CEO Don Grover tells Franchising why DymocksÍ new role as publisher is re-inventing book retailing
Dymocks has announced the launch of D Publishing, its web based service offering complete publishing capabilities for Australian authors and publishers.
F: Don, this is an exciting project
DG: Certainly the response to D Publishing has been fantastic. This is an opportunity to leverage our brand and product.
F: What does it mean for the franchisee?
DG: For the franchisee it signals another bit of innovation and investment in the industry. WeÍre not standing around waiting. Virtually every day someone comes in to a Dymocks store asking about getting a book published. We looked at the growth of self-publishing, there’s an enormous amount. If franchisees could get people to publish, this connects them even closer with the customer.
We were very early with e-book delivery, weÍre early with this. You need to have a physical size to do this; weÍve got such an advantage, weÍre the largest channel to market, weÍre Australian centric in both product and stories. ItÍs because weÍre a strong Australian network we can afford to do it. D Publishing will be a profitable business, it’s another channel to market.
F: This is a way for Dymocks to stay ahead of the competition?
DG: Yes. This is a very calculated hunch. Most people are just keen to tell their story, a lot want a book in print for themselves, either as an e-book or a book. If itÍs published, it could get greater distribution. This is not vanity publishing. This is publishing that is author pushed, not publisher pulled. This will take a lot of the mystique out of publishing, it reinvents what it means to be a book retailer.
- How can you get a book published? Find out more here