Have you submitted your BookStats survey yet?

I am doing a blog post supporting the AAP & BISG effort to get publishers to report their data in order to compile the BookStats report.  Below gives a detailed explanation of BookStats.  If you are a publisher, hopefully this friendly reminder is useful.  For anyone else, it is a fantastic report that I have grown to depend upon when I work on the short and long term strategic planning for BEA.  Without exaggerating, it is the most important information I use outside of Reed in planning for BEA.  

It’s now February.  Have you submitted your BookStats survey yet?  This is a friendly reminder that the submission deadline this year is February 28, 2013.

BookStats—a joint venture of our two organizations, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)—provides the industry with the most comprehensive and reliable analysis of publisher net sales. Measuring the size and scope of the entire U.S. publishing industry, BookStats puts all this data and more at your fingertips through our Online Data Dashboard, and through written reports.

But the BookStats tools are only as good as the data we collect. We’re writing today to tell you that submission guidelines for the 2013 Edition are now available, and to encourage you to participate as early as possible.

We are asking for 2012 data with a 2011 comparative (if you submitted last year, the 2011 data will be used in extrapolating a restatement). You can view the guidelines, here: http://www.bookstats.org/submit-bookstats.php.

Participation in BookStats at the most basic level is a simple process involving the completion of a short online Survey. To begin this year's survey, please go here: http://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=16932TDN54YJZ

Once you complete this basic survey, we would like to ask that you consider increasing your participation by taking part 2 of this survey. Once you complete the basic information, you will be prompted to continue the survey and provide your sales data based on formats, channels, and product categories. By including this data, you will be providing the BookStats report a new level of granularity not previously available. This will help you see how you are performing against your peers in the fast moving shifts in the book industry, including the very still evolving format of digital books.

Additionally, if you would like to consider participating at an even more detailed level (Survey B or Survey A); you can see the requirements on the www.BookStats.org website. Should you choose to participate at one of these levels we will gladly schedule a time to meet with you and your team to walk you through this process. We believe there is a strong value proposition in participating in either Survey A or B as are outlined in the 'Benefits Tab' found on these downloaded Microsoft Excel files.

The BookStats Management Team has made your participation in BookStats a very high priority. Feel free to contact us for guidance and assistance. We’re happy to provide a demo of this year’s product, details on the very simple data submission process, or anything else related to the project. Contact us at:

Tina Jordan, Vice President, Association of American Publishers, 212-255-0275; tjordan@publishers.org

Len Vlahos, Executive Director, Book Industry Study Group, 646-336-7141; len@bisg.org

Please visit www.bookstats.org for all you need to know about the project, including a list of prior participants, methodology, detailed submission guidelines, and pricing.

We’re indebted to you, our members and industry partners for your past participation, and look forward to receiving your data this year.  Best wishes for a Happy New Year.