tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post5168736533293816..comments2023-06-12T17:08:36.320+01:00Comments on How Publishing <i>Really</i> Works: Reported Sales: Selling In vs. Selling ThroughJane Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03411253302725735470noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-199280741643499742009-07-01T13:02:09.996+01:002009-07-01T13:02:09.996+01:00Selling in large volumes of books can help a book ...Selling in large volumes of books can help a book sell though can't it? The main means of promoting a book seems to be have it prominently displayed in a bookshop. The more copies on display the higher the chance that a potential reader will pick it up and look through it. <br /><br />So if you want your book to sell well you probably want a lot to be sold in, but have to expect a large % of returns. I suspect that even your bestsellers will have fairly high returns %. Bookshops won't sell all the copies they buy in before they need shelfspace for the next title they want to promote, so will send back excess stock to the publisher.Mark Lordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12108251848572830250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-28433972892674408152009-06-18T15:25:15.059+01:002009-06-18T15:25:15.059+01:00Interesting info.
Thirty to forty percent of retu...Interesting info.<br /><br />Thirty to forty percent of returns does seem high, although as has been mentioned here in the comments reorders to extend credit are common. So how much does the sending back and reordering affect the returns percentage? <br /><br />I remember reading an article on the Bookseller website about Canadian and Southern Hemisphere publishers reducing the returns rate to around twenty percent. The article also suggested British publishers should talk to their Canadian and Southern Hemisphere counterparts about reducing UK returns.<br /><br />Dan, with you there on the net v gross. There's a comment by JM Straczynski available on the net (somewhere on aintitcool.com) about how he produced the TV series Babylon 5 for $90m, it made $500m in sales and is still $50m in debt!<br /><br />(Now that I'm using blogger I'll have to comment more to get back into the top ten!)j purdiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07141166257366384474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-89727558746525873412009-06-18T08:29:51.913+01:002009-06-18T08:29:51.913+01:00Jane, that's not what I meant at all. By "...Jane, that's not what I meant at all. By "money men" I meant the accountants. <br /><br />Perhaps I shouldn't be too cynical - I'm sure when things kick off the lawyers get rich too :-)Dan Hollowayhttp://freeeday.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-30018875179184642872009-06-17T23:32:48.855+01:002009-06-17T23:32:48.855+01:00Whilst official sales lists tend to be sell throug...Whilst official sales lists tend to be sell through, there's been a tendency(at least in norway) of the publishers using sell-in values in their own advertising to boost further sales. It seems to be effective because they keep doing it every holiday season...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02159201670795695828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-22829998511454765182009-06-17T23:31:01.714+01:002009-06-17T23:31:01.714+01:00Go on, Jane, post about rturns! I DARE you! You kn...Go on, Jane, post about rturns! I DARE you! You know you want to ... I am safely in London and on a crappy laptop so I can't - which only leaves you.Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12189894289540344094noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-67666118307490527762009-06-17T22:05:00.657+01:002009-06-17T22:05:00.657+01:00For a writer, there are few things more sobering t...For a writer, there are few things more sobering than returns. If readers don't buy our books we are back at the beginning again - do not pass go, do not collect $200 (maybe they should put out a bookseller version of monopoly!)Melinda Szymanikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10202080805759494767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-66968780744855611592009-06-17T20:46:05.538+01:002009-06-17T20:46:05.538+01:00often a bookshop will buy books on 90 days' cr...<b>often a bookshop will buy books on 90 days' credit, and then return a lot of their stock on day 89, and only pay for the ones it's kept; then the following day the same bookshop will reorder the book, and so keep on extending its line of credit.</b><br /><br />It's not just bookstores. Here, in the US, Igram, Baker & Taylor, and other warehouse distributors do the same thing, and it drives us insane because we have to pay for the shipping on those returns AND the shipping on the new order. Enough to make one drink heavily.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-79633980277528082172009-06-17T20:43:34.051+01:002009-06-17T20:43:34.051+01:00So while publishers will often use the sell-in fig...<b>So while publishers will often use the sell-in figure to trumpet a book’s success, writers should not rely on it...reserve against returns.</b><br /><br />Jane, dear, are you insinuating that our sales numbers have an artistic flair?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-77035352524290705452009-06-17T19:56:03.328+01:002009-06-17T19:56:03.328+01:00It depends on the bestseller list.
The New York T...It depends on the bestseller list.<br /><br />The New York Times list, like a lot of lists, is a survey of reporting stores. A selection of stores, whose identities are kept secret, report their weekly sales to the Times. Other lists, like the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal list, use a similar system.<br /><br />The USA Today list goes by strict BookScan numbers*: i.e. sell-through.<br /><br />I have never heard of a bestseller list based on sell-in.<br /><br />*http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2009/02/definitions-for-perplexed-bookscan.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-13152593911836049472009-06-17T18:44:56.322+01:002009-06-17T18:44:56.322+01:00Dan wrote, "Which only goes to show. Plus ca ...Dan wrote, "Which only goes to show. Plus ca change. The ones who get rich are the money man."<br /><br />You're assuming that the publisher gets paid for all the books sold in, though, Dan, and it doesn't: often a bookshop will buy books on 90 days' credit, and then return a lot of their stock on day 89, and only pay for the ones it's kept; then the following day the same bookshop will reorder the book, and so keep on extending its line of credit. <br /><br />Publishers have to pay for all the books they print, and if they get 40% returned that's a big loss to cover (I'm sure I've linked somewhere to Snowbooks' blog posts about returns, which are well worth reading): while many returns can be resold some can't, and again, the publisher has to cover the cost of those books.<br /><br />Helena, I'm not entirely sure which figures are used for best-seller lists: but something tells me that you might be right there. Do you think I'm getting cynical in my old age?Jane Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03411253302725735470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-57997174269687191762009-06-17T14:46:43.850+01:002009-06-17T14:46:43.850+01:00Another invaluable post. Which number is used for ...Another invaluable post. Which number is used for the best seller lists published in newspapers? I'm guessing the selling in figure...?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02658858373848443540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-80906748899701225782009-06-17T14:32:55.638+01:002009-06-17T14:32:55.638+01:00Thanks for this interesting post. I must admit, wh...Thanks for this interesting post. I must admit, when my first book was published I was very naive, and didn't really give much thought to books being returned by bookshops. The first time I saw returns on my statement, I was devastated!Sheila Nortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997206301877289623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5519912440753252776.post-4049216202354563432009-06-17T14:29:23.531+01:002009-06-17T14:29:23.531+01:00Thanks for this Jane. I'm all too aware of thi...Thanks for this Jane. I'm all too aware of this practice.<br /><br />Your post reminded me of reading about the bad old days of cinematic excess (the Simpson-Bruckheimer days) when people would be paid a cut of net rather than gross, and the studio would trumpet a film's success with its gross, and then have their accountant prove that because they paid $2000 dollars a pop for pizza for the key grip they'd come in with a whopping loss and couldn't afford to pay anyone. <br /><br />Which only goes to show. Plus ca change. The ones who get rich are the money man.Dan Hollowayhttp://freeeday.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com