The armed services represent an often-overlooked segment in which you can sell fiction and non-fiction titles in almost any genre and topic. It is a large niche of potential buyers made up of active duty personnel and their families, reservists, disabled veterans, civilians working for the Department of Defense and retired service people.

The place to start selling to the military is to search the "Selling to the Military Handbook" located at www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/publications/selling/index.html. Here you will find complete details on how to get started, department of defense contracting principles and practices, types of contracts, small business advisors and just about everything you need to sell to this market. Anyone who wishes to sell to the Department of Defense must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration database. For a guide to walk you through the registration process, go to www.growusapress.com or contact Sher Valenzuela at valenz@intercom.net.

Titles sought by military buyers are those selling well on the commercial market. In addition, there is an opportunity for creative, self-promotion. Find a niche in which information is lacking and then to develop the "how-to" book for that particular need. Discounting in the military also replicates that which occurs in the commercial world. However, you have some additional negotiating leeway with government buyers by providing an extra enticement for accelerated payment, custom books or cooperative marketing programs.

Reaching buyers for custom or existing titles becomes easier if you segment the military market into its unique purchasing opportunities. For instance, you may have titles that can be sold domestically or overseas, through base exchanges, to military libraries, Department of Defense Dependent Schools, onboard ships, and to military museums, book clubs, catalogs, bookstores and associations.

Selling to exchanges

The largest buyers of books of all types for the military market are the exchange services-Army & Air Force Exchange Service, Coast Guard Exchange, Navy Exchange, Marine Corps Exchange.

The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) provides merchandise and services to active duty military, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, and family members. You can download the entire AAFES Suppliers Handbook (pdf file - 3.22mb) at http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/index.html.

US Coast Guard Exchange System Headquarters may be found at http://www.cg-exchange.com/. For an updated, complete list of Coast Guard Exchanges including addresses and phone numbers go to: http://www.cgaux.org/cgauxweb/memtable.shtml

While you can contact the exchange services directly, local distributors supply the exchanges with most books and publications. The list of current distributors and their points of contact may be found at http://www.aafes.com/pa/selling/books.html.

Additional sales opportunities on the bases

Most bases offer a variety of services for the families of the people on active duty, all in need of books. These include family support services, employee assistance program, spouse clubs and family centers. For the contact information for specific military bases, go to http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?s=0-292258-locator.php.

Military associations

Military associations represent the interests of active, reserve, veteran and retired military members, and their families. The associations provide services to their members and use books to inform their members and the general public about issues of concern, and help bring together military communities with similar interests or backgrounds. Here are some of the armed services associations, what they do, and how to get in touch with them:

National Military Family Association (NMFA) - serves the families of the uniformed services through education, information and advocacy and is dedicated to identifying and resolving issues affecting them. 6000 Stevenson Ave., Suite 304, Alexandria, VA 22304-3526 Phone: (703) 823-NMFA Fax: (703) 751-4857 families@nmfa.org http://www.nmfa.org

The Retired Officers Association
Aims to benefit members of the uniformed services - active duty, former and retired, National Guard and Reserve - and their families and survivors through efforts to preserve earned entitlements and to maintain a strong national defense. Membership is open to active duty, retired, National Guard, reserve, former commissioned officers and warrant officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 201 N. Washington St. Alexandria, VA 22314; Phone: (800) 245-TROA msc@troa.org http://www.troa.org

United Armed Forces Association (UAFA) - Serves all ranks and branches of the armed forces - active duty, reserve, veterans, retired military and their dependents and civil service employees. P.O. Box 20672, Waco, TX 76702 Phone: (888) 457-7667
info@uafa.org http://www.uafa.org

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Provides programs and services that strengthen comradeship among members, perpetuate the memory and history of fallen soldiers, foster patriotism, defend the Constitution and promote service to our communities and our country. 406 West 34th St., Kansas City, MO 64111. Phone: (816) 756-3390 E-mail: info@vfw.org or go to http://www.vfw.org

Non-military organizations

There are many groups, clubs and organizations associated with the armed services that are excellent sources for book sales. These include American Red Cross, American Retirees Association, American Overseas Schools Historical Society, Armed Services YMCA of the U.S.A., National Military Family Association and the Toys for Tots Foundation. For an exhaustive list of these organizations go to http://www.military.com/NewContent?file=associations_newindex.

