Werner said in regards to my blog on the "industry standard" return policy blues:
WHOA! That's an eye-opener! I'd always surmised that "returned" books were called that because they were at least actually returned to the publisher for re-sale. But leave it to Big Business to create ever more Orwellian distortions of language. The "industry standard" return policy is beginning to stink even more pungently!
Here's my response:
I can't believe how many times I've posted about this problem and still folks act surprised. LOL That "industry" standard return policy allowed for bookstores to NEVER return books to the publisher. There was a "great" uproar about this when bookstores started trashing the books behind their bookstores as opposed to having to store "unsold" copies. All the bookstores were required to do according to that "industry standard" return policy was to return the book cover!!! That's why you see this printed in books sometimes: Do not buy this book if the cover has been removed. LOL Yeah, right!
Distributors such as Lightning Source don't work a "new" deal for small publishers either. They don't even offer for the small publisher to get the "returned from the bookstore" book back. They print you a "new" copy and charge you $2.00 for shipping which in reality is just to cover the cost of reprinting the book. So if you made 1.25 off a book you sold to B&N, you eat seventy-five cents when it's returned. AND you never see the returned-from-the-bookstore book again.
Bookmasters, a much larger distributor, says they return "return from the bookstore" books to the publishers inventory but I can tell you that they don't do this in every instance. If they did then nearly 50 copies of my now out of print Forever Richard wouldn't have ended up at Books-A-Million, a store that only shelves "returned from the bookstore" books. My publisher didn't sell the books to BAM.
Bookmasters also sent me "returned from the bookstore" books when I ordered author copies of Forever Richard. How do I know? They were signed by me and had a B&N sticker on the dang cover that said, "Signed By Author." They said I could keep them and they'd send me "new" copies. Then they asked if I'd send them back so they could show their folks what to look for next time. I said, "no thanks." I'll keep them and I'll spread the word that Bookmasters doesn't operate according to their contract. Yes it's real fun out there. UGH!
Yeah, I have known for years that stores just ripped off the cover and threw away the books; a friend of mine worked for a grocery store and they would let her and other employees take the books home rather than waste them by throwing them away. It's a crying shame; they should be actually RETURNED in one piece, if they're going to be returned, you know? *sigh*
ReplyDeleteOh, BTW, you mentioned a few weeks back that you might be re-issuing "Forever Richard" - what's up with that? I wanted to hold off on getting "Never Ceese" until I can get both of them together.
Republishing it through Black Bed Sheet Books because the initial publisher went under. It really should've been out already but I wanted to tweak it and get the chance I never had to actually go through the edit. I never really got that chance the first time because we were so rushed to get it out. We were only rushed though because fans of Never Ceese had to wait so long for me to find a publisher after the publisher of Never Ceese went under. Black Bed Sheet Books isn't going under though, at least not by my hand. I've asked to have all my books marked as non-retubable according to the "Industry" standard that doesn't work anymore as the "industry" has changed so much. Forever Richard already has a new ISBN and I'll be sending the MS to BBS shortly. Then it's up and running. Fingers crossed for the end of the month or first of November. ;D
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