What Does a Book Distributor Do?

Book distribution is a series of activities that transfer books to readers in the form of commodity sales. Including: purchase, storage, transportation, sales, transfer and other basic links. For book distribution, the former Soviet Union called the book trade, Japan called the book sales, and the United Kingdom and the United States called book sales. In China, it refers to book wholesale and retail. The basic function of book distribution is to organize the exchange of book commodities. It has social functions such as disseminating knowledge, propagating ideas, transmitting information, and accumulating culture. The basic task of book distribution in China is to publicize Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, disseminate all scientific and technological and cultural knowledge that is beneficial to economic and social development, and enrich the spiritual and cultural life of the people. ^[1]

Book distribution

After China's entry into the WTO, the retail and wholesale business of books will gradually be opened to foreign capital within 1 to 3 years, and the Chinese book market will face more intense competition. How to manage the Chinese book market macroscopically, how to effectively guide the development of the Chinese book market, and how to survive in the fierce competition are topics that we must seriously study. To solve these problems, we must have a comprehensive understanding and understanding of the book market structure and market behavior in China.

The structure of the book distribution market mainly reflects the transaction relationship and status between book publishers and between book publishers and readers, and reflects the degree of competition and monopoly in the book distribution market. It mainly includes the book distribution market share, the degree of distribution market concentration, and barriers to entering and exiting the book distribution market. The first two elements mainly describe the relationship between book publishers in the book distribution market, or the size and quantity distribution of the book distribution market; the latter element describes the relationship between the book distribution market and potential book publishers outside the market .

Book Distribution Market Structure and Its Causes

2005 2008

In 2005, more than 220,000 books were published in China, including more than 120,000 new edition books and over 90,000 reprints, with a total price of 63.2 billion yuan. The cumulative net sales of China's publishing industry in 2005 were 49.3 billion yuan.

Of the 63.2 billion yuan output value of the national book industry in 2005, education and publishing accounted for more than 65%, literature, children, social sciences, humanities, and other popular reading materials accounted for about 24%, and science, technology, finance, law, and medical professional publications accounted for about 11%. .

In 2005, among the 573 publishing houses, the largest single publishing house, the higher education publishing house, had an annual sales code of 2.35 billion yuan, and 89 publishing houses with an annual sales code of more than 100 million yuan. Among them, 40 are mainly for education publishing, 28 are for various professional book publishing, and 22 are for general public books.

The national book retail market in 2006 increased by more than 10% compared with the same period in 2005; the growth rate of the literature, living, social sciences, and children's books market exceeded the average growth rate of the overall market; the number of movable products in 2006 was nearly 800,000, which was higher than in 2005 Add 76,000 species.

In recent years, China's book retail market has maintained a positive growth trend. In 2007, book retail sales rose by 10.41% year-on-year. In the first half of 2008, the size of the national book retail market increased by 6.26% year-on-year, which was lower than the same period in 2007. In addition, of the top 500 books sold in the first half of 2008, 84 were imported works, a year-on-year decrease.

2009 2010

The data ^[2] are as follows:

In 2009, a total of 301,719 books were published, including 168,296 new editions, 133,423 reprints and reprints, a total of 7.037 billion copies (sheets), a total of 56.550 billion copies, a total of 13.293 million tons of paper, and a total price of 84.04 100 million yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of books increased by 10.07%, the number of new editions increased by 12.97%, the number of reprinted and reprinted books increased by 6.61%, the total number of printed copies decreased by 0.36%, the total number of printed sheets increased by 0.78%, and the total price increased by 5.68%. among them:
1. Book publishing: 238,868 books (145,475 first editions, 93,393 reprints and reprints), a total of 3.788 billion copies (sheets), 31,246 million printed sheets, equivalent to 734,000 tons of paper (including 1.41 in the appendix paper) 100 million printed sheets, equivalent to 33,300 tons of paper), with a total price of 56.727 billion yuan (including the total price of 473 million yuan in the appendix). Compared with the previous year, the number of species increased by 8.86% (the first edition increased by 11.24%, the number of reprints and reprints increased by 5.36%), the total number of copies increased by 4.53%, the total number of printed sheets increased by 4.61%, and the total price increased by 8.94%.
2. Textbooks are published in 62,024 types (22,265 first editions, 39,759 reprints and reprints), a total of 3.235 billion copies (sheets), a total of 25.277 billion copies, a total of 5.940 million tons of paper, and a total price of 27.94 billion yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of species increased by 14.83% (the first edition increased by 25.35%, and the number of reprints and reprints increased by 9.68%). The total number of copies decreased by 5.43%, the total number of printed sheets decreased by 3.56%, and the total amount of pricing decreased by 0.34%.
3. Picture publishing pictures: 827 kinds (556 first editions, 271 reprints, 271 reprints), total number of copies of 13 million copies (sheets), total number of printed sheets of 28 million, equivalent to 10 million tons of paper, and a total price of 137 million yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of species increased by 19.86% (the original edition increased by 26.36%, the number of reprints and reprints increased by 8.40%), the total number of copies decreased by 18.87%, the total number of printed sheets decreased by 16.84%, and the total price of pricing decreased by 0.13%.

In 2010, a total of 328,387 books were published, of which 189,295 were new editions, 1,390,92 reprints and reprints, with a total of 7.171 billion copies (sheets), a total of 60.633 billion copies, a total of 14.252 million papers, and a total pricing of 936.01 100 million yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of books increased by 8.84%, the number of new editions increased by 12.48%, the number of reprinted and reprinted books increased by 4.25%, the total number of copies increased by 1.90%, the total number of printed sheets increased by 7.22%, and the total amount of pricing increased by 10.37%. among them:
1. Book publishing: 259,477 books (164,749 first editions, 94,728 reprints and reprints), a total of 3.772 billion copies (sheets), 33,312 million copies, a total of 78,552 tons of paper, and a total price of 61.278 billion yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of species increased by 8.63% (the first edition increased by 13.25%, reprints and reprints increased by 1.43%), the total number of copies decreased by 0.44%, the total number of printed sheets increased by 7.42%, and the total amount of pricing increased by 8.93%.
2. Textbooks published 68,145 (23,939 first editions, 44,206 reprints and reprints), a total of 3.355 billion copies (sheets), 27.038 billion printed sheets, equivalent to 6.354 million tons of paper, and a total price of 31.686 billion yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of species increased by 9.87% (the original version increased by 7.52%, the number of reprints and reprints increased by 11.18%), the total number of copies increased by 3.68%, the total number of printed sheets increased by 6.97%, and the total price increased by 13.41%.
3. Picture published pictures: 765 kinds (607 initial editions, 158 reprints, 158 reprints), 10 million copies (sheets), 24 million prints, equivalent to 90,000 tons of paper, and a total price of 123 million yuan. Compared with the previous year, the number of species decreased by 7.50% (the first edition increased by 9.17%, and the number of reprints and reprints decreased by 41.70%). The total number of copies decreased by 26.33%, the total number of printed sheets decreased by 15.21%, and the total price of pricing decreased by 10.31%.
4. Appendix Publication The total number of printed copies of the appendix is 35 million copies (sheets), with a total of 160 million printed sheets, equivalent to 37,700 tons of paper, and a total price of 514 million yuan.