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What Every Writer Should Know
By: Colleen Gleason Schulte
Date: 11/17/2003
I was a writer long before I was a publisher, and I had the belief that if I worked hard enough and wrote well enough, I would eventually find a publisher who saw merit in my work and would publish it. I still believe that, even though I’ve now been in the publishing side of the world for two years.
What has changed for me, however, is that I’ve learned some truths about the publishing industry that make me a bit less…naïve, I would say, about what happens behind the scenes…and how things work and why publishers do the things they do. Some of these things are known to writers, but I believe many of them aren’t. I thus believe that any writer who truly wishes to succeed—whether they be unpublished, first-time-published, or multi-pubbed—should know about the industry and what happens there. Ignorance may be bliss, but being forewarned is forearmed. (I promise not to use any more cliches!)
Let me start by doing some quick definitions:
Wholesaler: an entity, such as Ingram Book Company (by the way, it’s Ingram not Ingrams)—which is the dominant wholesaler—Baker & Taylor, Brodart, etc., that warehouses and then ships books to the bookstores when ordered. A wholesaler not only requires the publisher to pay for shipping to them, but also takes a 55% discount. That means, of course, that for a book that is priced at $6.99, the publisher only receives 45%, or $3.14, per book. Booksellers order from wholesalers instead of directly from the publisher—and often if your title isn’t listed at Ingram, the bookseller won’t look any further for it.
Distributor: an entity that sells to the wholesalers, and, theoretically, promotes and markets your books to them. They take at least a 60% discount, and also require that the publisher pay shipping costs to them. They will order your books and make them available to Ingram, Baker & Taylor, et al. Arrangements with a distributor are usually exclusive—meaning you work with only one, and they handle all the distribution to the wholesalers for you.
As you can see, the profit margins on these books becomes very slim when one takes into consideration the discounts required by wholesalers, distributors and booksellers (by the way, their standard discount is 40%--so if a publisher is lucky enough to get a bookseller to order directly from them, the discount is more palatable). This, combined with the costs of shipping, make it difficult for small presses to make money on books because their print runs are usually much smaller than those of large publishing houses—where the cost to produce a book is only cents. Many small presses look at costs per book of $2-$4 each, depending on the print run and trim size (ie, size of the book).
Now, let me address a little word called returns. That word is enough to make any small press publisher queasy. Somehow, someway, an industry standard of 12-month returns has become the norm. This means that if a wholesaler or bookstore orders (ie, buys) your book on December 1, 2000, they have until December 1, 2001, to return any unsold copies--no questions asked.
Here’s the other thing: not only do they have the ability to return the book, but it may or may not (it usually isn’t) be in sellable condition when it is returned. And--even worse--for most mass market paperbacks they strip the book—meaning they tear off the front cover and send it back to you. (I’ve heard of horror stories where an author at a signing would be witness to the bookstore owner stripping the unsold books right in front of her! Talk about torture!)
So, the industry (meaning the stores and the wholesalers) are used to having the ability to over-order and to send back--in any condition--books that didn’t sell. Twelve months later. Often, after they have been paid for--so then the publisher actually owes them money for a bunch of damaged books or, worse, book covers.
The other thing to think about--at least for the unknowns out there (unknown authors as well as publishers)--is getting on the shelf. If you are with a small publisher, forget about getting mass distribution of your books via any chain. Why? Because you simply don’t have the funds to support the advertising and marketing programs that the big chains expect. They may not admit it, but the big chains look at how much you’re going to spend on advertising and marketing, and in some cases, they actually charge for shelf space.
The stores that do it will deny it--but there really is a give and take on who gets on whose shelves--and it ties to how the publisher participates in marketing programs with the stores. I used to work in the retail industry--on the consumer foods side--and it was the same story with getting space on grocery store shelves. No one would actually come out and tell the vendor that they had to pay “slotting fees” or pay for shelf space--but it was inherent in the business. And it is in the publishing industry as well, today.
