Springer Global Bookseller Forum
by Ann-Marie Breaux, Director, Academic Services Development
Springer Booksellers group at Heidelberg Castle
In late May I attended Springer's Booksellers Forum in Heidelberg, along with several dozen other booksellers. Springer was introducing a new eBook service, and I was interested in learning how YBP could better serve our customer's needs in delivering both eBooks and pBooks. While there were a few of us from the United States, the majority of the attendees were from the rest of the world, mostly from various countries in Europe, as well as Japan and India. We arrived in Germany the day before the meeting. Jetlagged from the overnight flight, I wandered around the Frankfurt airport hoping that my driver would show up and that I wouldn't have to tackle the challenges presented by a foreign phone system and my rusty high-school German with no sleep. Thankfully the driver arrived, and we were off to Heidelberg. After spending hours stuck in Atlanta traffic, cruising along the Autobahn was delightful.
Home to the oldest university in Germany, Heidelberg seems a fitting location for Springer's worldwide headquarters. Members of our group arrived throughout the morning and then met up later that afternoon to visit Heidelberg Castle. As we ambled around the grounds, a tour guide explained the various architectural styles and additions through history. Afterwards, we walked back down the hill to the city plaza where we found a Bücherbus - the library's bookmobile - we had happened upon it during its normal weekly rounds. That evening we enjoyed an informal cookout with Springer executives and editorial staff.
Heidelberg Castle
The next day we headed over to Springer's headquarters and settled down to work. The morning started with presentations from Springer executives on their eBook strategy and marketing plans. Fueled by Gummi-Bears, we then broke into several groups to discuss both the opportunities we felt were presented by eBooks and the challenges. In designing their new eBook service, Springer spoke with many librarians and researchers about their eBook experiences. The ownership model and generous usage terms that they presented clearly display that they listened.
Heidelberg
As important as information about their eBook product was, we vendors were also concerned about our place in the supply chain. With several years' experience in selling eBooks, along with our traditional strength in academic collection development and acquisitions, YBP stands ready to help our customers acquire Springer eBooks. Some publishers eliminate the wholesaler when they begin selling electronic products, but Springer realizes this is a mistake. Springer is a key STM (science, technical, and medical) publisher, and we wanted to ensure that their materials would continue to be included in the breadth of our approval and order services. Springer reassured us that they were setting up a "level playing field" for eBook purchases. Customers will receive the same price no matter whether they opt to buy their eBooks from their book vendor, directly from Springer, or elsewhere.
Roland Ehrenfels, our host at Springer
With that established, we were free to begin considering some of the ways that Springer's eBooks could enhance our services, and how we, in turn, could make the Springer eBook packages more attractive. The shift to electronic versions has already happened in the journals world, but is only now starting to gain some momentum in the world of monographs. eBook publishing, either in addition to traditional pBook publishing or coupled with print-on-demand, offers publishers a way to expose their works to a wider audience without expanding their physical production costs. As pBooks begin to be accompanied by - and in some cases replaced by - eBooks, we approval vendors must adapt our systems to encompass more formats, more complex substitution practices, and more variable pricing algorithms. Because we sell Springer pBooks, not just their eBooks, we booksellers are in an excellent position to coordinate a library's total monographic purchases, whether that involves selling pBooks at deep discounts for eBook customers, duplication control between print and electronic versions, inclusion in approval plans, or one-off single-volume purchases. We left the Springer meetings that afternoon with a better understanding of how eBooks fit into the entirety of monographic bookselling.
Our workgroup, deep in discussion
That evening, Springer treated us to a wonderful farewell dinner in one of the most elegant restaurants in Heidelberg. Our host, Roland Ehrenfels, selected excellent wines to pair with each course and after much conversation and many toasts, we regretfully parted company. Most of the attendees headed home the next morning, but Matt Naumann (a colleague from Blackwells) and I stayed an extra day to meet with Springer's editorial staff. We described the role of monograph academic vendors and how approval plans work. We found them to be an interested audience and as gracious as all of the rest of the Springer staff we had met.
With business complete, I had a couple vacation days until my flight back to the States. I spent some time walking on the Philosopher's Walk, a tranquil path along a hillside across the river from Heidelberg. I also took a boat to Neckarsteinach, a town just up the river from Heidelberg and home to four castles from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From the towers of the two ruined castles, I had a splendid view of the Neckar River and its valley - well worth the hike up the steep hillside.
Our workgroup, deep in discussion
Of course I also spent some time shopping; at the time, Germany was consumed with the World Cup, so every store had a soccer theme to their advertising. Arriving back from the stores, I discovered the Costa Rican soccer team's bus parked in front of my hotel. I watched from my balcony as the team members were surrounded by well-wishers and autograph-seekers. My last evening in Heidelberg, the city had fireworks, shot off from the Old Bridge just outside my hotel. They cleared the square and closed the bridge before the fireworks began. With no one in sight except one couple on the other hotel balcony, it felt as though it were my own private fireworks show.
Schwalbenest, one of the castles in Neckarsteinach
The fireworks were sponsored by SAS, a high-tech company headquartered in Heidelberg. As I watched the starbursts add magic to this old German city, I was captivated. Heidelberg seems to smoothly blend 21st-century business with the city's rich history. eBooks add a new dimension to pBooks and print-based scholarship. YBP has enjoyed many years of working with our customers to deliver the best available pBooks - we look forward to the changes, excitement and yes, fireworks, that eBooks are sure to bring to our library partnerships in the years to come.
