organisation
CPNB
Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek
About 40 million trade books are sold in the Netherlands each year with a total turnover of some 500 million Euros. Dutch publishers and booksellers have cooperated in the promotion of trade books since 1930. In 1983 that task was assigned to the CPNB (in Dutch: Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek), a foundation set up in Amsterdam. The CPNB aims to encourage the habits of book reading and book buying. Each CPNB campaign has its own mix of two strands: one is the idealistic promotion of reading, while the second is a more commercial endeavour to encourage the public to visit their local bookshops.
The CPNB was set up by the professional publishing and bookselling bodies, the Nederlandse Boekverkopersbond (Dutch Booksellers Federation) and the Groep Algemene Uitgevers (Trade Publishing Group). Collectively, their members account for some 90% of all Dutch trade book sold through bookshops. The organisations provide the basic annual budget for the CPNB on a fifty-fifty basis, all funds being contributed by the members. Each organisation also elects three of the six CPNB board members. The CPNB applies most of the basic budget to pay for the campaign office, which has a staff of ten working under director Henk Kraima. Apart from office expenses, the budget also covers a number of other non-income generating activities, such as organizing press conferences and the introduction of new campaigns.
Campaign programme
The principle underlying the annual campaign programme is that each campaign must generate its own revenue. Most campaign revenues inevitably reach the CPNB via the bookshops, since a substantial part of the CPNB's activities has to do with developing, selling and distributing point-of-sale material. This includes special publications, as well as posters, window display materials and magazines. The bookshops are given the opportunity – once per campaign – to order the material. Once the orders have been taken the material is produced and distributed accordingly. This helps to keep down the costs for the bookshops. In recent years, libraries have also been able to order the campaign material.
The CPNB collaborates closely with the publishers who advertise in the CPNB magazines and whose authors write for CPNB publications. Finally, the revenue is augmented by sponsorship, government subsidy and ad-hoc contributions from other organisations, whether with idealistic or commercial aims.
The CPNB campaigns cover literary fiction, children's books, crime and thriller writing, and travel writing and travel guides. The organisation also runs campaigns aimed specifically at primary school children, children aged twelve to sixteen, and the more casual bookshop visitor. Each campaign is complemented with massive free publicity opportunities. The more intensive campaigns are backed by advertising on radio and television.
