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| Executive Vice President of Sales for Random House Duncan Shields’ autobiography could be called “Life of a Sales Man” | ||||
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Thirty-five
years ago, Duncan Shields began his career at Random House Canada Inc.
in Edmonton in an office surrounded by glass– his car. Today, as
the executive vice president of sales, he’s still surrounded by glass
at work –this time in his corner office at the corporate head office on
Matheson Blvd. in Mississauga. Duncan’s career began as a sales representative for the publishing giant, travelling to major cities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, pitching the latest titles to bookstores and retailers. Head office had their eye on the successful young salesman, but Duncan declined their offer to transfer to Ontario, choosing instead to “commute” once or twice a month from Edmonton to Mississauga. For ten years! On a Sunday night, Duncan would give a kiss goodbye to his wife Joanne and their two young daughters, returning the following weekend. In 1999, when Random House of Canada merged with Doubleday Canada and Bantam Books Canada, Duncan merged full time into head office as national sales manager. “It was a huge transition to go from ‘the guy who commutes from Alberta’ to running the national sales office,” says Duncan. “It was a different game here entirely. Everything I had done up until then was behind me and I had to look to be the best the company had to offer, to lead people and make a difference.” Duncan did make a difference and a few years later he climbed another rung to his current position. “In a nutshell, my job is to bring authors to readers,” smiles the good-natured Duncan who, thanks to his years of playing league hockey, looks like he would be as comfortable shooting a puck as he would be shooting the breeze about the latest book. He loves to play hockey, squash, cook, read and travel. At least once a year Duncan, his wife Joanne and their two daughters take a family vacation to Hawaii, not an easy feat since one daughter works full time and the other is in university, but Duncan is committed to retaining the tradition. Duncan racks up the air miles, travelling across the country making sales calls, attending meetings and helping out with the occasional author tour. Once a year he attends the Book Expo America in New York to meet with publishers, authors and retailers. “I was lucky enough to travel with Anne Murray for a good portion of her book tour for All of Me. “She is the ultimate professional and has an adoring fan base,” says Duncan. “I also toured with Red Green who kept you laughing nonstop.” The display cases in Duncan’s office brim with latest releases. Every book in the Costco-sized head office warehouse has a “release date” marked on the box, with new books released to the stores every Tuesday. “The Canadian industry sales can be broken down like this; fiction 33%, children’s books 22%, non-fiction 44% and miscellaneous, 1% of book sales,” says Duncan. “What constitutes a best seller depends on who you talk to,” laughs Duncan. “If you sell 10,000 copies in Canada, you are doing well. Depending on winning a Giller or if you are an Oprah pick, you could get a run of 40,000 books. Book clubs, in particular Oprah’s Book Club, are helping to drive book sales. “Our own experience in the market place with Oprah’s Book Club has been that if she recommends a book, you will see an overnight bestseller. At Random House, we consider anything around the 15,000 range to be a bestseller in Canada.” “Chapters is also a major player in helping promote authors and books,” says Duncan. “When Heather Riesman, CEO selects a book (Heather’s Picks), we see a marked increase in sales. Canadian authors are “hot” right now says Duncan. “Readers are having a love affair with Canadian authors and we have a mandate to support Canadian authors. With the high profile of a Giller Award, as soon as the book is designated, we get the presses rolling as you are looking at a bestseller.” Duncan can’t begin to estimate how many books there are in the Random House system, with new books arriving daily. Books are selected a year in advance and Duncan and the sales and marketing team come up with strategies to promote each book. “Each week we receive eight or ten new products—new Cokes or Campbell Soups, which need to be promoted,” laughs Duncan. While there is still a demand for new hard cover releases, Duncan say the biggest jump in sales is in e-book downloads. “It’s too early to indicate actual numbers, but our mission is to convert as many books as possible to satisfy the market.” Too bad Duncan didn’t own a Tablet or Kobo Reader when he moved from Alberta, lugging his extensive collection of hard covers with him. “I have about 200 hard covers autographed by whichever authors I come in contact with and have the entire (autographed) John Grisham library,” says Duncan. Although his commute to work is now an hour drive from his home in Uxbridge, Duncan says it’s far better than the three-hour flight from Edmonton. From his corner office, he can see the planes taking off at Toronto’s Pearson airport. “I should have made the move to head office years ago. It was the best career decision I ever made.” Slam Dunc! GL |
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