Are EBM's the Publishing Industry's Saviour?

Are On Demand Books, or rather ODB's Espresso Book Machines, the Publishing Industry's Savior? That answer comes down to whatever you want to believe. I personally like facts before I decide what to believe and so I've begun researching. Here's what I've learned so far. 


First I'd like to point you to this blog which I found very interesting and intriguing. It concerns a customer's first hand experience with this machine. Click Here for the link if you're interested in reading the article yourself.


One particular line answered one of my questions straight away. The writer of the article states:

"I’ll probably go back and do it again, simply because of how satisfying it is to have a print-on-demand book made in such an astonishingly short period of time."

Priced at well over $100,000 dollars with an almost $1000 dollar monthly "maintenance" fee, a quote I was sent by Xerox, the EBM is well out of most small bookstores price range which means the only bookstores that "might" benefit from it are the large chain bookstores. Sadly they are only around to promote their publishers, or rather large publishers. There have been a few out-of-print titles that some large publishers have decided to make available but nothing significant. Nothing that would make it worth anyone's while to purchase one of these machines. 


Until large publishers open up and make the books that readers have been brainwashed to believe they need to read available, this machine isn't anything other than a glorified small bookstore.  You can go to this link to see just what books are available on an EBM. I can save you some time however and tell you myself. POD books are the only thing available mostly, with Ingram's POD company Lightning Source being one of the main distributors. Go figure. I will go one step further and say that POD books from small publishers are actually the only books worth reading as more of these authors are concerned with quality and presenting something different while large publishers are only concerned with cookie-cutter stories and cookie-cutter edits.


A small bookstore stepping forward to buy one of these machines is sure to sink even faster than they're already sinking. There is a solution to the publishing industry's woes but buddy at this price (and with the "big dogs" holding out to keep customers coming to their sinking "brick &mortar" exclusive bookstores,) the EBM is not the answer. Plus it doesn't do color so all Graphic Novels are out and magazines too. So yes, it still goes back to those large publishers and their reluctance to let go of the past. They seem to be just fine dragging their bookstores down with them . . . the very bookstores they stepped forward to save during the depression. Sorry Xerox. I'm gonna have to hold off on my purchase.

Books-A-Million-2nd largest Chain Bookstore?

Wow! Really? Books-A-Million, according to a tiring blog concerning B&N and Amazon fighting over exclusivity rights (more or less) let this little statistic out of the bag. And OH MY what an eye-opener as far as the publishing industry and the fate of Brick and Mortar stores goes.

Books-A-Million is the second largest chain bookstore and they don't sell anything but "returned from the bookstore" books? Meaning that if you're a smart publisher and you make your books non-returnable according to that "industry" standard return policy designed by large publishers for large publishers back in the depression, you can't get your books into a BAM.

Go google it people. It's easy to find. Each and every one of BAM's distributors (three at last count) only sell those books that are sent in mass to other Chain Bookstores so that the large publisher who sent them can make the NYT best sellers list. Then over 75% of them (that's actually my statistic) are "SOLD" to second hand distributors. A smaller publisher will only go under if they play that "industry" standard return policy game because small publishers who have to deal with distributors such as Ingram's Lightning Source or Bookmasters don't even get the option to get their "returned from the bookstore" books back (nor any of the money if those books are sold to "returned from the bookstore" dealers.) Small publishers are told those books are destroyed in most instances. And still they have to give the money back to the book store that returned it, should that bookstore ever purchase a few copies in the first place. I know, right?

BookMaster's is actually supposed to put the "returned" book back into the publisher's inventory but clearly doesn't since at least 20 copies of Forever Richard showed up in my Local BAM!!! This means BookMasters made a little "something, something" on the side, leaving both my publisher at the time and myself scratching our head. How nice!

But there ya go folks!!! The second largest chain bookstore in the Nation is a used bookstore and can't even carry books by the "smart" publishers because "smart" publishers make their books non-returnable to keep from going under.

And for the record, I've tried to get BAM to order my books but they can't because BAM's "returned from the bookstore" distributors don't have any . . . obviously.

