Okay so since Forever Richard is through a traditional press with connections to Ingram, Forever Richard can be found inside these stores should I ask for the store to carry a few copies which I won't do for fear they'll order too many and send what doesn't sell back which wipes out any profit sold books might make.
My local Book-A-Million, as of last week had nine copies of Forever Richard after having sold ten! That's grand. Now I want to do a book signing to get rid of the nine so they don't get sent back BUT I don't want to sign if Never Ceese, the first book in the series can't be sold at the same time.
Well, I had to republish Never Ceese through Lightning Source because I couldn't find a traditional press to take the novel after my first publisher went belly up. Books A Million's submission guidelines state a book has to be available through Ingram to qualify to be in their system. I thought this meant I was good to go since Lightning Source was Ingram's POD. Nope, says Lightning Source. Books A Million is not one of the stores they distribute to. I know, right?
Apparently it isn't just Ingram Books A Million pulls from as, believe or not, they carry the hardback of Never Ceese (which I make no money off of and is out of print) even though the publisher never got hooked up with Ingram, only Baker & Taylor who is one of the other MAJOR distributors.
Also I've made Never Ceese the paperback non-returnable so larger book stores can't bury me with returns and NO larger bookstore will order a book that isn't returnable.
What's my point?
I want to do a Book Signing at my local Books-A-Million but I won't do one unless I can sell Never Ceese at the same time and NO I don't mean the hardback. Sheesh! So here's to hoping that they'll let me set up in the parking lot with Never Ceese. ;)
*Sue crosses fingers and hopes. ;)*
BTW I'm not talking about being on all the .com's all the POD's can offer that. It means nothing. I'm talking about having that clean line of distribution (like what TWCP offers me) through the major distributors that automatically puts you in a larger bookstores system, something NO POD can offer because this type of distribution costs a lot of money and there are qualifications to be met that no POD publisher can meet. If they could meet the qualifications an author sure wouldn't go through a POD.
Here's an example of how a POD author can die financially if they listen to their POD's who tell them they should discount their book to the max and make it returnable. After discount and printing cost I make $1.50 profit on one book. On the off chance a bookstore orders it, should it come back as a return it cost me $5.83 for a total profit of ummm . . . well, you get the picture.
And with bookstores not being penalized for sending books back and NOT trying to sell what they've ordered . . . . again, you get the picture. Seems like the only penalty is for an author to try and sell their book for what it's worth.
For lack of a better phrase I'd have to say that pretty much sucks. AND it's simply amazing that it's even legal.
Yeah, good luck with that. I don't understand how book-selling became so whacked out and different than any other commodity. Do we see grocery stores trying to return eggs to the farmer when customers didn't buy enough eggs? Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteIt's totally whacked out and overdue for change.
ReplyDeleteWill they let you sell Never Ceese on your own if you schedule a signing for the other book? I've seen authors do this with their OOP books, around here.
LOL @ Deb. I just called the manager there, the same guy responsible for ordering ten of Forever Richard and selling them and as we're talking he says, "I can't find Forever Richard in my system now." The phone call ended with him placing a call to his district manager. Meanwhile I called the distributor and yes, there are at least 40 copies available. I know, right? I CAN NOT wait to hear what the district manager has to say. Maybe their system is just fluky today. Who knows? The manager said he'd never seen a book show up and then not show up. so there may be no signing at all. But the only reason I'd do one would be to get rid of the ones that are there so they don't come back to haunt me.
ReplyDeleteBased on what Books A Million said today I'd say you best hurry on over and get a copy. Sounds like once they're gone they're gone. And that's after Books A Million sold 20 not over four months ago.
And no. I can't bring Never Ceese in and sell it if it isn't in their system and NO no one will answer my request to have it considered.
I can do this at SOME Barnes & Nobles but I'm sure that will end soon as I've made Never Ceese NON-RETURNABLE since Bookstores aren't penalized for sending heavily discounted books back and sinking small publishers. ;)