How Do I Connect With Book & Stationery Distributors And Reach US Retail To Sell My Sudoku Books & Stationery?

Question

My company has been in the forefront of e-publishing, esp. Sudoku related digital products. We are leading sellers of our own eBooks & eMagazines. We've recently developed a set of unique Sudoku printed books & stationery after a lot of market research. We're confident that these will fly off the shelf, wherever they are sold. But we're new to selling physical products like books & stationery. Unless we reach the market significantly and sell in volumes, it won't be viable for us. We need advice from people who know how to reach the retail outlets where we can sell these thru distributors/ dealers/ wholesalers. While urls or other info on how to reach distributors/ dealers/ wholesalers are welcome, I'm looking for more detailed help on how to get their attention and get them to review our products, and move ahead to sell. Thanks. :~)

One of the Answers raises a valid question: Whether the market research we have done is adequate. My clarification is: The market research established the need for the product from the market demand side. We had to convince ourselves that we could product a product the market would like, and we have done just that. Whereas the info we need now is on the supply chain side. I hope this clarifies.

Answer 1

First of all, if these books are being published by your own company, outsource the marketing to someone else. You could also sell the publishing rights to someone else like Paradise Press Inc. and let them do the work for you. If you would rather do the work yourself, and if these books are in print try looking on-line or searching Smithbooks or Chapters use the "contact us " link found at the bottom of most sites and ask them how to put your product on their shelves. Of course, you could just walk into any bookstore and ask them for more info. Also, look into hiring a contractual print marketing firm on a cosulting basis. Hope that I've been a little helpful.

Eric J Warren
www.ewarren1.qhealthbeauty.com

Answer 2

Ingram is the big book distributor, start here:
http://www.ingrambook.com/new/publishers.asp

And relax, Sudoku is so hot right now... but I suspect it's peaked. But like crosswords, it should stay around for many years.

Answer 3

First you said "we've done lots of market research" and then you said "unless we reach the market" it won't be viable.

GUESS YOU DID NOT! do the research!
CArt before the horse!!!