"Industry Standard" Return Policy Blues.

Have you ever wondered why large chain bookstores have sooooo many books by large published authors and not so many from any other publisher?

There's a very simple answer.

In the beginning there was no such thing as a small publisher. It took a LOT of money to produce a book and to produce just one didn't make sense. Therefore, (yes, in the beginning) large publishers printed out TONS of books and counted on bookstores to help them stock the excess inventory. The "industry standard" return policy put in place during the depression, first by Simon & Schuster and then the other publishers to keep bookstores from going under, had bookstores purchasing those books and then not charging to have them sent back. In fact, large publishers didn't care if they ever saw the book again.

Jump into the present now. It's no longer necessary to print TONS of books at a time to save on printing cost. The "Industry Standard" Return Policy for SURE doesn't work anymore, not even for the "big dog" publishers who created it. It does still work to get ALL of their authors on the New York Times best sellers list though as this is determined by book sales to "bookstores." But not even large publishers can afford to print that many books at a time and survive which is why large chain bookstores are going under (I suppose I should add, "in my opinion.")

Since printing on demand is now feasible and certainly the way to go, it would certainly make sense to "invent" a new "Industry Standard" Return Policy and put it in place. Until that happens large bookstores will only ever be havens for books put out by large publishers--until they go under the same way Borders did (again, in my opinion.)

Barnes & Nobles is one large chain bookstore I know of that no longer purchases ANY books from any publisher that doesn't sign on to that antiquated "Industry Standard" return policy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the very publishers that created that "return" policy during the depression to save bookstores seem quite content to throw the same bookstores under the train now.

I think now is the time for Independent bookstores to rise to the occasion. There needs to be a return policy between publisher and bookstores that works better than "on consignment." Perhaps just changing the "Industry Standard" Return Policy up a bit would be best. The biggest problem I can see with the return policy as it stands is that it's anybody's guess where the "returned from the bookstore" books go. Small publishers rarely if ever see their returned books again. My guess is that since bookstores aren't required to send books back to the publisher they shuffle them of to wholesalers who dabble in "returned from the bookstore" books otherwise where would Books-A-Million be getting all of their stock since they only purchase from wholesalers who sell such books.

Get them directly from the author!

About this time, if one were with a large publisher, large chain bookstores would be receiving the customary onslaught of books that would push said title to the top of the New York Times Best sellers list without ONE person buying the book (just from what bookstores buy because you can't accurately track sales through a register.) I know, right?



The display above is hardly representative of the number of books large publishers will DUMP into ALL their large bookstores just to get those numbers. Not long after that the books they sent (and in most cases never even taken out of the box)are sold to wholesalers who dabble in "returned from the bookstore" books, wholesalers that sell to stores like Books-A-Million.



This is a sad scenario that plays out every day in the publishing world. Regular Joe authors are adored and held on a pedestal due to their ability to write so fantastically that they made it to the New York Times Best Sellers List. Small publishers don't have that set-up with bookstores so there's no way they can even compete on this level of . . . well . . . I like to call it deceit. Needless to say, you won't find this authors books flooding into large bookstore chains because large bookstores don't operate like this with small publishers. In fact, they never see their returned-from-the-bookstore books to even benefit from selling them to wholesalers.



What you see above is MY STOCK of Electric Angel, all fifty that I've ordered so far. As much as I could afford. Three are gone out for review and what you see are ready to sell. You buy it from clicking the book cover on your left and it will be sent out straight away. I'm going to take a picture every few days to show you how many have gone out. I won't restock until most of these are gone because . . . well . . . I can't afford to. The price is retail $12.98 but that includes shipping. Also it is only for those in the US.



Yes you can order Electric Angel anywhere books are sold. But this way you get one signed if you like that and you get the assurance that it will arrive quickly. That's my warehouse right there at the top of the screen. LOL

Want me to do a book signing at your B&N?

