Lego’s product line was comprised of 12,000 unique bricks. They could not deliver popular sets because one brick out of 500 was unavailable. For that and other reason Lego was on the brink of bankruptcy. They changed their product strategy and reduced the number of unique bricks. They also began to innovate around the ways the fewer bricks were combined in sets. The efforts paid off in profitability and growth.

The lesson for book publishers? Do not focus on publishing more books, but on selling more books to increase sales, revenue and profits. Here are three things you can do. First, analyze your acquisition strategy so you take on content that is based on a market need. Second, evaluate your ROPE (Return On Promotional Expenditures). Are you spending your promo dollars wisely with the right message sent to the right prospects at the right time? Third, find non-retail buyers in corporations who can buy in large, non-returnable quantities.