The Myriad Evils of Retail Pt.II

So let's go over this one more time. The book cost 25.00 in the store. The publisher sold it for 10.00. Their profit then is 10.00 - 4.00 (production) -1.00 (10% author royalty on gross sales, NOT Retail Price as it used it be)- 2.00-3.00 for additional warehousing, shipping and returns. Now subtract inventory shrinkage in your warehouse, as well as unsold copies (which means you have money spent that you can't use) and that will give you your profit. Maybe as much as a dollar or two per copy sold to cover rent, staff salary, royalty advances, and all other operational expenses. And don't forget that the margin on hard covers is way better than on paperbacks. If it keeps selling it hardcover, they won't even release Paperback versions. Not for years and years. See again: Harry Potter. So who is this good for? The answer is no one. Prices are high for the consumer, but margins are poor for the publisher, which forces them to give inferior royalties to authors they publish while at the same time making anyone who isn't Dan Brown seem even riskier than they should rightly seem.

So here's how I see it. Chain retail, which used to serve a valuable service- namely, a wide selection at low prices- has been beaten beyond recognition by online warehousing which offers the same service, only much better for the consumer, and with a lower rate of returns for the producers(which is not to say Amazon doesn't return things, but not as much). Print on Demand, when actually demanded IS NOT RETURNABLE. E-books, even if returns are allowed, don't cost anything extra. You lose the sale, but not the product. Not to mention how little effort it is to "warehouse" electronic copies. In short, the high cost of operations at retail outlets means they've outlived their usefulness. Do I expect them to all disappear over night? No. But their power is waning, as it has been for some time. There is still some hope for indies, whose service is more about their expertise with X,Y,Z type of books rather than trying to be everything to everyone (and let's face it. You're not going to beat Amazon at being everything to everyone) but retail is hurting. And right now, that's still hurting us as they demand even lower prices from publishers, even more favorable arrangements, but still throw their weight around knowing publishers need them to make big sales.

What I see is a split in modern culture. Between the massive mainstream success of a handful, and the increasing ability and willingness of niche consumers to find each other and products they care about without being explicitly ordered by advertising or retail outlets to buy a specific product, there’s a definite polarization going on. And I think that both poles will continue to exist. There’s a use for the generalists. But think about this- There were all of what? 2 maybe three networks in the 50s and 60s on TV? And now there are hundreds? 15 Spanish channels! BBC America! ESPN 1 for people who like good sports. ESPN 2-20 or however many they have for poker, pool, racing, yachting, the goddamn annual lumberjack competitions. A&E’s Biographies were so popular they had their own channel. Had to cut back like many of them since biographies alone couldn’t sustain a whole channel but… the “classic” TV on Nick at Nite used to be a few hours on Nickelodeon. For easily ten years now it’s been it’s own channel called TV Land. Which is separate from classic movie channels. In the same way that Cartoon Network does contemporary cartoons and Boomerang is filled with Hong Kong Phooey and all that ridiculous Hanna Barbara crap.

And I know you can all say “Ah-ha! But TV-Land has some original programming!” or “Boomerang uses shows originally made 10 years ago on Cartoon Network as its prime time lineup and that’s not really old enough to be ‘classic.’” And you’re right. But here’s the thing. TV production is insanely expensive. Printing books is very cheap by contrast. Which is not to say I’d be willing or able to pay for the printing of a hundred thousand copies of even a cheaply made book out of my own pocket. Even a mass market costs a dollar a piece or some such. But the costs of TV production are far, far higher. And while they may not all have absolute devotion to their niches, the fact that we draw distinctions between ESPN 1 and ESPN 27 is proof that Father Knows Best being our only option is no longer acceptable. We’ve got so many choices we can barely keep track of them, yet, and maybe this is just me, but I feel quite frequently like there are few products, and virtually no companies that are tailor made for me. Hence, I hunt them out. And I absolutely patronize them. Just like Carpe Fulgur sold 110,000 copies of its first project with no ads and no shelf space in stores because Nerds are legion. Hell, at this point, we’re so legion there’s a whole nerd-chic thing going on these days. See for instance: Glee.

From where I’m sitting, examples like Zane say that Publishers are, because of the necessities of retail, ignoring substantial markets because they aren’t “safe” enough. But it looks to me like playing it safe is pretty dangerous. Publishing is in such financial trouble right now because for years they’ve been doing what’s good for retail on the assumption that they can’t live without it. How else can they sell books? I don’t blame retail. It did what made sense for itself. And if Publishing couldn’t find a way to regain some of its power, that’s its own problem. However, retail is weak right now. Publishing can and should be using this as an opportunity and I’m not sure big publishers are. It’s great if they try and reach out to the fans more. Check out tor.com or Baen’s Bar online. But then again, you’ll notice the most interesting outreach are for the most niche products handled by mainstream publishers- SF and fantasy imprints which don’t have the budget for advertising and have to *gasp* create a sense of community with their customers.

But publishers aren’t being adventurous with the stories they print, and I don’t think it’s good for authors or consumers, and keeps the cycle of intense main-stream-best-seller-only focus going. For instance, it’s damn near impossible to get horror published anymore. Why would Simon and Schuster want you when they have Stephen King who pens a new bestseller on alternating Tuesdays? Doesn’t even matter if you’re as good as he is. You could be better, more original. No one cares. Hell, you might as well go to him and ask if he needs a ghost. Sometimes that’s the only way a horror novelist will see print.

Zane was a great example of publishers ignoring an entire market that turned out to be extremely lucrative on the false assumption there were no readers. And S&S was clever enough to pick up on that one, but it meant they were buying high when they could have had it low. And right now, there are struggles going on at every major publisher about whether they should have Hispanic imprints and what the focus should be. They haven’t considered the Asian market yet at all, near as I can tell. That leaves a vacuum to be filled by entrepreneurs, self published or start ups. Again, I’m not criticizing publishing as a whole. This is, as far as I’m concerned an essentially inevitable consequence of changing markets, lower startup costs, and my dear friend TEH INTERNETS. All’s I’m saying, is that although it’s a scary time for anyone who wants to “play it safe” (which includes me, actually) it’s a golden opportunity for people who aren’t quite as gutless as I am.