**I would like to add that ALL large bookstores operate like this. If a small publisher makes their books non-returnable (to survive) they will not be put on the shelf by large bookstores for any reason (they can be ordered though. How nice!) Several small published authors, myself included, have had limited success with a few ventures at B&N but all in all they end in disaster!!!! Complete and utter disaster. The model is set up to deal with large publishers. Corporate could care less about small pubbbed authors. My local B&N actually let me do a book signing then refused to pay me for the books I BOUGHT IN AND SOLD because CORPORATE told them they didn't allow for this kind of signing anymore. Two years running and I still haven't been paid. They're not picking on me. This is how they treat all small pubbed authors. Small publishers are the new large publishers. Deal with it B&N or don't and you can end up just like Borders**


Want me to do a book signing at your Barnes &Noble?

Too bad.

Barnes & Noble is an outlet for large publishers ONLY! Always has been. Always will be. And they don't seem to be budging on the matter. In fact, they're only tightening the reins. Before they'd allow their CRM or Customer Relations Manger to humor small published authors who didn't have distribution through the "big two" Baker & Taylor and Ingram. They'd let the author bring their own copies to sell.

NOT ANY MORE!!!!

And to make matters worse, they don't allow book signings for any author who makes their books non-returnable which is the only way for Small Press to survive. If a small publisher doesn't make their books non-returnable, large bookstores like Barnes & Noble will order at will without a care in the world because of the deal they have set up with large publishers that Simon & Schuster started during the depression. They can return ALL books ordered whenever they want to for free, no matter what shape they're in and no matter when they do it AND they get there money back.

That's where all the books you see in Books-A-Million come from since they are only a reseller of "returned from the bookstore" books. Sadly, this model works for large publishers but will "sink" any small publisher because when the books are returned (as they ALWAYS are) the small publisher has to pay shipping and has to return any money to the bookstores!!!!! And guess what folks, nine times out of ten the books aren't returned at all. They're "supposedly" destroyed because the distributors don't want to pay the postage to have them returned. I say supposedly because I've had books show up for sale at Books-A-Million when BAM is a reseller of "returned from the bookstore books." That can't happen unless someone is lying. And no, I make nothing off the books sold from BAM.

To keep this from happening anymore, I've made my books non-returnable. But like I said, Barnes & Noble won't let me in to do a booksigning because this means they don't get to give the books back and charge my publisher shipping.

They can ORDER my books for you if you ask them even though most of the time they'll tell you they can't just because they don't want to mess with it.

So there ya go.

And you wonder why I hate Barnes & Nobles and ALL large bookstores.


Jerks!

Ya, so if you want to order ANY of my books, please visit Black Bed Sheet Books or my website suedent.net I invest a LOT of MONEY in making my books the best they can be. I can't keep doing that if they don't sell. Support small press. Don't support Barnes & Noble or other large bookstores. At least not until they support small press and quit "pooping" all over them. Big FAT bullies!!!!!

Hardback of Never Ceese rights returned!

It is with great pleasure I post this letter today, having received it in 2009. Great pleasure indeed. So pay attention AMAZON because if you are selling the hardback of Never Ceese yourself it is because you are getting it from Journey Stone or whatever distributor they've managed to hold onto. If you sell the hardback of Never Ceese after today, you are selling stolen goods and I, the owner of Never Ceese the hardback will come after you. Hey, if I can't get what's owed to me one way, I'll get it the other. The rights are mine as of today. That goes for anyone else selling Never Ceese the hardback having acquired it through Journey Stone. Of course anyone selling it after getting it some other way is safe and please do enjoy whatever money you make of off the sell. ;D

But Amazon, LOOK OUT! Muhahahahahaha! Oh yeah, the letter:




Ask me if I'm going to have GREAT fun telling Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all the other chain bookstores that if they order Never Ceese the hardback from whatever distributor Journey Stone is using, (I suspect the hard to pin down Baker & Taylor) that they will be BREAKING THE LAW and IF they don't stop, I shall take legal action. And then I'll go after the distributor. HEY! If I can't make money, you can't make money. If you don't help me, I don't help you. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!! Fun indeed!!!!