And if you’re an unknown author--even if your big publisher gets mass distribution in the chains (which they usually do), don’t expect to find your book on the shelves in the grocery stores, pharmacies, or airports. Not unless you’re a sure seller like Nora Roberts, John Grisham, or Catherine Coulter will you find your book on those limited shelves. There simply isn’t enough space.
As you can see, the industry—while exciting and fulfilling—can be difficult for a small press to navigate and be successful in. That’s why small publishers come and go so quickly. If you choose to work with a small press, knowing the hurdles that your small publisher must face in getting distribution and shelf placement can help you be prepared for possible delays or disappointments. And even if you decide that you will only consider a large publisher for your work, knowing what happens behind the scenes can help you be more savvy in your dealings with booksellers and your publisher.
Colleen Gleason Schulte is a partner and co-founder of Avid Press, LLC. She is also the author of A Whisper of Rosemary, a medieval romance just released from Avid Press. Visit Colleen's website at www.colleengleason.com to find out why all of her royalties will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
THE ETHAN ELLENBERG LITERARY AGENCY
ETERNAL RESERVE
by Ethan Ellenberg
A group of papers recently crossed my desk that reminded me of the permanent or eternal reserve that many publishers keep on individual books. I suspect that few authors are aware of this, but it’s a serious issue that affects almost every author.
The root of this problem is that many publishers keep a tiny but permanent reserve against returns. This should not be confused with illegitimate practices regarding the reserve for returns that less than reputable publishers have employed. This eternal reserve, as any of the publishers that utilize it will likely argue, is a legitimate accounting practice. And, if the permanent return is tiny and not fixed, it can be justified. If it is not, it is an egregious use of the reserve concept and a serious way of depriving authors of royalty income.
First, some background: I have been on both sides of this issue. Prior to becoming an agent I worked in the contracts and royalty areas for two of the largest publishers. In my first job I actually had access and spent some time with the large royalty books that housed the company's royalty records. (Yes, the hand entered books that held the royalty records.) In these books you could follow the royalty records of titles that had been in print for 20 or even 30 years. I remember reviewing books that hadn’t had a return in five or even ten years. These were customarily “dead” books, long out of print. Sometimes a return came in, but rarely.
Even on these titles, a permanent reserve was usually kept. The reserve would often be 50 books, period. From the author’s point of view, you can make the case that no permanent reserve should be kept. When a book is essentially dead—let’s say three years without a recorded sale or return––even the final or permanent reserve should be liquidated. However, a publisher could legitimately argue that returns are received even ten years after a book is dead and so they shouldn’t be forced to pay royalties on books that could be returned.
From where I sit, this is a coin toss—both sides can make legitimate claims. As long as the publisher must absorb returns for credit, it wants protection from paying royalties on these unsold copies. If no returns are imminent by any common sense measure, authors should be paid royalty income that has in all likelihood been earned.
In my capacity as agent, I have several clients with long, productive careers. I have full access to their royalty records, which I periodically review. Even though there is obviously a smaller collection of authors, the patterns of sale are similar to the ones I saw as a publishing house employee. After the active life of a book, years could go by with no activity—no returns whatsoever. Sometimes a return or three would pop up. The fact is that nearly all books follow a similar pattern in their publishing lives. Ten year old books, with no new shipments, don’t suddenly return 500 or 1000 copies. In fact, I can’t remember even moderate amounts of returns for an older book (for many books this would be at least three years post first publication). If a book is very active, with new shipments, that is a different story. In that case, the book will behave essentially like a recent title and substantial bursts of returns are possible.
Despite these patterns, that anyone who tracks royalties knows, many publishers do use an eternal reserve. It is a controversial, debatable practice, but it is legitimate. But, what happens if the permanent or final reserve is abused? What if it is more than a token reserve or if it is completely disconnected from any common sense notion of how books are returned? In these instances, the publisher is simply failing or refusing to pay royalties.
