The Afterlife of Paperbacks
The NYTimes ran this funny story a week ago: an author's debut novel was a total flop. The sales were meager, and his quarterly "royalties vs. advance" statement was a joke. Basically, the publisher was not seeing that advance money earned back in this lifetime and had also eaten the cost of returns.
Even funnier (or more sad), the author went to signings and readers brought in books for him to sign....that had been bought online used from Amazon and had stickers from public libraries around the world. The author called one such library, and, apparently, the book was not being checked out often enough. Hence the sale on Amazon.
In a sense, the paperback book market is fierce. You normally sell the books wholesale at a 55% discount to stores. For a $16 paperback, that means you sell it to them for $8. When you subtract production and shipping costs, not a lot of cash is left over for the publisher or author.
And then you have returns - if a book does not sell well, bookstores will return it and the publisher both pays shipping and buys the book back. Where does that book go? Some authors do giveaways, some books are destroyed, and others are in warehouses somewhere, collecting dust.
Here's the funny wrinkle: you sell your book at a 55% discount to a library. At the same time, you sell your book brand new on Amazon (and earn 60% off the sale). After a few months, the library decides to sell your book, slightly used, on Amazon, and at a price less than your listed new book price.
Your book that you already sold at a 55% discount is now in effect cannibalizing the profits off your online book sales at a 60% profit. If you sell a ton of books each week, it's no big deal. For smaller publishers, it's a bit of a business hazard.
Of course, the counterargument is that a high secondary sale value, like with refurbished iPads and iPhones, may encourage more people to buy them new in the knowledge they can sell them again at a later date.
More importantly, as an author, you just want your story to be read by as many as possible AND by somebody who appreciates it. Just like a relationship, if a book doesn't click with a reader, finding a new reader is the right solution.
Even funnier (or more sad), the author went to signings and readers brought in books for him to sign....that had been bought online used from Amazon and had stickers from public libraries around the world. The author called one such library, and, apparently, the book was not being checked out often enough. Hence the sale on Amazon.
In a sense, the paperback book market is fierce. You normally sell the books wholesale at a 55% discount to stores. For a $16 paperback, that means you sell it to them for $8. When you subtract production and shipping costs, not a lot of cash is left over for the publisher or author.
And then you have returns - if a book does not sell well, bookstores will return it and the publisher both pays shipping and buys the book back. Where does that book go? Some authors do giveaways, some books are destroyed, and others are in warehouses somewhere, collecting dust.
Here's the funny wrinkle: you sell your book at a 55% discount to a library. At the same time, you sell your book brand new on Amazon (and earn 60% off the sale). After a few months, the library decides to sell your book, slightly used, on Amazon, and at a price less than your listed new book price.
Your book that you already sold at a 55% discount is now in effect cannibalizing the profits off your online book sales at a 60% profit. If you sell a ton of books each week, it's no big deal. For smaller publishers, it's a bit of a business hazard.
Of course, the counterargument is that a high secondary sale value, like with refurbished iPads and iPhones, may encourage more people to buy them new in the knowledge they can sell them again at a later date.
More importantly, as an author, you just want your story to be read by as many as possible AND by somebody who appreciates it. Just like a relationship, if a book doesn't click with a reader, finding a new reader is the right solution.
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