the actual presentations, they can be found on the BISG web site at http://www.bisg.org/conferences/biz3_presentations.html.
Supply Chain Presentations at Book Expo America
Managing Digital Files: Publishers Benefits and Obstacles
Overview of a new research report concerning Trends in Digital Asset Management
Date: May 20, 2006
Start Time: 1:30pm
End Time: 2:30pm
Location: 204B
Description: The amount of digital content available is astounding. It is everywhere €“ data warehouses, Web servers, file servers, public folders, individual hard drives, etc. Files get lost and misplaced, which can result in work being done two or three times over. Managing digital files is not a simple task and can be overwhelming, but as the trend toward digital content increases it cannot be avoided. Research findings from a study conducted by Rightscom and sponsored VISTA International in conjunction with Book Industry Communications (BIC) will focus on the rising trends in digital asset management in the publishing industry. Topics will include how DAM is being used, what successes publishers have met and what challenges they have faced. For those not utilizing DAM, the study will reveal reasons why they have not yet moved forward with the technology. Attendees will gain insight into benefits and obstacles publishers face when considering or using DAM.
Times, dates and places for all the Supply Chain sessions sponsored by Book Industry Study Group:
Are You Ready for ISBN-13? Only Six More Months To Go!
Date: May 18, 2006
Start Time: 9:30am
End Time: 10:30am
Location: 204B
Description: On January 1, 2007, the book industry will begin using 13 digits to identify books. This change will affect everyone who uses ISBNs throughout the world. A successful transition to ISBN-13 requires the coordination of many moving parts. As the industry gets down to the wire, it's no longer enough to make sure your company's transition is in good order and assume your trading partners' plans will fall into line. Panel members will highlight initiatives they have undertaken with their trading partners to insure a smooth transition to ISBN-13 while emphasizing areas you will need to pay particular attention to.
Presenters:
Sally Dedecker, President, Sally Dedecker Enterprises (MODERATOR)
Bob Bolick, VP & Director of Global Business Planning, McGraw-Hill Education
Tom Clarkson, Director of Supply Chain Technology, Barnes and Noble
Wendell Lotz, VP Product Database Development, Ingram Book Group
AIM GLOBALLY! Think GDSN (Global Data Synchronization Network)
Date: May 19, 2006
Start Time: 10:00am
End Time: 11:00am
Location: 203AB
Description: Successful retailers and manufacturers throughout the world are participating in the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), an accurate, complete and consistent method of exchanging data between trading partners. General retailers and consumer goods manufacturers have been working with GDSN for years, but what are we doing in the book industry? Will the book industry be left behind in the global network of product information? Panel members will emphasize opportunities for GDSN in the book industry and provide insight into how best the book industry might become involved.
Presenters:
Al Garton, Director of General Merchandise and Apparel, GS1 US
Andrew LaCroix, Project Manager of Publisher and Retail Initiatives, RR Bowker
Book Industry TRENDS 2006 - A First Look
Date: May 19, 2006
Start Time: 1:00pm
End Time: 2:00pm
Location: 202A
Description: Develop more successful marketing strategies and business development plans with information from Book Industry TRENDS 2006. This session will preview the newest edition of the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) flagship research publication with details concerning the overall size of the book market and growth projections for 2006 through 2010. Including data from BISG's second annual survey of close to 100,000 U.S. publishers, Book Industry TRENDS 2006 provides dollar and unit sales figures for all major book publishing segments and categories.
Book Industry TRENDS numbers are quoted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Business Week, Publishers Weekly, and many other periodicals serving book industry professionals who rely on data from Book Industry TRENDS to plan for the future.
Presenters:
Albert Greco, Senior Researcher, The Institute for Publishing Research
Jeff Hayes, Research Director, InfoTrends
Robert Wharton, Senior Researcher, The Institute for Publishing Research
Book Sales Total $25.1 Billion in 2005
Net sales for the U.S. publishing industry are estimated to have increased by 9.9 percent from 2004 to 2005 to a grand total of $25.1 billion, according to figures released by American Association of Publishers (AAP) on March 6. The sales figures are based on year-to-date data in the AAP 2005 December Monthly Sales Report, the recently released U.S. Department of Commerce's 2002 Census Bureau Report and other statistical data. Trade sales rose at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 percent from 2002 to 2005, with sales of $7.83 billion in 2005.
The largest increase in the Trade category came from Juvenile hardbound books, which rose at a compound growth rate of 19.6 percent from 2002 to 2005. Sales of elementary and high school instructional materials (including standardized tests) increased 4.3 percent annually compounded from 2002 to 2005, reaching $6.6 billion, Higher education sales rose 3.6 percent annually compounded over the same period, with sales of $3.4 billion. Sales of Professional and Scholarly books were up 1.5 percent compounded annually from 2002 to 2005 with total sales of $3.3 billion in 2005.
Book Clubs and Mail Order publications dropped 8.2 percent annually compounded 2002-2005, with sales of $1.50 billion, and Mass Market Market paperback sales (down 3.5 percent compounded 2002-2005, with sales of $1.08 billion) lost ground in 2005. Sales of Religious books (including many self-help titles) increased 14.2 percent compounded annually from 2002 to 2005, totaling $876.0 million in 2005.