One such practice that greatly concerns me is a permanent reserve that is set as a percentage of gross shipments. Even a 1% permanent reserve could deny substantial royalty income to an author. Let me give you an illustration. During the initial publication of a book 100,000 copies are shipped and the publisher establishes a standard 1% permanent reserve against this shipments, so that’s a 1000 copies. Depending on the book’s sales, the permanent reserve isn’t visible or operative, but subsumed in the traditional reserve and most likely would not have an impact on the author’s royalties. But what happens five or even ten years out? What happens when in the prior five years only ten returns were received? Why would 1,000 copies need to be held in reserve when the publisher can be confident that it will not receive even 100 returns?
Let’s continue to work with this example. What if the permanent reserve wasn’t as tiny as 1%--say 3% (3000 copies) or 5% (5000 copies). The numbers grow more and more absurd. A reserve is not supposed to function in this way. Let’s examine how the reserve is really supposed to function. In our example, we’ve shipped 100,000 copies and let’s say that 50,000 are reported sold. The publisher knows they’re sold—they’ve been paid for them, the large accounts have actually given the publisher sales figures from individual stores. Now the potential pool of returns isn’t 100,000 copies, it’s 50,000 copies. Of those 50,000 copies, let’s say 40,000 have been returned and credited. Now our 3% of shipments or 3000 copies is actually a reserve against 10,000 “unknown” copies. It’s no longer a 3% reserve for returns, it’s now a 30% reserve for returns. And, as the number of “unknown” copies decreases, this percentage steadily increases.
Obviously, a reserve set by a fixed percentage of net shipped is an unfair practice. A reserve should never be fixed; it should be based on actual experience. Publishers that employ a permanent reserve with a fixed rate based on gross shipments aren’t really using a reserve against returns at all, they are simply not paying authors royalties on every book sold, as promised in their contracts. It may be 99% or 97% or 95%, but it’s is not 100% and in some cases this can amount to a significant loss of income to the author.
The reserve for returns will continue to be an area of contention between authors and publishers. Publishers have the right to protect themselves from paying royalties on unsold copies. Authors have the right to be paid full royalty income on a timely basis and not be subjected to methods that unfairly deny them income. The clearest path to moderating this tension is for publishers to increase the flow of accurate, timely sales information to authors so the legitimacy of the reserve can be openly and objectively judged. Authors must accept that there will be instances where the publisher can legitimately delay payment of royalties until it’s clear that the books have actually been sold and will not be returned.
Last word—a reserve based on a permanent fixed percentage of books shipped is inconsistent with sound accounting practices and unfairly denies authors royalty income.
Advances & Royalties ---
How Authors Are Paid
If you are thinking of becoming an author, of writing books as a career, then you will no doubt want to know how much money you are likely to earn annually. Will it be enough for you to support yourself and/or your family financially, to enjoy a comfortable --- or even a luxurious --- lifestyle?
Unfortunately, there is no single, easy answer to that question, because much will depend on how successful you prove at your writing career. However, there are some general guidelines that may assist you in developing a better understanding of how authors are paid and what their earnings potential actually is.
First and foremost, you should know that contrary to popular belief, all authors are not multimillionaires! In fact, the percentage of authors who earn their livings solely from their writing careers --- much less make huge amounts of money at it --- is exceedingly small.
Rather, the hard reality is that the vast majority of authors cannot earn even a comfortable --- much less a luxurious --- living from their writing careers, and, unless they have access to other sources of funding (such as a working spouse, investments and dividends, or an inheritance), are frequently compelled to take other jobs as their primary means of financial support.
All authors are self-employed, as opposed to being actual full-time, or even part-time, employees of publishers. This means that they are subject to the exact same difficulties that every self-employed person must face. They have no guarantee of either a steady income or work, no company-provided life insurance and health benefits, no company stock options, profit-sharing plans, or pension plans, and no paid vacations, sick days, or maternity leave.
So, just like all other self-employed people, authors must assume all the responsibility for providing all these things for themselves, as well as paying self-employment taxes (because self-employed persons do not have employers contributing to social security, they must pay a higher amount into social security than non-self-employed people do).
