Frequently Asked Questions about the Huenefeld Survey
What is the Huenefeld-PubWest Survey of Financial Operations?
John Huenefeld founded The Huenefeld Company, management consultants to small book publishers, in 1968, serving as a confidential advisor to the top managers of more than 350 diverse book and mixed-media publishers before his retirement in 2002. He is the author of The Huenefeld Guide to Book Publishing, first published in 1974 and now in its 6th (2001) edition. He published The Huenefeld Report, a fortnightly newsletter for his clients, from 1973 to 2001. In 1979, PubWest started utilizing the Huenefeld survey for its members as a comprehensive examination of financial data, production output, and salary statistics from publishers of all sizes and disciplines nationwide.
Why is it important that I participate?
The Huenefeld-PubWest survey provides an invaluable set of benchmarks for your company’s profitability and organization. If these kinds of industry metrics are beneficial to you, keep in mind that the more often you are able to participate (and the more of you who participate) the better the quality of the results will be. PubWest is committed to facilitating valuable benefits to its membership, and you can signal to us that the Huenefeld-PubWest survey is valuable to you by participating and spreading the word!
How is this different from other book industry surveys?
The Huenefeld is the oldest continually published industry survey, asking the same benchmark questions year after year. Through PubWest, the Huenefeld avoids the East Coast focus of other surveys and is nationally representative of small and mid-size houses as well as large ones.
Can I start the survey and exit to finish up later?
Short Form and Salary Survey
Because each of these surveys is only one page, it’s not possible to save your progress without submitting your data. Instead, prepare your answers ahead of time by accessing the pdf copies of the surveys at www.pubwest.org/huenefeld.
Long Form
If you've received an email link directly from PubWest, you can finish an incomplete survey or edit a survey from any computer by accessing the received link. This link remembers where you last left off, but you must click the "Next" button on the page to save the survey up to that point. Clicking on the survey link in your email again will take you to the last completed page.
If you've accessed the long form survey through our website or e-newsletter, please make sure you have enabled cookies and that your computer will save these cookies. The cookie placed by SurveyMonkey tracks the page (not the specific question) where you exited the survey and you must re-enter the survey from the same computer. If your browser is set to dump cookies each time it is closed, the cookie will be refreshed and a new or blank survey will open the next time the link is accessed.
The email I received with the unique link tells me I can’t forward it on, but I want someone else in my house to actually fill out the survey. What do I do?
The purpose of the no-forward rule is so two or more people don’t try to access the same survey for separate responses. As long as only one person plans to click through and complete the survey using that link, it is okay to forward it to that person for that purpose. Please email joanne_haines@nols.edu if this is still confusing or still doesn’t seem to be working for you.
Is participation anonymous?
Yes! All responses are collected anonymously via the web-based survey service SurveyMonkey.com. PubWest guarantees the confidentiality of survey data. To protect your information further, please do not include the name of your publishing house or subsidiaries anywhere within the survey itself. Our third-party survey service will check the survey for completeness and tabulate your responses. The PubWest Industry Statistics Committee will take the tabulated data and write the results report.
If I participate, when will I receive the results?
We’ve restructured the survey data collection for the next two years and after two months of data collection, the corresponding results will be available by the end of the following third month. If you’re a PubWest member, you can access results on our members-only webpage. If you’re a participating non-member, you need to follow the directions at the end of the survey and we’ll send you a pdf copy of the results to the specific survey you participated in.
If I don’t participate, how can I get a copy of the results?
If you are a PubWest member, you will have access to survey results on our members-only webpage regardless of whether you participated as we consider the Huenefeld-PubWest Survey to be a member benefit (that said, please read the second FAQ above). Non-participating non-members can purchase survey results through PubWest. Please see our order form at www.pubwest.org/huenefeld.
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