Interactive Sales Catalogue for Book Publishers

新书是出版业的命脉。图书出版商的年收入大部分来自新书发行，但直接面向消费者的销售只占很小一部分。图书主要通过书商销售，从独立书店到像水石这样的全国连锁书店，再到像亚马逊这样的国际巨头。为了保证图书的库存和突出展示，出版商积极在这些渠道推广和销售新书，并确保书商在线上和线下展示、推广和销售出版商的作品。开展“图书出版商互动销售目录”项目的动机是改善新书的推广和向业界销售的方式（“B2B销售”），这种销售方式受到疫情的严重破坏。传统的方法是将印刷的销售目录大量发送给书店的工作人员，然后经常附上新书的实物评论。出版商的销售代表通过与全国各地的书商面对面交流来跟进。大流行严重打乱了这一做法，简报越来越多地在网上进行。此外，人们早就认识到，出版商主动向书商大量发送印刷销售目录和评论副本是一种对环境造成浪费的行为。不请自来的评论副本通常不会被打开。忙碌的零售员工阅读的少数几本书是“专业的”阅读，这意味着他们只浏览前50页和后50页。这是对纸张、包装和不必要递送的巨大浪费。大流行和相关的在线会议提供了重新思考这一做法的机会。该项目将为英国出版商提供一种使用固定版式ePUB格式和Jellybooks云阅读器的创新工具，为英国的书商提供类似在线杂志的体验，以推广新书。零售商将能够直接从交互式销售目录中访问他们选择的数字评论副本。这是一个基于网络的阅读解决方案，不需要安装应用程序，也不需要下载文件。这项新颖的服务是基于Jellybooks在疫情爆发前为一家大型学术出版商开发的原型，它允许一种社交距离的在线方式向书商推广和销售新书，以替代出版商印刷并大量分发给书商的季节性春秋季销售目录。这项拟议中的服务的独特之处在于提供了非常详细的参与和阅读分析，让出版商的销售代表详细了解哪些书受到了关注，这样他们就可以把在线销售会议的重点放在让书商兴奋的书上。Jellybooks云阅读器提供了多种类型的书评，包括叙事书（可重复流动的ePUB）、插图书（固定布局的ePUB）和有声书（MP3-LPF）。Jellybooks云阅读器是一个基于开源Readium Web架构的一站式解决方案，能够支持视障读者和有其他可访问性要求的读者。该项目由总部位于伦敦布里克斯顿的世界级出版技术专家Jellybooks负责。

New releases are the lifeblood of the publishing industry.Book publishers generate most of their annual revenues from new releases, but sell only a tiny percentage direct to consumers.Books are mainly sold via booksellers, from indie bookshops to national chains like Waterstones to international giants such as Amazon. To ensure their books are stocked and prominently displayed, publishers actively promote and sell their new releases into these channels and ensure booksellers display, promote and sell publishers' output online and offline.The motivation for the project "Interactive Sales Catalogue for Book Publishers" is to improve how new releases are promoted and sold to the trade ("B2B sales") which has been severely disrupted by the pandemic.The traditional approach is based on printed sales catalogues sent in large numbers to bookshop staff and frequently followed by physical review copies of new book releases. Publisher's sales representatives follow-up by meeting booksellers face-to-face across the country. The pandemic has severely disrupted this practice and briefings are increasingly moving online.In addition, it has long been recognised that publishers sending printed sales catalogues and review copies unsolicited and in large numbers to booksellers is an environmentally wasteful activity. Unsolicited review copies often remain unopened. The few that are read by busy retail staff are read "professionally", meaning only the first and last fifty pages are browsed. This is an immense waste of paper, packaging, and unnecessary deliveries. The pandemic and the associated move to online meetings offer an opportunity to rethink this practice.This project will provide UK publishers with an innovative tool using the fixed-layout ePUB format and the Jellybooks Cloud Reader to provide an online magazine-like experience for promoting new releases to booksellers in the UK. Retailers will be able to access the digital review copies of their choice directly from within interactive sales catalogue. This is a web-based reading solution that requires no app to be installed and no file to be downloaded.This novel service is based on a prototype built by Jellybooks for a large academic publisher prior to the outbreak of the pandemic and allows for a socially distanced, online approach for promoting and selling new releases to booksellers as a substitute for the seasonal spring and autumn sales catalogue that publishers print and distribute in large numbers to booksellers.The proposed service is unique in providing very detailed engagement and reading analytics, giving publishers' sales representatives detailed insight into what books are getting attention so they can focus their online sales meetings on the books that are getting booksellers excited.The Jellybooks Cloud Reader provides access to review copies of many kinds including narrative books (re-flowable ePUB), illustrated books (fixed-layout ePUB) and audiobooks (MP3-LPF). The Jellybooks Cloud Reader is a turn-key solution based on the open-source Readium Web architecture and is able to support visually impaired readers and readers with other accessibility requirements.The project is being undertaken by Jellybooks, a world-class publishing technology specialist headquartered in Brixton, London.