The first step within the RFP process is to determine the businesses you wish to consider as potential bidders in your distribution business. You could have, essentially, options: specialist firms that provide distribution services to book publishers, and book publishers who handle distribution for different publishers.

Every of these options has its pluses and minuses. Consider each—the broader you forged your net, the higher your options, as well as your understanding of the range of providers available.

Regardless of the players you consider, your RFP needs to be despatched to a minimum of four bidders, and you should permit ample time (4 months, minimum) for the complete process from RFP creation to ultimate vendor selection.

Protect Your Information
Before you alternate any info, all prospective bidders ought to be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The NDA shouldn't only embrace prohibitions against divulging confidential financial and operational data provided by either party, but should contain a clause clearly prohibiting the discussion of the RFP with unauthorized parties within the publisher’s organization. Moving to a third-party distribution business model is a significant step, and until the decision is finalized and a transition plan confirmed, the small print of the effort needs to be shared only on a need-to-know basis. Beyond the potential nervousness and disruption to your small business, your negotiating leverage is diminished in case your effort is affected by info leaks.

Part One: Your Wants and Expectations
An RFP ought to have two main sections. Part 1 should comprise details about your existing operations and your expectations for your online business over the three to 5 years following the transition to the third-party provider.

The latter is particularly essential—especially should you see your organization embracing the operational opportunities offered by print-on-demand (POD) and quick-run digital printing. As POD pricing continues to decline to near-commodity ranges, printing technology improves and inventory becomes virtual, the demands on distribution facilities will undergo dramatic change—all of which should translate to reduced operating prices for publishers.

Section 1 additionally ought to embody, at minimum, quantitative particulars for what you are promoting’ final full, fiscal year, including:

Number of active prospects
Number of invoices and credit memos issued yearly
Calendarized gross sales and returns—in each dollars and units
Transaction particulars, including number of units per bill and number of lines per bill
Number of titles in active backlist
Number of new titles printed yearly
Examination copy quantity
Average number of books in storage
Specialized service necessities, together with kitting, worldwide shipments, sticker application, re-jacketing, etc.
Writer service expectations, including time-in-process necessities for main processes corresponding to income and complimentary-copy order achievement, returns processing, check-in and availability of incoming stock, etc.
Be Accurate and In-depth
The quality and quantity of the knowledge you provide could have a direct bearing on the accuracy of the bid and the quality of the working relationship between you and your distribution partner. It's a good suggestion to incorporate a multiyear view of the data listed above that illustrates both historic developments and prospects for the future.

Part Two: Ask the Proper Questions
Section 2 of the RFP provides the prospective distribution partners with detailed questions relating to their organizations, the services you would like them to provide and, after all, the
related costs.

The RFP should, at minimal, request the following:

• Distributor background, including history, ownership, organization chart, consumer list and monetary statements.

• Operational descriptions. Request a list of critical warehouse, fulfillment and repair processes, and written descriptions including workmove diagrams. The operations should embody order intake, pick, pack and ship, customer service, invoicing, credit and collections, and processing of incoming shipments.

• Service-degree standards. Request that the distributor provide details of service-degree standards (e.g., time in process) for critical business operations.

• Stock administration, together with physical stock processes, shrink-
management procedures, back-order reporting and management, and audit controls.

• Digital services. A number of main distributors have established strategic alliances with POD specialists, digital asset administration service providers and e-book distributors to supply a broader range of services. These providers supply the smaller writer a remarkable opportunity and needs to be totally explored as part of the RFP process.

• Computer systems, including a complete description of the hardware and enterprise software in place, plans for any upgrades or replacement of the enterprise systems, EDI/ONIX capabilities, consumer information access and reporting capabilities.

• Contingency plans, including
catastrophe-recovery plans for the facility and enterprise systems, and a readiness plan within the occasion of a pandemic flu outbreak. A shocking number of publishers have asked their suppliers to provide their business continuity plans for managing by means of a flu epidemic.

• Buyer references. While references provided by the distributor will only be from glad prospects, they're nonetheless valuable and must be completely researched.

• Price structure. Distributors typically will quote providers on a transaction basis or as a share of net sales. The writer ought to specify the desirered pricing method, but for ease of comparing prospective prices with historical spending, the proportion of net sales technique is recommended. In addition to the base costs, the distributor must be asked to provide a detailed list of prices that are not included in the base price, corresponding to extra returns expenses, extra stock, personalized reporting fees, etc.

• Transition costs. The move from your present distributor to your new provider won't be without costs. The distributor should be asked to provide an estimate of the transition bills that shall be billed to you—if any—together with stock transfer, data upload and some other expenses for which the distributor will expect to be reimbursed.

• Sample contract. You must have your legal advisor overview the distributor’s pattern contract.

A Service Indicator
A careabsolutely crafted RFP is essential to successfully evaluating the potential worth of third-party distribution. The time you invest in it can be time well spent.

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