For additional information: Tina Jordan, AAP New York (212-255-0200, ext. 263) tjordan@publishers.org.
Publishers Report 69% Increase in eBook Revenue and Units Sold in Q2 '05
Publishers of e-books report an increase in revenue and unit sales in the second quarter of 2005, compared to the same quarter of 2004, according to statistics released by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), formerly the Open eBook Forum.
The IDPF reported a 36-percent increase in e-book units sold and a 69-percent increase in e-book revenues based on numbers submitted by 14 publishers. Among the publishers that contributed to the report were HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill Professional, Pearson Education and Random House. http://www.idpf.org
Source: Book Business Extra
BA Group to Look at Digitization
The BA Group has set up a Digitization of Content Working Group to look at the effects of digitization. The working party will produce an initial report by 14 June and a final report by 7 September. Helen Baker, Web Services Manager at Ottakar's and one of the members of the group, said: "We don't see the end of The Da Vinci Code in paperback. The book is still the best medium through which to deliver a story €“ you don't want to get sand in your Sony Reader on the beach. But there is a revolution in the air, and it's important that retailers are involved right at the beginning. We have a lot to learn from the music industry €“ they probably priced downloads too low, and then couldn't go back."
The working party will consider the likely effects of digitization in the academic, school and library supply, and general trade markets, and will also make recommendations to the BA Council on what it should do to help its members, and what representations it should make to publishers, authors and search engines.
Source: PN Online
Congratulations to VISTA Customers Accredited by e4books
Industry majors and independent bookshops are both featured in the latest list of companies accredited as e-commerce compliant by the e4books project. Bookpoint, HarperCollins, Gardners and WH Smith are among the big companies now accredited for the first time for 2006. At the other end of the spectrum, Yorkshire Books and London School of Theology Books and Resources have shown that independent bookshops are equally capable of demonstrating their e-commerce credentials.
VISTA Customers accredited for 2006 are as follows: Bookpoint, HarperCollins, Littlehampton Book Services, Macmillan Distribution, Penguin and Random House Distribution Division (as distributors).
For further information on e4books accreditation, contact Peter Kilborn at 020 7607 0021, peter@bic.org.uk. http://www.e4books.org.
E4books at the BA Conference
After successful appearances at the LBF and the IPG conference, BICs e4books team will be available at various times throughout the Bournemouth conference in May to provide one-to-one e-commerce surgeries to booksellers. These surgeries aim to answer your questions about e-commerce and to give unpressured and impartial advice on how to adopt e-commerce in your book supply chain. They can be pre-booked by contacting Anna O'Kane at
Learn More About e4books in a City Near You
The BA's Small Business Forum, IPG and BIC are organizing two regional Technology Forums in 2006. Pre-registration is required but the events are free and complimentary refreshments will be available. You will be able to meet the e4books team, talk to systems and service providers and see their products in action and, if you wish, have personal consultations about your e-commerce requirements. The dates and venues are as follows:
Tuesday 17 October, Oxford - Best Western Linton Lodge Hotel
Website: http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/content/hotel-details-leisure.aspx/hotel/83647
Thursday 19 October, Exeter - Best Western Gipsy Hill Hotel
Website: http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/content/hotel-details-leisure.aspx/hotel/83698
If you would like to attend any of these forums, please contact Peter Kilborn (peter@bic.org.uk) for further details. group/e4books/).
The VISTA Community
Elsevier Signs With PubEasy
STM publisher Elsevier has signed on with Bowker's Internet-based PubEasy ordering service
for the book industry. Under their new arrangement, which becomes effective in July,
Elsevier titles serviced via its U.K. distribution facilities will be available to booksellers registered
with PubEasy. Elsevier's customers will be supplied with a PubEasy password for their
inquiries and ordering requirements. Source: Subtext
Hachette Deal Closes
The sale of the Time Warner Book Group closed on Friday as planned. The US branch is now officially the Hachette Book Group USA, and the UK operation is now the Little, Brown Book Group. The company notes "further details with regard to logos and any changes to publishing imprint names will be given by the companies themselves in due course.
Source: Publishers Lunch
Holtzbrinck Publishing appointed Brian Napack to the new post of president. He will work with CEO John Sargent on general management of operations and will direct strategic planning and business development. Napack was previously with L.E.K. Consulting in its media and entertainment area. Source: Subtext
Mark Your Calendars
May 7- 9 Booksellers Annual Conference, Bournemouth UK
May 9 British Book Awards—Trade Awards Ceremony, Bournemouth
"Industry Achievement Award" sponsored by VISTA
May 19-21 Book Expo America, Washington D.C.
June 30, Independent Trade Forum,
York, UK
July 4- Starting at 6pm, BTBS Walkies,
London, UK
For more information, email btbs@booktradecharity.demon.co.uk or visit their website at www.booktradecharity.demon.co.uk.
October 17, e4books Technical Forum,
Oxford, UK
October 19 , e4books Technical Forum,
Exeter, UK
Fall 2006, VISTA Executive Exchange,
New York, NY
Exclusive Customer Event- To be added to the invitation list, email solutions@vistacomp.com
Thank you for reading this edition of VISTA Watch. Please feel free to submit news, feedback, tips or story ideas to solutions@vistacomp.com.
