Musing out loud again (or Part 4A)

This would be part 4, but apparently there's a word-limit in LJ posts, which -- to no one's surprise, I'm sure <g> -- I've exceeded. So this is first half, second to follow. Sorry about the flood :/.

So returns are a fact of life, and as seen, there are various reasons for them. One of the frustrations of a small independent with no warehouse is that the discount given by many publishers to the bookstore is often 40%. Chains will get close to 50%. Whose returns are higher? Not the independents. If you'd offered -me- an extra 10% to buy everything non-returnable, I'd have done it in a second. Instead, the publisher incentive to buy non-returnable was often 2 or 3 percent, which wasn't worth it. On the side of publishers, however, they often ship to warehouses, so the shipping costs and the handling costs are less, and the publishers absorb those. There are always at least two sides to a story; there are often three.

Where was I? Right. Let's look at something that never happens, and is therefore an extreme example made for the sake of clarity. If a book has a 100% sell-through, it can be argued that the publisher failed to get -enough- of those books to shelf. I think it can even be reasonably argued. Let me explain (and if I sound talking-downish, I grovel and apologize in advance.)

( Read more... )

The second half of 4, or 4B

When I first started working in the bookstore as a part-timer, the reps told us it took about 5 books for an author to really find her legs and have enough of a shelf presence to take off. That's certainly not what they say now. Now, you've got 2 books at most houses in which to establish a place for yourself. This is now in the territory of gross generalization, fwiw, and things are changing because they always do. Many authors have more than 2 books out, but they're not making a decent living writing. I actually think the rise of the superstores helped because there's not only room for backlist, but some demand for it.

The P&L statements mentioned in a previous ramble? They come into play here. ( Read more... )

More -- a little bit, at any rate -- tomorrow after work. Sleep now.