Russell Brennan sent a message to Michael OLeary - CEO, Ryanair - Email Address that said:
Dear Michael,
As someone with a track record for making extra in flight money. we think this may interest you.
With margins tight and every penny counting on most airlines especially budget airlines, new ways of earning review from passengers can make a big difference.
December Books UK are an innovative publisher who thinks outside the box to maximise revenue for all concerned.
Most air passengers are a captive audience and although there are many things to distract them one popular item is always books.
With budget airlines having a strict hand luggage quota often a book or two may be left out of the travel luggage so an avid reader looking to pass the flight time would love a great book to tuck into as well as read on a beach or additional transportation.
So what we are proposing is to test the water by selling one of our books on your flights and you will make more money per book than you will on most food items you sell.
Why start with our book? Apart from the reason that we have shown good faith to put forward this idea, the book we have in mind is a travel adventure. So this fits with a person going on holiday or looking to be inspired to visit a new destination(This one takes place in Florida, Cuba Mexico).
Its also a new lightweight style and fits in a pocket or handbag easily so people dont have to worry about extra weight and it wont significantly add to the airplanes weight either.
It would be waste of time to stock a best seller that many people will already have or a bulky heavy read. This was the theory behind kindle but people still love paperbacks (Just look around you anytime when you travel on trains etc.) Also the publishing industry has announced Kindle books are currently in decline but paperback sales are up
Also its not feasible for you to do multiple choice.
The smart move is to write a review the book in the in-flight magazine, which is one of the first things people might do when they are on board. Then because of the nature of the book, start selling it to passengers via that magazine and on the food menu as extras.
The average price of a paperback these days is £9.99 and ours normally retails at £6.99 to £7.99 and we would have to charge £5 each. for anything in the hundreds . However with 100s of flights a week a better bet all round for all concerned would be for you to buy 1,000 to test the water which would be beneficial to all concerned. It would mean manufacture of such an amount would be lower and you could sell it for a straight £5 each paying us £3 per book.
If this went as well as we think it will we can then add a few bonuses. We can guarantee an interview for your magazine with the author who is also an established multi platform artist. We would give you a two week exclusive on the next book by the author so you have it before everybody else and the first book, Adventures of a Dark Duke; The Pin is first of series of books so you are ideally place for the follow up book as well.
So lets get the ball rolling. its not a big investment and it will make additional money for you. Then once it proves popular expand on the idea.
As a addition innovation we could also include an advert in the follow up book of the series recommending your airline to other readers of the book that get the book via other avenues and not via your airline.
We look forward to hearing back from you very soon.
Regards
Russell Brennan (December Books)
