Retail distribution program for Snowfall Press Publishers
Retail distribution utilizes Print-to-Order…What is Print to Order?
Utilizing state of the art digital printing equipment and proprietary technology, the Alliance* is able to deliver superior quality soft cover, perfect-bound books with full color covers and black and white interiors at a very competitive price.
With a print on demand facility installed in STL Distribution’s Elizabethton, TN facility, STL Distribution/Advocate Distribution Solutions can offer a “Print-to-Order” (PTO) service for distribution clients to the full spectrum of booksellers, e-commerce retailers and “big box”. Books enrolled in PTO are printed in direct response to real customer orders and are filled in the same day in accordance with STL’s promise for same day shipping on orders received before 1pm.
Key Elements:
- Advocate feeds the product data to all of the key retailers in the country including B&N, Borders, Books-A-Million, Baker & Taylor, Ingram and all of the Christian trade (Family, LifeWay, Mardel, CBD, etc.)
- Retailers place their orders with Advocate before 1 PM, and their order prints and ships in the same day
- Advocate charges 22.5% of the gross retail sales receipt, subtracts the print cost from the gross amount and sends the balance to the publisher 90 days end-of-month.
Shared Revenue Model
Customer Type* Retail Discount for Books STL Fee
- Retailer – Returnable (independent bookstores) 45%** 22.50%***
- Chain Retailer – Distribution Center/Returnable 51% 22.50%
- Wholesaler – Returnable (Ingram; B&T) 50% 22.50%
- Rack Jobber / Mass returnable (Amazon) 55% 22.50%
- Catalog Distributor – Non Returnable (CBD) 60% 22.50%
- International Retailer 55% 22.50%
- International Wholesaler 65% 22.50%
Shared Revenue Example
Suggested Retail Price (SRP): $20.00
Less Discount (i.e. 50%) -$10.00
Net Invoice Value: $10.00
Less Distribution (18.5%) -$1.85
Less Free Freight (4%) -$0.40
Net to Publisher: $7.75 less print cost
*There are more customer types at STL, but are infrequent buyers. For a complete listing of customer types and discounts, please contact STL Distribution.
**Each publisher in the PTO program participates in each sales channel and the corresponding retail discount.
***The STL discount is taken after the wholesale price has been deducted. STL will own the accounts receivable from the moment the book ships to the retailer.
Who is this program for?
The PTO program is designed especially for publishers who are looking for these advantages:
- Publishers who want access to the full spectrum of booksellers, e-commerce retailers and “big box” stores.
- Publishers looking for a zero risk inventory model
- Publishers who do not want to carry accounts receivable balances with hundreds or thousands of retailers
- Publishers who do not want warehousing overheads
- Publishers wanting distribution for slow moving trade titles
- Publishers wanting distribution for formerly out of print titles
- Publishers wanting distribution for niche titles
Sounds good – what next?
Step 1:
Log into your account. Go to the MY ACCOUNT tab, and click on the request distribution button.
Step 2:
Fill out the request form and submit.
Step 3:
Once you click submit, your request will automatically be sent to STL, and your account at Snowfall Press will automatically be activated for retail distribution. Log back into your account, click on the SAVED BOOKS tab and you will a box behind each title in your account. This allows you to control the titles you want in RETAIL DISTRIBUTION by simply checking the box behind each title you want to link to STL. (See example below)
A representative from STL Distribution/Advocate Distribution Solutions will contact you within a couple days to discuss the distribution terms and agreement. Once this is signed, you will be given access to PRODUCT MANAGER, which allows you to upload your product data. When this data is completed, your product data will be connected automatically with your Snowfall Press account.
Step 4:
Fill in the correct ISBN number for each title. Once both of these items are completed, your book will connect with STL. You may notice another number in the ISBN field called an SFBN. Snowfall Press assigns an SFBN, or Snowfall Book Number to every book. This number sits in the ISBN field in your account for internal tracking purposes and always starts with a ‘20’. Simply overwrite this with the correct ISBN.
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*What companies make up the Alliance?
Snowfall Press
At its core, Snowfall Press is a technology company that combines a proprietary software operating system with best-of-breed printing and finishing hardware to provide a next generation integrated print solution. Snowfall Press automates and streamlines each step of the book-making process to produce high-quality, low-cost books at incredible speed.
DP Digital
Founded by Dickinson Press, DP Digital brings Dickinson’s 127 years of printing excellence to the print on demand realm, delivering superior quality perfect bound paperbacks at a competitive price with industry leading turn-around times.
Advocate Distribution Solutions
Advocate Distribution Solutions is a wholly owned division of STL Distribution North America, the largest independent Christian products distributor in the world. Representing hundreds of distribution clients, Advocate provides a wide range of trade and direct to consumer distribution services along with supply chain management and optional sales and marketing services.
Other contacts
Questions with new account setup, print file uploads and other printing related questions, please contact: David Sheets at david.sheets@snowfallpress.com
Questions concerning distribution may be directed to your Client Relations Manager (Trish Hollman-Sluss at patricia.hollman-sluss@stl-distribution.com or Nina Hall at nina.hall@stl-distribution.com) or Darren Henry at darren.henry@stl-distribution.com