Why The Boring Barcode

          

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Barcodes are on the back of books as a standard element. Why should you care? In this article, I’m going to tell you about recent changes to this detail and how it’s affecting book publishing.

The barcode used to be one of the telling signs of a self-published book. The publishers who sell in brick and mortar bookstores and online retailers, would have the purchase price of the book coded and visible on the barcode. This detail helped retailers and consumers immediately know the retail price of the book and the section where to put the book inside the bookstore.

This barcode distinction is no longer there because of changes in the book market. In recent days, publishers have removed the price from their barcode. Why are they doing this action?

Why Books Are More Expensive

Like almost every other product, the retail price of books has increased in recent years. Part of the cause is the price of paper and ink which has increased 70 to 80% since 2020. The publishing world has tight margins and these changes make the tight margins even tighter. If you have printed the retail price on the top of the barcode and built it into the barcode itself so when it is scanned, the price shows up in your computer. This fact prevents you from changing the price because of the conditions in the marketplace. Publishers have stopped printing the price on their books and building the information into the barcode. 

I wrote this article for several reasons. First, the details of bookselling matter. The author needs to be aware of them and incorporate them into their own book writing plans. Second, every authors relationship with their local bookseller matters.. Brick and mortar bookstores are expanding. Recently Barnes and Noble opened a 27,000 foot store in the nearby South Coast Plaza. I've read that this year Barnes and Noble is going to open over 60 new bookstores. Authors need to support their local bookstores. Go there and buy books. Also ask for the manager then introduce yourself as a local and give them a review copy of your latest book. 

If you need more ideas for reaching local markets, I encourage you to read marketing expert Penny C. Sansevieri's (@bookgal) new book called Think Local Sell Global: How to Build Author Buzz in your Backyard This book is packed with tested actions for every author. 

I encourage every author to continually study the changes in publishing, then apply them to your writing life. What recent changes have you noticed in publishing? Let me know in the comments.

Tweetable:

The boring barcode on the back of books is changing. This prolific author and editor gives you the details why you should care then actions to take. (ClickToTweet)

New Podcasts:

In these articles, I’ve encouraged you to use PodMatch or some similar tool to book and record podcasts. Last week one more new podcast recording launched:

Tim Krywulak and I spoke about From Creator to Author: How to Publish a Book That Builds Your Personal Brand on the My TOG Blog Podcast. Watch it at: https://bit.ly/4r6EgUd or listen on Apple at: https://bit.ly/46mtekq 

From my years in publishing, I find many authors have unrealistic expectations about publishing. It doesn’t matter what type of book they are writing—fiction, nonfiction, a children’s book or a coffee table book. Each type of book contains its own challenges and complexity. No matter how you publish, many aspects of the publishing process are outside of anything an author can control. I wrote  10 PUBLISHING MYTHS to give authors practical help. You can get decades of insights in 10 PUBLISHING MYTHS for only $10, free shipping and over $200 of bonuses.

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