From: Jack_Rosen_CFRM (Jack_Rosen_CFRM@hotmail.com)
Date: 06/18/01-06:46:59 AM Z
> "give"? It may be that it's cheaper for an author to pay a reseller
> than to spend time at such boring tasks as packaging and shipping.
Boy, That's sure somebody that gets a check every Friday......no clue.
jr
----- Original Message -----
From: "Judy Seigel" <jseigel@panix.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2001 9:03 PM
Subject: Re: Dan Burkholder's book
>
> On Sat, 16 Jun 2001, Pam Niedermayer wrote:
>
> > "give"? It may be that it's cheaper for an author to pay a reseller
> > than to spend time at such boring tasks as packaging and shipping.
>
> The book comes from the printer packed. "Shipping" consists of telling his
> computer to print a label, which presumably he wants for his own records
> anyway, and dropping in a mailbox. And he's paid. Or let me put that in
> capital letters:
>
> AND HE'S PAID !
>
> As a veteran of 30 years in small press publishing I reveal an ugly
> secret: Often it is difficult if not impossible for a small press to get
> paid by the "reseller." Amazon.com is actually pretty good, but my
> not-for-profit umbrella is owed THOUSANDS of dollars by such firms as
> Borders.... in which nameless and faceless factotums tell you it's paid,
> or they don't have that invoice, or they'll check on it, or it's in the
> mail, or whatever the line is that day. Sometimes if you have a book their
> customer has requested they'll pay a back bill to get it. But just as
> often they'll tell the customer it's out of print.
>
> Then there are bookstores which go into bankruptcy owing you for a year's
> books. There are also distributors who go into bankruptcy. If the
> distributor has been a slow payer in the past, but always paid, they might
> owe for TWO years' books.
>
> Presumably Burkholder has gotten pretty savvy & knows where he has to get
> payment upfront. But generally speaking if a reseller (Barnes & Noble, et
> al) order a bunch they get a 40% discount AND pay when they get around to
> it, often after a year (or more!!) of dunning invoices. AND they'll often
> ship all or much of an order back if it doesn't sell as fast as expected.
>
> Again, Burkholder has a unique item in a niche market, and thus may not
> have this problem (a lot), but the fact is that the bookstores NEED
> Doubleday and Abrams and Random House, they don't need the small press.
>
> Finally, as I recall, Dan's book sells for $24. Forty percent of that is
> $9.60. The charge for shipping and handling is maybe $5 or $6, or more
> than the actual bookrate postage. Most small press authors are willing to
> stick on a label and drop a book in the mail for approximately $12. If you
> do that, say, once a week, say for 5 books, even if it takes 5 minutes per
> book, you're still "earning" at a rate of $120 an hour.
>
> Which can bind a lot of boredom molecules.
>
> Judy
>
> .................................................................
> | Judy Seigel, Editor >
> | World Journal of Post-Factory Photography > "HOW-TO and WHY"
> | info@post-factory.org >
> | <http://rmp.opusis.com/postfactory/postfactory.html>
> .................................................................
>
>
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