These are merely the first of the many important financial aspects of a writing career that you will want to take into consideration, should establishing yourself as an author be your ambition in life.
So, just exactly how are authors paid? How does the entire process work?
All authors, being self-employed, are basically freelance writers. They conduct business by signing contracts with publishers for the production of one or more books, for which they agree to accept as payment for writing and delivering the book(s) either a percentage (royalties) of the profits from the book's or books' eventual sales, or else a straight flat fee (work for hire) for the book(s).
When a contract is negotiated between an author and a publisher, the author is usually paid an advance. Again contrary to popular belief, this is not a sum that is over and above any agreed-upon royalties, however. Rather, it is an advance against all future royalties, and it must therefore be earned out before any royalties are ever actually paid.
An author signing a first contract can expect to receive an advance of anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000, on average, per book. Naturally, there are exceptions to this rule. However, it would be unwise and unrealistic with regard to your financial planning to assume that you will be that rare, unknown author who garners a multimillion-dollar advance. So, let us say that the author receives a $10,000 advance, for a single book. That means that the author would subsequently need to earn $10,000 in royalties from the sales of the book before receiving any additional income from that book.
If the author did not subsequently earn at least $10,000 in royalties from the sales of the book, then the contract would be unearned, and no additional royalties would ever be paid to the author. Further, the publisher would usually --- depending upon the terms of the contract --- also have the right to demand the return of that portion of the advance that was unearned. For example, if the author's royalties amounted to a grand total of only $3,000, then the publisher could request that the remaining unearned $7,000 of the advance be repaid to it by the author (although this rarely ever happens in practice).
Along these same lines, if the author sold three books to the publisher, each for an advance of $10,000, for a total of $30,000, and if the contract(s) were joint-accounted, then the author would subsequently need to earn out each $10,000 advance before receiving any royalties from the sales of any or all of the books.
Finally, if the author agreed to a basketing clause in the contract(s), then any unearned advances could also be recouped by the publisher from any and all other contracts the author might have in force with the publisher.
Although there are exceptions to the rule, almost all publishers issue royalty statements every six months. This means that almost all authors are paid only twice a year --- yes, you read that right...twice a year --- and then only if their advances have earned out and there are thus royalties owing to them. Further, even if their advances have earned out, authors still never know how much money, if any, they will receive during any given pay period. This is because, usually, until receipt of their royalty statements, they never know how many books they have actually sold, or what reserve against returns is being held by the publisher for that pay period.
What is a reserve against returns? Unlike most merchandise, creative works like books and CDs are sold on a returnable basis. That means that if a retail bookstore orders 100 copies of an author's book and doesn't sell any of them, then the bookstore can return all 100 copies to the publisher, for credit --- which the publisher then charges back against the author's royalties, as well. (Mass-market paperback books have only their covers stripped and returned, while the books themselves are required to be destroyed. Sales of these stripped books are illegal.)
In order to avoid overpaying the author, the publisher will therefore withhold a percentage of the author's royalties against returns. If, for instance, unsold books are being returned to the publisher at a rate of 50% --- meaning that out of 100,000 books shipped to retail bookstores and wholesalers (who stock outlets such as supermarkets), 50,000 books have already been returned unsold, then the publisher may withhold 50% of the author's royalties, as a reserve against returns.
"So, what?" you may say. "New books cost a lot of money, so that even if half of them are returned, the author is still making a big bundle!" Unfortunately, however, that's not the case, because again contrary to popular belief, the author's royalty is not the cover price of the book, but only a percentage of the cover price.
Generally speaking, hardcover books pay standard royalty rates of 10%, 12%, and 15% of the cover price --- 10% on the first 1 to 250,000 copies sold, 12% on the next 250,001 to 500,000 copies sold, and 15% on anything sold above 500,000 copies. So if an author's hardcover book has a cover price of $25.00, then the author will earn only a $2.50 royalty on every copy sold, up to 250,000 copies.
This means that if only 10,000 copies of the author's book are ever sold, then the author will earn only $25,000. This sum may indeed be fairly lucrative if the book took only a short time to write. However, if the author spent several years writing the book, then obviously, it was not very financially productive.
