Annette Sym’s cookbook series is an Australian independent publishing success story. The active approach by Annette and her husband in promoting her cookbook series through newsagencies is an excellent model for others to follow. Annette visited our newsagency a year and a half ago for a day of demonstrations. We reward that loyalty with regular displays in-store.
Symply Too Good To be True 5 has just been released and we’ve sold 20 copies in three weeks. That’s five times the sales of any other cookbook title in our newsagency. It says something about the strength of the Symply brand as well as their approach to marketing.
The approach of Annette and her husband speaks to the issues I often raise here about fringe independent titles. It is not enough for an independent title to be merely sent ton newsagents expecting it’s presence on the shelf to work. The key is promotion. Annette does in-store visits, provides a DVD to play on loop showing a recipe being made, provides posters and regularly updates her range. Compare this with other indy Australian titles – the vast majority offer nothing to support sales.
If independent Australian magazine publishers want to grow their sales in newsagencies they ought to look at what Annette Sym and her husband are doing – get involved, actively support your title, do more than send stock and a couple of posters. Actively partner with newsagents and they will respond.