The Publishing Industry - Just so you'll know.

This very enlightening article explains it all in great detail and leaves no question as to why the publishing industry is the way it is presently. I quote it often and will continue to do so. The link I initially gave is a bit weird now though. So I've found a new link to the page:

This is the new link.

Though I've discussed it before it seems when I post about it again that new readers are immediately shocked and surprised. If you're an author and you want to understand more about why things are the way they are then you need to go to the link above and read it thoroughly.

For your viewing pleasure I will only quote some excerpts:

"The 1920s saw the founding of such important publishing houses as Simon and Schuster, Random House, Alfred A. Knopf, and Viking Press. Although Random House would grow to be the largest and most successful publisher in the country, and would hold that position into the twenty-first century, Simon and Schuster introduced some important industry innovations with long-term consequences."

*Sue scratches head* I wonder what those "important industry innovations" were?

"The Great Depression of the 1930s hit the book publishing industry as hard as it hit every other sector of the American economy. Booksellers at that time were mostly small local businesses, and to help them survive the economic hardships of the depression, Simon and Schuster invented a system allowing booksellers to return unsold copies of books for credit against future purchases. Other publishers quickly had to follow Simon and Schuster's lead, and the practice became the industry standard."

Well, I guess it was a good idea at the time. But I like the way this "industry standard" is described here: http://www.creativemindspress.com/business.htm

Back in the Depression, when bookstores were going under right and left, publishers realized they had to do something radical to keep booksellers in business. They came up with the idea of returns—a system whereby any bookseller may return any book, with little regard for how long the book was kept or what condition it was in. No one told the book business the Depression ended 70 years ago. We still have a system that—not to put too fine a point on it—sucks. Few other industries operate on what amounts to a giant consignment scheme.

LOL SUCKS! Really? Not only that but small publishers don't even get to see their returned books. The only way to survive is to make your books non-returnable. That way large bookstores can still order your books but not take you down with the ship. I sort of hate to say it but unless this return policy mess is straightened out, Barnes & Nobles is next. Good thing there are Independent Bookstores to pick up the slack. Independent bookstores that don't abide by Industry Standard that is. ;D