If you are thinking of selling books or other printed products this holiday season, then the time to get started is now! Yes, now. You need as much time as possible to promote your products for the holiday sales season, so it’s never too early to start taking action. We’ve put together a list of common products perfect for holiday sales, along with tips and a timeline for getting ready in time.
Books: More than 40% of all books sold during the year are purchased between November and January. Hard cover and paperback books, adult coloring books (a huge trend for holiday gifting!) and even children’s books are all great for sales and gifts this time of year.
Note cards, postcards: Cards for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, New Year, as well as cards that show customer appreciation, feature gorgeous photography, inspire, motivate, or “just because” are favorites for gifts and popular sales items. You can create your own custom cards, or use our ready-made ones by adding your logo or message.
2018 Calendars: Another favorite that can be used to create new revenue, or given as client and customer appreciation gifts and lead generation freebies.
2018 Planners: Planners are a product that people just can’t seem to get enough of. You can create your own, or save some time by starting with our ready-to-go beautiful new 2018 planner, then add your logo, message, or other adjustments and selling it to your audience.
Holiday Sales Timeline
If you have a manuscript ready to go, are updating something you’ve done in the past, or inspired to create something new, here’s a timeline to help you get going:
Sept / Oct: Send new manuscripts out for editing. Hire graphic designers for cover art, coloring books pages and interior formatting. Get quotes and information from Vervante for printing, shipping timelines, etc.
October: Upload print-ready files to your Vervante account. Order sample copies for quality and proofreading checks. Send preview issues out for reviews, feedback and testimonials. Plan marketing strategies. Have Vervante list your books and products for sale on Amazon. Set up shopping carts.
November: Put marketing plans into action. Schedule an official book / product launch. Announce special promotions, early bird sales and specials. Reach out to book stores to schedule book signings. Promote, promote, promote!
December:Check with Vervante on holiday shipping deadlines. Attend book signings. Continue promotions, especially for New Year / 2018 products. Announce surprise last-minute deals.
January: Continue to promote New Year products. Journal about your holiday sales experience, making notes about what worked (and what didn’t) to refer to for next years’ holiday season.
Prime is killing it in Amazon these days. Prime memberships offer a lot of perks, including one that readers love – free shipping on books. Let’s face it, having free shipping is often the key to getting the sale, because who doesn’t love getting something for free?
As you know, our philosophy at Vervante is that you sell from your site, collect the customer data, build your list and make more money. We also understand that selling your book or product on Amazon is desirable and we recommend Amazon Marketplace. In the past, you didn’t have the option to offer free shipping on Amazon Marketplace to compete with products in stock at Amazon (or printed with CreateSpace). Products in stock, fulfilled by Amazon, or printed with CreateSpace qualify for free shipping for PRIME customers. But now, we’ve got a solution for you with the ability to offer free shipping for your products listed on Amazon Marketplace!
FREE SHIPPING
Here’s how it works. You can now choose to offer free shipping to the Amazon buyer. There are three shipping regions: US, Canada and International. You can give away free shipping to all regions or limit the free shipping to just US buyers. We will charge you for postage to ship the product but you can choose to not charge the Amazon buyer. Here’s an example if you choose not to charge the Amazon US buyer for postage. For those of you who currently have products listed on Marketplace, you will notice in this example that there is no reimbursement for postage from Amazon. (*NOTE: The following numbers are examples only.)
We will then print and ship the book to the buyer and charge you for the transaction:
So in this case you would make $6.60 on this Amazon sale. Amazon sale of $15.16 less cost to print and ship $8.56 = $6.60 profit.
SET THE SHIPPING FEES
You can offer free shipping but you can now also set your own shipping fees for the Amazon buyer. In the past, we didn’t have any flexibility on what the buyer was charged for shipping. The pre-set shipping fees were: $3.99 for US, $9.99 for Canada and $16.95 for International. With the recent changes, you now have the flexibility to not charge for shipping or set your own shipping fees.
Here’s another example of a book/product that weighs 4 pounds. As you can see, the prior pre-set shipping fees determined by Amazon would not come close to covering your shipping costs to Canada and International locations.
If you currently have products listed on Amazon Marketplace we suggest that you take a look at your Amazon Reconciliation Report. This is available in your Vervante Author Account under Reports. You can see what your actual postage costs are vs. what you are reimbursed from Amazon. If the current pre-set shipping fees of $3.99 for US, $9.99 for Canada and $16.95 for International orders is covering your actual postage costs, then you probably don’t need to do anything. However, if your product or book weighs more than two pounds you may want to determine the average postage costs for each region and let us know what you’d like to charge the Amazon buyer so that postage costs aren’t dipping into your profit.
In summary, you now have the option of:
offering free shipping by not charging Amazon buyers for postage
leaving the pre-set postage fees for the Amazon buyer as they are now
changing postage fees based on how much it costs to ship your book/product to each region
If you want to make changes to existing products, please let us know by emailing change requests to [email protected]. For questions about how we can help you set up the best sales options for your book, or if you would like a free quote, please drop us a line at [email protected]. Or better yet, schedule a call with one of our publishing professionals at https://vervante.youcanbook.me/.
There are a lot of options for selling your book out there. Let us help you figure out what works best for you.
Want an easy, fun and memorable way to keep your brand, business and message at your clients’ fingertips? How about creating card decks that carry your own logo and message?
Custom-designed card decks are a fun and memorable way to present a message with impact. Card decks can be used to make a big impression with your target audience, giving them a handy and useful gift to enjoy for months or even years, keeping your brand, business or message at their fingertips.
Card decks are a creative and highly adaptable marketing and business tool. Vervante signature card deck and note cards offer an efficient, cost-effective, secret weapon for those seeking out marketing and informational product alternatives.
Card decks have evolved well beyond traditional playing cards stamped with a company logo. Entrepreneurs, businesses and community leaders are taking advantage of the possibilities and leveraging customized card decks as:
Retail products
Motivational tools
Health and fitness support
Marketing lead generators
Table-top attention-getters
Unique gift-bag goodies
Complimentary bonuses for inspirational or instructional programs or products
These are just a few ideas for using card decks that feature your custom content and design. Vervante card decks are printed on full-color heavy cover weight stock, creating a beautiful and professional product that will compliment your message or intention.
Great card decks deserve equally great presentation. There are a lot of ways you can package and present your cards, be sure to check our catalog for some inspiration. The presentation can be kicked up another notch by adding fun extras such as a small perfect-bound book, bookmarks, CDs or DVDs, stickers, or anything else that complements the theme.
Playing-card sized themed cards are just the beginning when it comes to using custom card decks. Vervante also offers a larger-sized calendar card pack, delivered in its own clear display case for prominent desktop placement. Greeting cards, thank you notes, any card with custom content that fits your needs, can be created – and all of them will work to keep you and your message memorable.
Email [email protected] if you would like more information about custom cards, card decks and other unique products and services that help businesses make a statement.
If you are thinking of selling books or other printed products this holiday season, then the time to get started is now! Yes, now. You need as much time as possible to promote your products for the holiday sales season, so it’s never too early to start taking action. We’ve put together a list of common products perfect for holiday sales, along with tips and a timeline for getting ready in time.
Prime is killing it in Amazon these days. Prime memberships offer a lot of perks, including one that readers love – free shipping on books. Let’s face it, having free shipping is often the key to getting the sale, because who doesn’t love getting something for free?
Want an easy, fun and memorable way to keep your brand, business and message at your clients’ fingertips? How about creating card decks that carry your own logo and message?