PGW’s sales and marketing staffs provide valuable counsel for client publishers on acquisitions, contract terms, pricing, format, and promotion strategies, as well as with art/design/production and cover copy. Sales projections from PGW help client publishers determine print runs and plan their seasons.

PGW’s sales staff of over 40 people includes national accounts coverage in New York and Berkeley, a house field force, and a six-person special sales group. Many specialty accounts are handled in house while commissioned groups are used for gift and gourmet accounts.

PGW field reps have twice won Publisher’s Weekly’s “Rep of the Year” award in recent years. PGW’s sales and marketing organization is highly respected throughout the trade, and has a knack for choosing breakout titles as well as for building bestsellers. PGW has had numerous national bestsellers in the last ten years, five of which sold one million copies or more.

Berkeley Office
The Berkeley-based sales team manages nearly half of all U.S. sales generated by PGW, including major accounts such as Amazon.com, Ingram, Costco and other ‘club’ retailers, regional retail chains, regional wholesalers, and airport stores. Most of PGW clients’ special sales are also generated by this group, either through a direct relationship with accounts or through PGW’s network of over 100 commission reps selling to gift and specialty stores.

New York Office
PGW’s New York office manages the major retail chains and key national accounts, including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Baker & Taylor, and Books-a-Million, as well as international sales. As the epicenter of the book publishing industry and the location of many of PGW’s clients, the New York office also serves as a center for acquisitions, marketing meetings, consultation, and other PGW activities and services.

Jackson Distribution Center
On August 1, 2007, PGW began shipping all client orders from a new state-of-the-art 400,000+ square foot distribution center in Jackson, TN. Dedicated exclusively to PGW clients’ titles, this facility was initiated just four months earlier by the Perseus Books Group and represented a major enhancement to PGW’s speed and efficiency in distribution, putting the company on par with the leading publishers in the country.

Jackson is also home to the other distribution centers of the Perseus Books Group, as well as the company’s new short print run service center, where PGW client titles can be printed and shipped with no transportation delays.

Online Publisher Services
The Helix Publisher Portal is PGW’s online reporting site where publishers go for information on sales, inventory, monthly statements, and other financial information, and to upload new title information and artwork. It also has a comprehensive reference section, which includes detailed information about PGW’s sales teams, deadlines, requirements, schedules of trade shows and events, and much more. In addition, weekly Publisher Updates and other important information are posted on the home page of Helix.

Digital Distribution: Constellation
In mid-2008 the Perseus Books Group and PGW launched Constellation, a digital services division based in Boulder, CO. The program is designed to empower independent publishers to take advantage of sales and marketing opportunities created by the rapid developments of digital technology. For more information please visit Perseus Constellation Website.

By uploading a single PDF file per book into Constellation’s Web-based Digital Asset Management System, publishers can quickly and efficiently make their titles available in online search programs such as Google Search, “look inside” initiatives like those at Amazon.com and BN.com, eBook distribution with partners including Amazon Kindle and the Sony eReader, digital distribution into the library market, short run digital printing at the Perseus distribution center in Jackson, TN, print-on-demand services like Lightning Source and BookSurge, and other digital services as they emerge. Publishers decide and control which of their titles are included in these digital programs.

PGW Toolkit
Launched in 2008, PGW Toolkit is a suite of online marketing solutions to help clients promote their titles and authors. These tools enable the creation of newsletters, websites and more using an intuitive, Web-based program designed to help with the basics of Internet marketing initiatives. Within the Toolkit there are FAQs and is Help documentation to assist publisher efforts. PGW Toolkit also includes a new service, “Filed by Author,” an online directory where authors can easily create and maintain Web pages about them and featuring their titles, current titles and upcoming projects. Back to Top

The marketing department at PGW is a dynamic and integral part of the distribution enterprise and the hub of activity for a client publisher’s day-to-day needs. With primary publisher relations divided between five account managers, publishers receive the focused time and attention they need to help them run their businesses.

Account managers act as consultants and advocates to the publisher clients. They advise publishers on topics ranging from packaging and pricing issues to marketing plans and sales trend analysis. They also work closely with the sales department and its various divisions to assist them in the overall sales process.

In addition to daily contact with publishers by phone and email, account managers coordinate seasonal marketing meetings with publishers (three times a year). The agenda at these meetings includes a comprehensive year-to-year review of the publisher’s sales in all channels, analysis of market trends, formulation of backlist sales goals, and sales projections of new titles. For the meetings, publishers craft their own individualized agenda items to discuss, give new title presentations, and lead a strategy session of their overall program. In attendance at a typical marketing meeting would be some of the following people:

• Account Manager
• Vice President of Sales
• Vice President of Field Sales
• National Accounts Director and Managers
• Director of PGKids
• Director and Manager of Special Sales
• Manager of Mass Merchandise Accounts
• Sales and Marketing Assistants

Also part of marketing is the catalog department.

Catalog
The catalog department represents one of PGW's most effective organizing tools. Each season the catalog department coordinates all of the new seasonal titles announced by publishers and manages the writing, editing, graphics, and printing of the main adult PGW catalog and various seasonal subject catalogs. A few large publishers produce their own catalog and the catalog department manages the database work and is in close contact with self-cataloged publishers to help them meet the needs of the PGW sales group. Back to Top

The advertising department at PGW works closely with the publishers, account managers, and the various sales divisions to coordinate book trade advertising and account promotional activity. They advise publishers on the selection of appropriate advertising vehicles and handle the booking for all ads. 

Publicity
The marketing department is responsible for administering and coordinating PGW’s publicity programs and databases in addition to acting as a resource to client publishers for other publicity.

Co-op
One of the advertising department’s main functions is obtaining approvals for co-op requests. These requests include the following: in-store promotions, display ads with wholesalers and/or in trade magazines, online promotions, author signings, and newsletters. In most cases, either the account or the publisher requests approval.

• A bookstore is having an author event and is asking for co-op money to support event costs (advertising in local venues, window and in-store displays, newsletters, mailings, postcards, flyers, etc.)
• A bookstore wants to feature a PGW title in a display or newsletter
• A national account wants to include a title in a nationwide display promotion
• A publisher might want to find a way to promote book(s) at an account and may ask for advertising’s help in realizing this
• A publisher wants to place a print ad in a trade publication and asks PGW to place the reservation and to approve co-op participation

Pre-Approved Newsletter Co-Op
The newsletter co-op program was established in 1995. Generally, publishers grant co-op to bookstores with store-produced newsletters at the levels of $50 (positive review) and $80 (positive review with jacket). As an added incentive accounts do not have to ask for the co-op in advance. The main requirement is that they send in the newsletter and the appropriate form within 90 days. Other restrictions are listed on the form. Not all publishers participate in the program. (PGW currently has approximately 40 participating publishers.) If an account claims co-op for a nonparticipating publisher, the request is treated as a standard co-op request and goes to the publisher for approval.

Advertising in Wholesaler Venues
Often a wholesaler will suggest an appropriate advertising venue for a title or publisher. If the sales rep agrees, advertising will ask the publisher if they would like to participate. Sometimes the publisher approaches PGW with interest in placing an ad in a wholesaler venue.