So let's get the comparison of Usborne and Scholastic out of the way first. ​

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Scholastic is fantastic and has no doubt led to a lot of our consultants having joined the business. If you're familiar with Usborne books, then it's possible you found them through Scholastic as well. 

How does this happen? 

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Usborne Publishing & Scholastic

Scholastic purchases the rights to publishing other publishers' content. If you didn't already know, Usborne only publishes books written by their in house staff. It's a family business so you won't see them anytime soon publishing content from authors elsewhere. 

However, Scholastic purchases the right to reprint certain books and when they do they publish those titles in their own format. 

This is likely why you've heard people talk about Usborne quality over Scholastic quality. 

Scholastic's goal is to make their books easily accessible and affordable, sometimes forfeiting the quality of paper and binding of the books. Many of our titles can be found in a Scholastic book fair, which is fantastic!! That is great exposure for Usborne and can be a perfect introduction to us by parents. 

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In the Education Specialist documentation and forms, you'll see we approach schools in a very professional manner. ​

It's important to remember that we aren't trying to convince them to ditch Scholastic, we are just trying to introduce them to us as an alternative. Maybe they will host a fair from each every year! That's a great way to go! 

Just remember, that you are to put focus on what we offer and what the books provide. 

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Examples:

-> our durable books hold up to regular use and will last for years

-> our consultants should be experienced not just with our books but how to handle customers and offer recommendations for their children

-> when doing in-house book fairs, we actually do 100% of the work, setting up our displays, bringing the stock, going over books and answering questions (maybe all we will need is help with photocopies).

 

It's important to keep in mind that Scholastic does send all their material for fairs to the school for them to organize it themselves.

Think of how short-staffed our school systems have become and how this pulls staff away from their duties and students. It is definitely beneficial to have someone who is experienced with the titles to come in and run the show!

This doesn't have to be something you need to point out when approaching schools. They will recognize this benefit when you let them know that you set up, do everything in between and take your material/stock with you when you're done.

It's painless for them and that will often be the selling point!

These are the current requirements to getting your certification:

-> you must have done $1000 accumulative sales

-> you need to read the Education Specialist package

-> you need to pass the test (very brief, done via phone with your upline supervisor)

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Most important!

You need to have product knowledge. The requirement of $1000 in sales suggests that you have placed enough orders, had enough books pass through your hands, that you know what they're about, understand the content in terms of when to recommend them, etc. 

It's also important to note that to do a book fair, it is HIGHLY recommended that you bring at least 100 different titles covering various interests and topics for all elementary aged kids. 

If you don't feel like you could recommend something if a librarian said to you "What do you have about life cycles that would be good for a grade 2 child?" then you definitely need to get more familiar with the books and their content! 

This is a MUST for doing bookfairs, as you are there to represent the books and therefore must be knowledgeable about them.

 

Check out the Google Drive for all the Usborne documentation that you'll need for revision before your quiz!

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