#58 - Insights from Kobo Merchandisers

Episode 58 features an interview with Kobo Merchandisers Liz Hilborn (Manager of Merchandising) and Sarah Smith-Eivemark (Canadian Merchandiser).

In the interview, KWL Director Mark Lefebvre, Liz, and Sarah discuss:

• What a merchandiser is and what they do at Kobo
• How merchandisers work with publisher sales reps to determine which books get featured in different lists such as “New and Hot”
• A look at the daily, weekly, monthly schedule and routine that merchandisers follow
• How merchandisers in different territories connect, collaborate, and share best practices
• How the merchandisers work with the Vendor Managers in various countries
• The benefit the merchandising interns have in of hearing about global publishing trends and activities during the daily merchandising team meetings
• The preferred timelines that merchandisers need in order to plan out a promotion or feature and how that might be different in various global territories based on how much progress that country has already made in terms of digital publishing
• The average number of books that a merchandiser might look at on any given day
• Solid book cover design advice from a merchandiser’s perspective
• The important role that a proper price (and a flexible price) plays from a merchandiser’s perspective
• The pricing promotion sweet spot (anywhere between 99 cents and $4.99)
• How not rounding your pricing up to .99 in a local territory means you’re leaving money on the table
• Recent publishing trends that Liz and Sarah have recognized and are excited about
• The WRONG things to do (AKA Merchandiser pet peeves or, the right thing to do if you never want to get a book featured on Kobo)

Mark then talks a bit about the Alliance of Independent Authors “Indie Author Fringe” events and why they are important and then reflects on how the Kobo Writing Life team are internal ‘sales reps’ for KWL authors at Kobo, working collaboratively with the merchandising team and always looking for new opportunities to help authors find new customers at Kobo.