You would think that the standard royalty rates for hardcover books would also be the same for mass-market paperback books, since because the cover prices for paperbacks are much lower, the royalty rates would be comparably much lower, too. However, this is, in fact, not the case.
Generally speaking, the standard royalty rates for paperback books vary from a low of 1% to a high of 10%, with the average royalty rate falling at 6%. So if an author's paperback book has a cover price of $6.50, then at a 6% royalty rate, the author will earn only a $.39 royalty on every copy sold.
This means that if only 10,000 copies of the author's book are ever sold, then the author will earn only $3,900. At that rate, a paperback author might have to write three books a year, just to earn an annual income of less than $12,000!
"But don't all authors have millions of books in print?" you may ask. The answer is a resounding "No!" Nor should in-print figures be confused with the number of copies actually sold. Even though a publisher may print and ship a million copies of an author's book, 999,999 of them could eventually wind up being returned. Thus, to guard against just this kind of occurrence, most publishers carefully calculate just how many copies of any particular book they believe they can realistically sell, based on the author's name, sales history (if any), the type of book to be marketed, and the current state of the marketplace at any given moment.
Authors have had contracts canceled because initial orders for their book didn't amount to even 25,000 copies. For a mass-market paperback book with a minimum first printing of 25,000 copies, an average return rate of 50%, an average $6.50 cover price, and an average 6% royalty rate, an author would earn only $4,875 on the sales of that book --- and 15% ($731.25) of that sum would go directly to the author's agent, leaving the author with a gross profit (before taxes) of $4,143.75. If, as is not at all unusual, the author had worked all year to produce that book, then the author would have achieved an annual income of less than $5,000!
Please also note that royalties are paid only on the sales of new books. Under current copyright laws, authors earn no royalties whatsoever from the sales of used books, regardless of how many times the used books are resold.
Last but not least, most royalty statements do not begin arriving in an author's mailbox until six to twelve months after a book's publication date, so that the publisher has at least one full pay period (six months) in which to obtain a general idea of how well the book is selling and what the rate of returns is going to average before delivering a first accounting to the author.
These are the kinds of financial facts with which you should arm yourself if you are considering a writing career. The vast majority of authors do not achieve megastar status. Many struggle financially and simultaneously hold down other full-time or part-time jobs just to try to make ends meet while they pursue their dream of writing the Great American Novel and wait for what they hope will be their lucky break.
Writing is a creative art, yes --- but it is also first and foremost a business. So chase it as you would any other dream you hope to attain --- with your head in the clouds, but your feet firmly planted on the ground!
Chain reaction: Book superstores bring Hollywood-like risks to publishing business Wall Street Journal; New York; May 29, 1997; Knecht, G Bruce;
For the book industry, the growth of superstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders should have been great news: giant, well-appointed stores, prime locations, couches and coffee for shoppers, big promotional budgets. What more could a supplier want from its retailers? Yet the superstores are largely responsible for the book industry's current plight: While the amount of retail space is growing at an unprecedented pace, sales haven't even begun to keep up. In fact, sales of adult hardcover books, which have grown modestly in recent years, fell 4.4% last year. And revenues from adult paperbacks grew a meager 1.8% in 1996, though the actual number of paperback books sold declined, according to the publisher-supported Book Industry Study Group. As a result, publishers are bearing the cost of filling an ever-larger retail pipeline, while reaping hardly any of the benefits. Worse still, while superstores order thousands of books, they devote most of their marketing muscle and prime shelf space to a relatively small number of potential best sellers. And if a book isn't a blockbuster right away, it will likely end up being returned to publishers. That Hollywood-style approach -- in which books that don't "open" big are quickly abandoned -- is whipsawing publishers and wreaking havoc on their finances, as they spend outlandishly on a handful of megabooks with star authors, many of which bomb anyway. "You don't build books anymore," says Michael Lynton, who ran Walt Disney Co.'s Hollywood Pictures before he became chairman of Pearson