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`
`IDG Books is no dummy in the business world
`
`Author: Alastair Goldfisher
`Date: Mar. 12, 1999
`From: The Business Journal(Vol. 16, Issue 47)
`Publisher: American City Business Journals, Inc.
`Document Type: Article
`Length: 1,104 words
`
`Full Text:
`John Kilcullen is no dummy.
`
`But he's capitalized on helping millions of so-called "dummies" do everything from working on their computers to selecting the right
`wine with dinner.
`
`Mr. Kilcullen is chairman and CEO of IDG Books Worldwide Inc. a Foster City publisher of technology, financial and other guide
`books.
`
`IDG publishes about 700 titles within 18 brands, but the public company is perhaps best known for its "For Dummies" series.
`
`This includes its top-selling "Windows For Dummies" and 360 other "For Dummies" titles, such as "Beauty Secrets For Dummies,"
`"The Internet For Dummies" and "Wine For Dummies," which is used in the hospitality management course at Cornell University, in
`Ithaca, N.Y.
`
`Most experts agree that IDG was a pioneer in creating a line of easy-to-read guide books.
`
`"For Dummies" books are characterized by easy-to-read charts and graphs that break down a complex subject into at digestible
`course.
`
`The books, which cost up to $25 each, incorporate pop culture, such as top 10 lists, and their yellow arid black covers have made
`them an easily recognizable brand, much like people associate the trademark "Rollerblades" with in-line skates.
`
`"The people who buy our books feel intimidated and left out," Mr. Kilcullen said. "With our cartoons and approach to educating, we
`make them empowered."
`
`Mr. Kilcullen, 40, co-founded the company in 1990 as a subsidiary of International Data Group Inc., a Boston publisher of computer
`magazines such as Infoworld.
`
`Mr. Kilcullen, along with three others from the parent company, started IDG Books to publish computer reference books, and after the
`first year had nine titles. But the information was old, and the company lost more than $1 million in its first two fiscal years, before the
`"For Dummies" line was invented.
`
`"Thankfully we had the support of a benevolent investor to keep us in business," Mr. Kilcullen said of IDG's parent, which still owns
`about 75 percent of the firm.
`
`Then IDG decided to dummy-down the information. The company inserted catchy icons, humor and friendly graphics to come up with
`"DOS For Dummies" in 1991, months after DOS 5.0 was released.
`
`Waldenbooks rejected the book because the "Dummies" moniker sounded too negative and the information wasn't technical enough.
`
`But a brand was born.
`
`More than four million copies of "DOS For Dummies" have been sold.
`
`The book originally had a white cover, but after Mr. Kilcullen read a Forbes magazine article about how can stir an emotional
`
`

`

`response, he changed it to yellow.
`
`He may be on to something.
`
`The Color Association of the United States reports that yellow is the most luminous color and can be used to signify wisdom. The
`New York-based association lists black type on a yellow background as the color combination that's easiest on the eyes.
`
`IDG went on to earn about $1 million in sales in the fiscal year after the DOS book debuted.
`
`For the 1998 fiscal year ended in September, IDG reported profit of $10 million on revenue of $140 million, compared with a profit of
`$7 million on $120 million in revenue the year before.
`
`It launched the ninth-largest initial public offering in Silicon Valley in 1998, raising $50 million when it debuted on the stock market
`Sept. 30.
`
`Though the company is indelibly associated with "For Dummies," those books and sundry products - CDs, calendars and games -
`now account for only 60 percent of the firm's revenue, compared with 90 percent in earlier years. IDG's 17 other lines of products
`make up its remaining revenue base.
`
`"IDG knows how to package and sell books; that's their success," said Malcolm Kushner, a Santa Cruz consultant and author of
`"Public Speaking For Dummies."
`
`"Their books are easy, simple and they read just like how people think," he added.
`
`IDG's 450 or so employees have a host of competitors, such as Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill and Microsoft Press. But probably
`none more so than Macmillan, which publishes some 300 titles under the "Idiot's Guide" series. such as "The Complete Idiot's Guide
`to Dating."
`
`The books are similar to "For Dummies," though "Idiot's" come with a white cover. Last year, Macmillan's line reportedly earned sales
`of about one-fourth that of what "For Dummies" earned for IDG.
`
`"Being called a dummy is cute and friendly, but being called an idiot is not so nice," said Karen Park, marketing manager for Stanford
`Bookstore.
`
`She said "For Dummies" outsells "Idiot's" 10 to one at Stanford Bookstore.
`
`"There's a universe of possibilities out there and we get a lot of title ideas," said 40-year-old IDG president Steven Berkowitz. "That
`says how well our brands have penetrated the market."
`
`During IDG's road show - when soon-to-be public companies meet potential investors - Mr. Berkowitz said many of the staunch
`bankers recommended titles such as "Funeral For Dummies" and "Judaism For Dummies."
`
`But IDG is more than "For Dummies."
`
`The publisher bought MIS: Press and M&T Books from Henry Holt & Co. of New York in 1991; IDG has extended globally by
`becoming a 40 percent partner in a Canadian joint venture called CDG Books Canada; and IDG is 25 percent owner of TransQuest
`Publishers, a book distributor in Southeast Asia.
`
`IDG also has teamed with Netscape Communications Corp. to publish books and CD-ROMs under the name Netscape Press.
`
`At the end of last year, IDG bought the venerated student-aid publisher Cliffs Notes of Lincoln, Neb, for $18 million. Coincidentally,
`the 300 titles of Cliffs Notes feature yellow covers and black lettering.
`
`Messrs. Kilcullen and Berkowitz noted that the color scheme of Cliffs :Notes fits well with IDG. They also said the concept of Cliffs
`helping to educate the masses makes the 40-year-old company an even better sibling of "For Dummies."
`
`"IDG has grown well because their products have a great marketing approach," said Frank Romano, professor of digital publishing at
`the Rochester Institute of Technology. "Who would have thought that insulting your readers by calling them 'dummies' would be so
`successful."
`
`Facts and figures 'For Dummies'
`
`First book in the "For Dummies" series: "DOS For Dummies" by Dan Gookin, November 1991 4.2 million copies in print
`
`First non-computer "For Dummies" book: "Personal Finance For Dummies" by Eric Tyson, April 1994 939,000 copies in print.
`
`Most "For Dummies" books in print:
`
`"Windows For Dummies" by Andy Rathbone"
`
`

`

`First edition published October 1992 7.8 million copies in print
`
`Number of "For Dummies" titles: 369 (260 are about technology)
`
`Number of non-"For Dummies" books published by IDG: More than 300
`
`More than 40 "For Dummies" titles have reached more than 250,000 copies in print
`
`"For Dummies" books are translated into 31 languages
`
`Source: IDG Books Worldwide Inc.
`
`Copyright: COPYRIGHT 1999 Business Journal Publishing Company
`http://www.acbj.com/
`Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
`Goldfisher, Alastair. "IDG Books is no dummy in the business world." The Business Journal, vol. 16, no. 47, 12 Mar. 1999, p. 3+.
`Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A54266402/ITOF?u=hennepin&sid=ITOF&xid=4714ea7a. Accessed 5 Feb. 2021.
`Gale Document Number: GALE|A54266402
`
`