Atlas Books - Aw, that's okay. You can be rude to me.

Just a quick word to say that BookMasters in fact does not have any more stock of Forever Richard, ISBN  1934284033, in stock. And the copies that are for sale now are leftovers from when BookMasters "oversold" copies of that book for a "commission." Of course, this move would normally be a good move for a publisher except for that dratted "return policy" set up by the few established publishers back in the depression which negates any possible benefits. Because of that policy, booksellers don't have to pay a dime to return books. 

But somebody has to pay.

Guess who? 

That's right. The publisher. And BookMaster's charges handling fees and other fees on top of that.

So my second small publisher folded because they had to pay straight away for the books that came back (even though the number that came back was less than the ones still out there) before they received money for the books that "might" sell. Booksellers don't have to pay for books for 90 days and most send the books back if they still have them before that time is up.

With that being said, I learned that the copies of my out-of-print book (ISBN 1934284033) Forever Richard that I found for sale on EBAY by various booksellers were actually provided (ultimately) by Gazelle Books who purchase books from BookMaster's Atlas Books. Atlas Books sends out a notice when an account is closed to let their buyers know that they have 10 months to return books before Atlas will no longer accept returns. Apparently the books Gazelle had were left from that "oversell" by BookMasters. 

My second publisher was too small to deal with this financial punch in the gut and certainly didn't see it coming. Who would expect a distributor to rush out and oversell something for a commission knowing that the publisher was going to have to pay for returns and fees on top of that. And it doesn't even take that many returns to put a small publisher under the ground. Good grief.

At any rate, thank-you Gazelle Books for being sooooo on top of things and professional. As for BookMasters . . . let's just say that things haven't improved. They are just as mean and rude as they've always been which is one main reason why I've made my books short-run and non-returnable. If I "never" have to deal with Book Masters again--that will be TOO soon!

And don't forget, you get the best price for any of my books at Black Bed Sheet Books because they can offer the biggest discount. DUH! And I for sure see the money coming to me. ;)