PLC's Penguin Group last year. "It's become the equivalent of blasting [a movie] out over 2,600 screens." Among the big-budget flops of the past year: Johnnie Cochran's "Journey to Justice," for which Random House's Ballantine Books paid a reported $3.5 million; "Behind the Oval Office," with an estimated $2.5 million advance from Advance Publications Inc.'s Random House to former presidential adviser Dick Morris; and "Leading With My Chin," which won comedian Jay Leno a reported $4 million from HarperCollins Publishers. So, what happens when all those hundreds of thousands of copies don't fly off the superstores' inviting wood-paneled shelves? Fully 35% worth of adult hardcovers shipped to retailers last year were returned to publishers, up from 32% in 1995, according to the Association of American Publishers. Unlike most other businesses that sell products through retailers, publishers reimburse bookstores for any unsold books. "The rationale is that sellers are able to take a chance on unheralded authors," explains Stuart Applebaum, a veteran executive at Bantam Doubleday Dell, a unit of Bertelsmann AG. If a book doesn't hit within three or four weeks, superstores will demand refunds or will ask the publisher to accept sharp discounts. Publishers wind up destroying most of the returns, losing the $2-to-$2.50 a copy it costs to print the average book plus another 25 cents in shipping.
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"In most businesses, when a product doesn't sell, it's tough luck for the retailer," says Peter Osnos, the former publisher of Random House's Times Books unit, who yesterday set up a small independent imprint company. "But in our business, it's tough luck for publishers." Publishers have had plenty of tough luck of late. News Corp.'s HarperCollins posted a loss of $7 million for the three months ended March 31, and, earlier this month, it folded Basic Books, its well-regarded public-affairs imprint, into its trade group, eliminating a dozen editorial positions. Scholastic Inc. and Addison Wesley Longman Inc. are among the other publishers that have had recent layoffs. Many houses are pruning the overall number of titles they publish: Simon & Schuster, a unit of Viacom Inc., has 600 books coming out this year, down from 650 last year. Publishers are also looking to shave costs by using less expensive paper and eliminating full-cloth covers. Meanwhile, the chains' expansion continues unabated. Barnes & Noble Inc., New York, has 439 superstores and is planning 70 new ones a year for at least the next three years. Borders Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., with 165 superstores, plans to open 35 more this year. A third chain on a tear, Books-a-Million Inc., Birmingham, Ala., with 93 superstores, says it is adding 20 superstores a year. The feverish growth has led to a glut of shelf space. In Columbia, S.C., for example, Books-A-Million has two superstores, and Barnes & Noble will open its second there later this year. All told, the amount of retail space devoted to books in Columbia will be 140,000 square feet, or triple what it was three years ago, estimates Books-A-Million Chief Executive Clyde Anderson. Does anybody think the people of Columbia, population about 100,000, will be buying three times as many books as they did three years ago? "If they did, we'd be asking for a federal holiday for the book industry," Bantam's Mr. Applebaum says. Mr. Anderson acknowledges that much of the growth is coming at the expense of independent booksellers. That is bad news for publishers, who believe that most independents sell 80% or more of the books they order, while the superstores sell less than 70% and discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club sell about 60%. The different sales rates have everything to do with the mass-market approach of superstores and warehouse retailers. At smaller, independent stores, retailers attempt to tailor their book selections to the tastes of their customers, with salespeople well-versed in individual titles "hand selling" their offerings. Superstores and warehouses order large quantities of books, sponsor splashy ads and create eye-catching in-store displays for some new titles. Much of the attention goes to books that publishers have singled out for big printings and expensive promotional efforts. At Barnes & Noble's airy store in Livingston, N.J., which boasts 150,000 titles in 19,000 square feet of space, several promising new titles are displayed on two octagonal tables just inside the front door. The presence of four particularly favored books is made obvious by copies that have been laid like bricks into large piles: Katharine Graham's "Personal History" has 132 copies; Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes," 129 copies; John Grisham's "The Partner," 102 copies; and Mary Higgins Clark's "Pretend You Don't See Her," 77 copies. Billy Graham's new autobiography, "Just As I Am," is featured in a free-standing rack along with the audiocassette version and a poster.
