The broken "Industy Standard Return Policy" put in place by large publishers.

It was a deal made between one publisher, Simon & Shuster, and small bookstores of the day. The depression hit everyone hard. The way publishing worked then, ALL publishers (there were only five or six larger ones) had to print a LOT of books at once to make printing profitable. They therefore had to have an outlet for these books and it looked like the depression was going to take that outlet away.



The policy that Simon & Schuster proposed: any bookstore could return bought books whenever they wanted to for a full refund. And they didn't have to pay shipping either way nor did the bookstore have to worry about what shape the book came back in. In fact, this policy mutated into something even more horrific. Bookstores soon only had to return the front cover. The rest of the book they could throw away in the dumpster. Which is why you see warnings now about buying books without covers. You don't hear it so much today but you do still hear it.



Wow! What a deal though? How do you take something like that back? Apparently you don't. No. Instead it becomes the "industry standard."



But what if the industry changes as it has?



What about that?



You think bookstores are going to change this policy? And all large publishers would have to work "together" if they were to make the change and why would they do that when it would stand to let the competition get a foot hold. It's not a horrible policy for them anyway. It is devastating for new publishers though. It's devastating because they don't have the relationship with bookstores that larger publishers have. When small publishers opt in for this "industry standard" return policy they NEVER see the returned book again. So there out the print cost of the book and in most cases the distributor makes them pay to have the books they'll never see again destroyed. They're being forced into an "industry standard return policy" that will ensure they're demise.



This is why I say to any bookstore that my books are indeed returnable. You get with my publisher and work out a deal. I'll not sign my publisher's death certificate. I know the facts. I've experienced them with two separate publishers. Not again. I respect my publisher more than that! I just wish other small press authors knew the facts. If bookstores are allowed to continue to operate this way, it won't matter anyhow. All the bookstores will be gone. But not because of ebooks. They'll be gone because of greed and stupidity. I can't think of one person who'd do business with a company that says, "yes, we'll order your product and put it on our shelf to sell. But only if we don't have to pay you for 90 days and we get to send it back before we even pay you. But of course we'll want a full refund straight away. And no, we won't be responsible for getting the product back to you. Neither will it be our responsibility to get it back to you at all."



Sadly, that's not an exaggeration. That's exactly how it happens every day if you make your books returnable as proposed by the "industry standard."



So yes, if you care to do business in a business like manner then you can contact my publisher. I'm sure he'll be happy to work something out with you--on my books only though. All their other authors still believe that opting in for an "industry standard return policy" is the way to go. Go figure!