F or ew ord

Channeling

F+W MediaEnjoying BoostFrom E-Stores

When F+W Media realignedits business Into communi-ties built around different

market segments in late 2008, one goalwas to assemble content from the compa-ny's books and magazines into niches thatcould be delivered directly to customersin différent formats. That strategy hasworked so well that in e;irly Decemberthe company reported sales through its20 e-stores was up 14O%so far in 2009. To helpmanage that growth, thecompany appointed Kath-ieen Kaplan Blackwelderdirector of e-commerce, reporting toChad Phelps, executive v-p of e-media.

The JLimp in online sales "stems fromour community focus," said Sara Dom-ville, president of F+W Media, notingthat combining similar content into acommon area has made it easier to engagewith customers. The e-shops are builtaround such F+W's brands as writers-digestshop.com and woodworkers-bookshop.com, as well as a discount site(clearancebooks.com) and a gift site (say-itwithbooks.com). "We had a large data-base of names," Domville said. "The nextstop was e-stores." With a heavy dose of

e-mail, the database is used to promoteofferings on the various sites to differentcommunities. The database also providesfeedback from customers on such thingsas buying patterns and material readers

would like to see covered."It helps us create booksthat have a better sell-tlirough," said Domville.

In addition to sellingprint books through the e-stores, F + Wsells a range of conrent that includesCDs and DVDs plus digitally deliv-ered audio books and e-books. "We'redelivery agnostic," said Phelps, explain-ing the company's philosophy on how itgets content to its customers. Most printbooks are slightly discounted off the listprice, and e-book prices are mostly inthe $14.99 to 99 cents range, dependingon the price of the print book, Phelpssaid. The company is also doing moreslicing and dicing of content and can sellits material in a number of different bun-dles, Phelps said, adding that there has

been more demandfor content chunksin some areas thanothers, with art andgenealogy two seg-ments where interestfor custom materialhas been strong.

F+W is very inter-ested in adding morecontent to each of itssites; it already car-ries material from12 partners and is

talking to other publishers about addingtheir material. "We've committed sig-nificant resources ro build the differentchannels," CEO David Nussbaum said.The company has also started an affiliatesprogram, which pays enthusiasts in differ-enr niches for sales referred to F+W fromtheir own sites, blogs, or social networks.

While F+W has been pleased withthe traffic its sites have generated, Nuss-baum noted that all of its marketingefforts—online and off—are about creat-ing customer demand for its products."We're happy to drive sales to retailers,"Nussbaum said. "Where the sale happensdoesn'r matter tous."

Domville will discuss F + W's approachto direct selling at the F+W-sponsoredDigital Book World conference set forJanuary 26-27 in New York. A presenta-tion on how other publishers are operat-ing in particular niches is the subject ofone panel, and how the Internet is chang-ing sales and marketing is the topic ofanother. — Jim Milliot

all authors, andnoted the deaicame after the law-suit it broughtagainst Google todefend authors'copyrights,

CPSIAExtendedThe ConsumerProduct Safety

Commission votedfour to one to ex-tend the stay ofenforcement onthe independentlead testing andcertification provi-sions of the Con-sumer ProductSafety Improve-ment Act for onemore year. The

provisions will gointo effect on Feb-ruary 10.2011.and give publish-ers more time toadaptto its re-quirements.While many chil-dren's booksprinted after 1985do not have to betested, those fea-

turing foils, lami-nates, spiral bind-ings, and othercomponents out-side of paper andink currently do, al-though the AAPcontinues to lobbyto have "ordinary"books exemptedaltogether. Toylikenovelty and book-

plus titles alsoneed to be tested.Although enforce-mentwill not occuruntil 2011.theproducts still mustcontain iead levelsunder the current300-parts-per-m!l-lion limit set forthby the act.

GatesMemorialA memorial ser-vice for FSG/Hoitsales rep MarkGates, 57, whodied of lung can-cer on December11,has beenscheduled for Sat-urday, January 16.2010. noon-1

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