Frequently Asked
Questions
What
does a Cat’s Pajamas system do?
The Cat's Pajamas software systems for
book publishers are completely integrated sets of nearly 200 programs designed to:
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Manage inventory.
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Maintain customer, product, and
mailing list information.
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Process orders, shipments, and
returns.
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Enter, manage, and release
backorders.
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Apply payments or adjust A/R.
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View, print, or export activity for
customer service.
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Manage A/R balances.
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Obtain monthly financials for sales,
returns, COGS, and inventory and A/R values.
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Calculate royalties and sales
commissions.
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Enter royalty sub-rights and
adjustments.
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Print royalty statements, a
disbursement report, and apply disbursements.
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View, print, or export a wealth of
marketing or sales information.
Can The
Cat’s Pajamas interface with other software?
The Cat's Pajamas handles
order fulfillment and accounts
receivable, the two accounting functions that off-the-shelf
software doesn't handle well for publishers because of the industry's
unique needs for close tracking of inventory, returns, commissions, and
royalties. Monthly reports
provide general ledger and balance sheet information. Custom export programs can pass
data into accounting software packages.
Information for sales, marketing, backorder and inventory
management is readily available for viewing, reporting, and
exporting. Many Cat's Pajamas
publishers find that the ability to export data directly to Excel or other
software, combined with standard Cat's Pajamas reports, eliminates the
need for complex report generators and makes data immediately available to
the staff.
Additionally, Cat's Pajamas can
interface with credit card
and shipping manifest programs.
System options allow a publisher to accept EDI and EDI Net orders from the
chain stores. There are an abundance of reports and data exporting options
on the system. For reporting needs that are unique to their companies, our
publishers use a variety of software programs to access the data: Excel,
Monarch, IQ, Crystal Reports, Access, FileMaker Pro, etc. The optional
ODBC drivers can link your data to
these programs and others.
Can
orders taken on the web be processed in Cat’s Pajamas?
Yes. Cat’s Pajamas has several optional modules designed to upload
order files created by shopping-cart software, 800-number services, or
other order sources. The upload can be customized.
It is theoretically possible for people visiting your
website to enter their orders directly into Cat's Pajamas. You could build such a
connection using ODBC drivers. We do not currently have any clients who
are doing so, however, because of security considerations and some mundane
but serious logistical problems. For instance, if data is being entered
onto your network for 24 hours a day, when do you back it up?
Who uses
Cat’s Pajamas?
The Cat’s Pajamas core system was designed more than twenty
years ago for a relatively small trade publisher. That client now
publishes more than 100 titles annually. Another of our clients is one of
the largest national distributors of books. Click
here for a more detailed history
of the company.
Enhancements over the years have expanded the scope of
features in Cat’s Pajamas. Clients now include specialty and institutional
presses. Publishers that also
distribute titles appreciate the availability of information regarding
different lines or imprints. Distributors
benefit from the ability of Cat’s Pajamas to handle thousands of titles and the
ability to differentiate information for different publishers. About
one-quarter of our clients are university
or other institutional presses
that appreciate the independence of Cat’s Pajamas and its ability to interface
with other systems. Fulfillment services
appreciate the ability of Cat’s Pajamas to provide single or multiple engines that
drive different company databases.
Mail-order publishers like the ability of Cat’s
Pajamas to manage tens
of thousands of customers and prospects.
What
does a Cat’s Pajamas system cost?
The answer depends on your particular business needs. A
small Cat’s Pajamas system may cost about the same as one-half person per year –
and should save at least as much time. Systems for more complex publishing
operations may cost the equivalent of several people – and recover that or
more in time savings. A system that we consider complete for most
publishers may be missing elements that you consider essential. We desire
to provide systems that solve essential business problems. Before we quote
a cost, we want to spend some time learning about your particular business
needs and issues.
Why is The Cat's Pajamas so popular?
Access to the data.
Viewing programs let you look at your data in a wide variety of formats.
What's your question?
-
the top 10
states buying a book (or some books or all books)?
-
your top 50
customers?
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the top rep so
far this month?
-
the top-selling
backlist titles?
-
inventory
receipts for the month?
-
backorders on
file for a customer or a title?
-
which titles
should be reprinted?
You can easily view it. You can also easily
export it to a spreadsheet, or print
it to your desktop printer.
Want to interface
Cat’s Pajamas with an outside fulfillment system for shipping? Can do!
Commissioned sales
reps tell us that they love Cat’s Pajamas sales
commission reports. Most publishers use standard Cat’s
Pajamas royalty statements
without any customization.
Ease of use. Our clients tell us that new or temporary
employees easily pick up the use of the programs. Cat’s Pajamas is designed for
fast data entry. Contextual help screens and online documentation are
always available. Enter phone orders online – no need to write them down
first.
Processing speed. Look at the questions above, in the "Access
to the data" paragraph. Every one of them can be answered pretty much
before you are tempted to drum your fingers. No more lost staff time
while people wait for slow processing to complete. Cat’s Pajamas is built in a
program language that provides fast access to one record among hundreds
of thousands.
Stable programs. If the workstations and network
are stable, Cat’s Pajamas is stable. For some technical stuff, see the
Hardware section.
Excellent software support. We stand
behind our product. Our staff worked in the publishing industry
answering phones, entering orders, shipping and receiving, customer
service, applying cash and managing A/R, marketing and sales, operations
and business management, processing royalties, managing sales
commissions, and editing. We probably have first-hand experience with
your publishing-business issues. Our programmers and analysts are
cross-trained and also provide support services. We understand
publishing problems, and Cat’s Pajamas is built to address them easily and
quickly.
How can
I see Cat’s Pajamas in action?
The best way to
evaluate Cat’s Pajamas is to see our current release in operation at one
of our clients. We’ll help make those arrangements for you.
We can arrange for you to "dial" into
The Cat's Pajamas office over the internet. We'll provide a guided tour
of a demo system and answer any questions about how it can be configured
to address your business issues.
Call us to arrange a demo.
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