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December 18 – December 25, 2008 Edition Publishers’ Reps
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Ordering System
Schaumburg, IL (Authorlink News, December 18, 2008)–The National Association of Independent Publishers Representatives, a non-profit professional association of commission book reps, in January 2009 will launch a new "one-stop catalog-order data-management system" with fall 2009 titles, to be known as Frontlist Plus Universal (formerly Fplus).
The organization describes the system as a sort of "virtual bag" through which sales reps can display and sell publishers’ products to resellers. Publishers will pay a nominal fee per ISBN to have their titles included in the database. Field reps can then unlock rich data and order forms for retailers. The new data system will allow publishers to input digital promotions and information to the catalogue which retailers (with the help of reps) can export in a variety of formats, combining ONIX feeds, converted Excel templates and manually-entered data into an integrated online system.
The system is designed to support publishers’ e-catalogs, and to be compatible with many new digital inventory control systems and industry platforms. For accounts not connected to the Internet, reps will provide material on diskette, CD-ROM or USB flash drive.
