Writers Tricks of the Trade Volume 5, Issue 5 | Page 23

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FUN MYSTERY
BOOKS

RETURNS (CONT’D)
Even when they come back in good condition, the profit margin to resell them is not
as good because of the shipping costs in each direction. So unless you have a great
marketing network, for a small press or self-published author small orders are much
better than those killer orders that can wind up killing your publishing business.
Supposedly Simon & Schuster came up with the idea of books being returnable in
this manner to give themselves an edge on the competition—and then it became
industry standard. Although the world has changed, the model remains the same
one that gives massive cuts to retailers and allows them to return whatever they
can't sell.

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In a perfect world, book publishers would join together to change return policies to
something reasonable, but where is the leverage? Would retailers choose to only
order from those who kept the high discount/long return time /not pay for until
sold policy? Is the print-on-demand model one that can help reduce large
inventories that must be available to fulfill actual orders that are moving? Even
publishers who use print-on-demand technology have to overprint in order to have
books available.
Small bookstores might be upset if things changed, but their returns are already
(generally) relatively low. Small publishers could cut special deals with those who
actually sell their books.

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So here’s the bottom line. Authors need to understand that you have to pay to play.
In the current environment, there is no alternative. It doesn't matter whether
you're traditionally published or footing the print bill. Saying that you will not accept
returns, or marking your self-published book as "non-returnable" is the kiss of
death. If you do that, no bookstore will touch it, and you'll