DR book distributors - hotel/tourism sector

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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As some of you may know, Ginnie and I wrote two books together. The first, which had already gone to print when she passed away, is due out in September:

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857335279?ie=UTF8&tag=dr1-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1857335279">Dominican Republic - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dr1-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1857335279" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

The publishers, Kuperard, are taking care of global marketing and distribution. The main outlets will probably be mainstream and airport bookshops in English speaking countries. For the DR, we provided them with details of the main book retailers like Cuesta and Thesaurus as well as bookshops like The Meeting Place in Puerto Plata and Paper Moon in Punta Cana.

They also need information on accessing the hotel/tourism/gift shop sector in the DR and I wondered if anyone here has any knowledge and/or contacts for this.

The second book - a more detailed and practical guide for expats - has just gone to the publisher for editing so watch this space.
 

drloca

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Oct 26, 2004
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Although I have no leads for you Chiri, I wish you success in distributing what I am sure will be a huge success and I am sure I am not alone in saying I am thoroughly looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.
 
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NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
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They also need information on accessing the hotel/tourism/gift shop sector in the DR and I wondered if anyone here has any knowledge and/or contacts for this.
They should get in contact with Asonahores and work from there. Every major hotel in the DR is a member.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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They also need information on accessing the hotel/tourism/gift shop sector in the DR and I wondered if anyone here has any knowledge and/or contacts for this.

The sector has no organization and in "most" cases they are individuel owned and operated.

Your going to need to phone each hotel and get the contact details.

We have been down this road with the "dr1guide", have fun!
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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The sector has no organization and in "most" cases they are individuel owned and operated.

Your going to need to phone each hotel and get the contact details.

We have been down this road with the "dr1guide", have fun!
Maybe I wasn't clear in the OP. The publishers are looking for a commercial distributor who deals with outlets in the tourist sector and asked me to help them locate one. I did contact someone a few years ago about the cookbooks but the terms offered weren't that great.

If they can't find anyone I doubt they'd deal with gift shops or hotels on an individual basis as it's a secondary market anyway. Most of the target market will purchase it online, in bookshops in their home countries and at airports.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Although I have no leads for you Chiri, I wish you success in distributing what I am sure will be a huge success and I am sure I am not alone in saying I am thoroughly looking forward to getting my hands on a copy.
Many thanks - and I'll look forward to hearing what you think.
 

Robert

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Jan 2, 1999
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Maybe I wasn't clear in the OP. The publishers are looking for a commercial distributor who deals with outlets in the tourist sector and asked me to help them locate one. I did contact someone a few years ago about the cookbooks but the terms offered weren't that great.

If they can't find anyone I doubt they'd deal with gift shops or hotels on an individual basis as it's a secondary market anyway. Most of the target market will purchase it online, in bookshops in their home countries and at airports.

As you may know, most work on a consignment basis, so have no $$$ invested in the product, so do little to promote it, if anything. Good luck getting paid :)

I know 1 or 2 distributors to gifts shops, but they work on MASSIVE margins and a book just does not have that type of margin and $$$ yield. Plus it's not a volume product.

I personally would stick to marketing it online, via the large book distributors, DR related websites and avoid wasting time and resources on trying to get it into DR gift shops. The pain is not worth the return.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Thanks Robert, I'll convey that information to the publishers.

For the reasons you list, I didn't think it was worthwhile for the cookbooks and they will probably reach the same conclusion for Culture Smart. I'll pass on the Asonahores link FWIW and will definitely recommend advertising on sites like DR1.
 

whirleybird

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Feb 27, 2006
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Pre-order...

I have already ordered a couple of copies of 'Culture Smart' to be delivered after its release on 1st September.