Understanding distribution deals and sales models

Presented by Eric Kettunen, Constellation/VP of Marketing, Publishers Group West

Some ebook deals are more complicated than they seem. A distributor’s payment to a publisher is a percentage of what is received from the channel partner, but then it is important to understand the underlying deal; there is no guarantee that all distributors get the same deal. In some cases it is possible for a new ebook publisher to do some channels directly and pay the distributor percentage only on the others. The nuances of these deals will be informed by the vast experience of Constellation, one of the most experienced digital distributors in this very new field.

Since 2004 Eric Kettunen has worked at Berkeley-based Publishers Group West, the leading book sales and distribution company and a division of the Perseus Books Group.  When Perseus launched Constellation Digital Services in 2007 Kettunen was responsible for rolling out the new ebook, print-on-demand, short-print-run and other services to PGW client publishers and has managed subsequent ‘waves’ of new vendors and services since then.