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But that kind of attention is focused on a relatively small number of books, and it often doesn't last long. "Now you only get two weeks in the front of the store, and then you go to the stacks," says Laurence Kirshbaum, chief executive of Warner Books, who notes that many demoted titles are displayed so that only their spines are visible. In some cases, superstores will return slow-moving books unless they are allowed to sell them at half price. "If we have a book that doesn't sell, it's an outright bomb, whose fault is that?" asks Stephen Riggio, Barnes & Noble's chief operating officer. His solution -- marking down the duds like slow-moving coats and dresses -- is loathed by most publishers. "We've asked, suggested, demanded and cajoled publishers to work with us to knock down the prices of books that don't sell ever since we've been in the business," Mr. Riggio says. "If it doesn't sell at 50% off, then let's try 80%. It makes so much sense I can't see straight when I talk about it." While they acknowledge the logic of markdowns, publishers say they can't afford to discount their books, certainly not as quickly or as frequently as the chains would like. For one thing, big discounts to consumers require publishers to accept similarly large discounts from retailers: Booksellers already pay just 50% to 55% of the face value of the book to the publisher; if the book is marked down by 50%, the publisher's share generally is also cut in half. In addition, publishers say they believe the practice ultimately diminishes the value of their products in the eyes of consumers, and causes them to put off their purchases as they wait for discounts. But as the power of the chains increases, publishers see themselves in a bind: Even though the chains give big books precious little time to hit, increasing the likelihood of costly flops, publishers believe they have no choice but to continue ordering huge runs of big books in order to win a slot on those octagonal tables at the front of Barnes & Noble. "If you only print 60,000 copies, they won't take you seriously," Mr. Osnos says. These days, a blockbuster-size printing is in the hundreds-of-thousands of copies. Jody Kohn, a Borders spokeswoman, counters that "big print runs aren't necessarily what drives big buys. . . . We buy based on the amount of publicity and marketing the publisher is going to do, as well as the previous sales volume for the author." She adds: "If they let up on their publicity end after a couple weeks, where are we supposed to go?" Given the big retailers' appetite for heavily promoted, big-name books, publishers believe they have no choice but to devote more of their resources to "event" books and reduce the overall number of titles they bring to market. Thus, Disney's Hyperion unit announced it would print 300,000 copies of first-time novelist Douglas Kennedy's thriller "The Big Picture" and commit to spending $750,000 to promote it, in large part to make an impression on the superstores. "We wanted to ring the bell to tell them this was going to be a big book -- please join us," says Publisher Robert Miller. So far, the book has crept briefly onto some best-seller lists. "Everyone wants to either do the big books that are going to get a lot of attention or books that you can do in a smaller way that are going to make it on their own," Mr. Miller says. "The middle is disappearing."
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Warner Books has adopted a particularly aggressive strategy: It published 69 hardcover books last year, down from more than 80 five years ago, and 10 were bestsellers. This year, the Time Warner Inc. unit is betting a lot of its chips on a small list of celebrity-oriented megabook prospects, including gossip-biographer Kitty Kelley's new book about Britain's royal family, a "fable" by John Travolta and the autobiography of track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee. There is one publisher that doesn't need to worry about returns or cranking out hundreds of thousands of books to secure valuable shelf space at Barnes & Noble. It's Barnes & Noble, which plans to publish about 300 of its own titles this year, mostly compilations and reprints of works that are out of copyright. A current Barnes & Noble baseball title, "100 Greatest Hitters," is displayed in the front window of the Livingston store. Inside, opposite a long counter with eight cash registers, are Barnes & Noble editions of "A Tale of Two Cities," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and 27 other classics for $5.98 each. "The books we publish are generally in the bargain-books section," says Lisa Herling, a Barnes & Noble spokeswoman. "And we usually put bargain books up front." |
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