USO clubs are affiliated with the military and provide opportunities for additional sales. For a comprehensive list of USO locations, go to http://www.uso.org/pubs/8_13_18.cfm?CFID=1854693&CFTOKEN=6166864.


Military bookstores online

Frank Cass Publishers http://www.frankcass.com/index.htm sells books on history, politics and international relations, military studies (including strategic studies), Middle East studies, development studies, economics and business, law. To sell your book through the store contact marketing@frankcass.com

You could also try Pentagon Books - http://www.pentagon-books.com. Online sellers of US military manuals, on paper and CD-ROM. Or Military Books Online - http://members.aol.com/VonRanke/militarybooks.html, with added information and book reviews on featured titles.

Military Times online bookstore sells books on topics as diverse as humor and battles. It has books with answers to basic computer questions such as building a website or creating worksheets; books with tips for today's competitive business world, and titles on managing change, selling successfully and motivating people. Go to http://www.airforcetimes.com/subchan.php?showchan=sho


Military book clubs online

These focus on military titles and operate much like the general-line book clubs, offering an incentive to join with discounts on books purchased over time. Examples include the Military and Aviation Book Society at http://www.militarybookclub.co.uk/ or the Military Book Club, a US-based book club offering a range of military history and war books at discount prices at http://www.militarybookclub.com.

The Military Book Club® is a BookSpan club and the largest of all military book clubs. It features books on military history, biographies, weapons, hobbies, fiction and more. (http://www.bookspan.com).

Military Museums

There are military museums on many topics. Some are b ranch specific such as the USAF Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/. Others are topic specific such as General Sweeney's Museum of Civil War History. This highlights the war in the Trans-Mississippi theatre. For information about selling books in the gift shop, contact Tom Sweeny, 5228 South State Highway ZZ, Republic, MO 65738. Telephone and fax # 417-732-1224. http://www.civilwarmuseum.com/

Selling your titles aboard ships

There are approximately 180 ship stores on U.S. Navy commissioned ships. The mission of the Ship Store program is to provide them with quality goods at a discount. Space aboard a ship is very limited and only the most necessary items in each category are held in stock. However, the crewmembers may place an order for almost any item - including fiction and nonfiction books -- through NEXCOM (Navy Exchange, http://www.navy-nex.com). Go to (http://www.navy-nex.com/ship_stores/ss-vendor-guide.html) for complete information on how to do business with Ship Stores.

Military Libraries

Most of the libraries operated by the federal government are under the auspices of the Department of Defense, and there are opportunities to sell fiction and nonfiction books to libraries at most bases. There is a search locator at http://locatorplus.gov/. For a listing of U.S. Pacific Command Libraries visit http://library.ad.umuc.edu/pals/; and for a listing of all libraries at the Service Academies, post and base libraries stateside and overseas go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/other_info/libraries.html

The National Defense University Library, Washington, DC is an eLibrary that serves the academic, research, distance learning, and professional information requirements of National Defense University staff, faculty, students and alumni through a program incorporating both print and digital information resources. http://www.ndu.edu/library/library.html

Selling to government schools

The U.S. military education system serves the children of its service men and women stationed in the United States, Europe and the Pacific. The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools are divided into three areas, each of which is managed by an area director. Within each of these three areas, schools are organized into districts headed by superintendents. A current list of DoDEA schools may be obtained by writing the Department of Defense Dependent Schools, Hoffman I, Room, 152, 2461 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA, 22331.

The Defense Education Supplies Procurement Office (DESPO), Richmond, VA, is the DoDEA procurement office that handles educational curricula requirements for all DoDEA schools worldwide. This can include textbooks and educational software. If you are interested in getting on the DESPO bidders mailing list, download the vendor data input form at (http://www.odedodea.edu/procure/vendorsection/Vendrwb1.doc).

Dealing with the military requires that you abide by complex purchasing rules and regulations. But once you are on the list of preferred suppliers for any one of the opportunities described above you can experience excellent repeat business with no returns and 30-day payment.



Brian Jud is an author, seminar leader, book-marketing consultant and creator of Book Market-Mapä directories for special sales. Contact Brian at P. O. Box 715, Avon, CT 06001; (800) 562-4357; fax (203) 729-5335, brianjud@bookmarketingworks.com, https://bookmarketingworks.com