From: Pam Niedermayer (pam_pine@cape.com)
Date: 06/18/01-07:42:51 AM Z
You speak too soon, Jack, maybe I've got quite a bit more of a clue
than you can possibly imagine. I've been self employed for more than
20 years in the software development business, including publishing
software packages we've built. And yes, we've been stiffed by
resellers, rarely, normally when a smaller one goes bankrupt; but the
larger ones provide credibility and exposure that we couldn't begin to
buy via advertising.
There is just no way that a small press can spend enough to get the
advertising provided by Amazon (note that Dan's book is selling at
rank # 38,000+ on Amazon), the referrals based on Amazon's software,
etc.
My question was with the word "give", which sounds like Amazon and
other resellers aren't doing anything for their money. At a minimum,
the packaging and shipping and credit card sales management is
extremely valuable, particularly as you get into larger sales volumes.
Maybe your's and Judy's customers are happy with waiting a week or two
until you've batched enough sales to make it worthwhile to package and
ship, paying by check (God, what a pain), paying twice what Amazon and
other resellers charge for shipping books (no way I'd pay $12 for
anyone to ship me a book unless it's worth a small fortune and
insurance costs are high, or maybe if it's currently residing in
foreign lands and I must buy it); but our customers never were. As a
very active reader and book buyer, I prefer paying by credit card over
the phone or net, receiving an ordered item within a week at the most.
In general, I'd agree that the book publishing industry is rotten,
right up there with the music industry, when it comes to rewarding
creators for their work; but I'd suggest that it's not fair to lump in
good resellers with the bad. If Amazon pays relatively promptly and
Borders does not, then why tar Amazon?
Pam
Jack_Rosen_CFRM 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.
>
> 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>
> > .................................................................
> >
> >
-- Pamela G. Niedermayer Pinehill Softworks Inc. 600 W. 28th St., Suite 103 Austin, TX 78705 512-236-1677 http://www.pinehill.com
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