tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713335158755695351.post614450237792230765..comments2022-12-02T19:51:52.756-05:00Comments on The Latest Outrage: Pulping is the Publishing Industry's Dirty Little SecretErikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724369148446520867noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713335158755695351.post-49669085585745685492009-12-13T21:41:20.645-05:002009-12-13T21:41:20.645-05:00My first book, "Rebel Bookseller" takes ...My first book, "Rebel Bookseller" takes as one of its principal themes the idea that the returnability of books must be abolished. You can read the entire book for free, on Books.google.com<br /><br />http://books.google.com/books?id=HBuq-kHI2ZUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false<br /><br />The very idea that a thousand bookstore employees are rising up against their boss! Hooray! This could be the beginning of something transformative.<br /><br />I have bought books on a non-returnable basis since 1996 -- and my stores have been far more profitable than the industry average. <br /><br />The fact that end-buyers are the ones who pay high prices to subsidize book-returnability should help clarify that this practice is injurious to the entire society because it forces prices up and therefore forces book-buying down. Lower prices would increase book-buying! <br /><br />So -- it's very bad sales practice for the big players to adhere to this particular system.<br /><br />HOWEVER -- they are addicted. The book returns system is the locus for an elaborate credit-support scheme whereby the publishers are the real owners of all the books in the chainstores. <br /><br />Bookstore companies roll their debt over buy over-buying and over-returning, applying today's return-book-credit against last month's overdue bill. <br /><br />Thus, the billion dollars of books on B&N's shelves that they don't own are effectively on loan to them INTEREST-FREE from the publishers.<br /><br />If book returnability were eliminated, Barnes & Noble would have to suddenly actually pay up for (or, rather, invest in) the inventory in their stores. That's over one BILLION dollars they would have to pony up to publishers! <br /><br />Barnes & Noble will not be able to find a billion dollars from anywhere in the financial marketplace right now (they're only a seven-billion-per-year company so cannot simply borrow a billion dollars). <br /><br />Therefore, book returnability will be abolished only with the destruction of Barnes & Noble. THAT IS OUR GOAL. (Amazon is helping us. Many indie-bookstore activists have trouble grasping the weird fact that the enemy of our enemy is our friend...at least for now.)<br /><br />(I do not claim to speak for all indie bookstore activists!)Andy Latieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316430043288093560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713335158755695351.post-55430965797520857522009-12-13T16:28:53.346-05:002009-12-13T16:28:53.346-05:00Andy, thanks for commenting.
The chapter of your ...Andy, thanks for commenting.<br /><br />The chapter of your book where you discuss some of the background behind Jeffrey Trachtenberg's 2005 WSJ article ("An Industry Gone Mad") is very interesting, and provides further insight into the mindsets of executives who control the big book chains.Erikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13724369148446520867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713335158755695351.post-72822134013932678102009-12-13T14:59:30.039-05:002009-12-13T14:59:30.039-05:00Also, I started writing a comic novel in which the...Also, I started writing a comic novel in which the stripping of books will play a significant role....Here's the first chapter.<br /><br />http://rebelbookseller.livejournal.com/19248.html<br /><br />Andy Laties<br />www.rebelbookseller.comAndy Latieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316430043288093560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-713335158755695351.post-50549096930486234592009-12-13T13:15:53.246-05:002009-12-13T13:15:53.246-05:00Great article.
The cited Jeff Trachtenberg articl...Great article.<br /><br />The cited Jeff Trachtenberg article was informed by his conversations with me--I recount this tale in a chapter of my forthcoming book http://rebelbookseller.livejournal.com/29137.html<br /><br />Andy Laties, Author,<br />Rebel Bookseller: How To Improvise Your Own Indie Store And Beat Back The ChainsAndy Latieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316430043288093560noreply@blogger.com