From: Juan Riera (jriera_@hotmail.com)
Date: 06/18/01-11:40:56 AM Z
Even if this can turn a little bit off-topic, my humble experience with
Amazon when I sold some books there is that I've got my money on my account
the same day the other people send the payment to me. So, I can not be more
satisfied...
On the other side, as D. Burkholder is on this list from time to time, maybe
he would clear to us if he rather prefer to make business directly with us
on this list or not. Why interpret if we can have the real one?
Unhappily, I am waiting my copy of DB's book from Amazon next week... what a
pity! In the meantime, just will take some photos out there... ;-)
Regards,
Juan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Judy Seigel" <jseigel@panix.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2001 3:03 AM
Subject: Re: Dan Burkholder's book
>
> On Sat, 16 Jun 2001, Pam Niedermayer wrote:
>
> > "give"? It may be that it's cheaper for an author to pay a reseller
> > than to spend time at such boring tasks as packaging and shipping.
>
> The book comes from the printer packed. "Shipping" consists of telling his
> computer to print a label, which presumably he wants for his own records
> anyway, and dropping in a mailbox. And he's paid. Or let me put that in
> capital letters:
>
> AND HE'S PAID !
>
> As a veteran of 30 years in small press publishing I reveal an ugly
> secret: Often it is difficult if not impossible for a small press to get
> paid by the "reseller." Amazon.com is actually pretty good, but my
> not-for-profit umbrella is owed THOUSANDS of dollars by such firms as
> Borders.... in which nameless and faceless factotums tell you it's paid,
> or they don't have that invoice, or they'll check on it, or it's in the
> mail, or whatever the line is that day. Sometimes if you have a book their
> customer has requested they'll pay a back bill to get it. But just as
> often they'll tell the customer it's out of print.
>
> Then there are bookstores which go into bankruptcy owing you for a year's
> books. There are also distributors who go into bankruptcy. If the
> distributor has been a slow payer in the past, but always paid, they might
> owe for TWO years' books.
>
> Presumably Burkholder has gotten pretty savvy & knows where he has to get
> payment upfront. But generally speaking if a reseller (Barnes & Noble, et
> al) order a bunch they get a 40% discount AND pay when they get around to
> it, often after a year (or more!!) of dunning invoices. AND they'll often
> ship all or much of an order back if it doesn't sell as fast as expected.
>
> Again, Burkholder has a unique item in a niche market, and thus may not
> have this problem (a lot), but the fact is that the bookstores NEED
> Doubleday and Abrams and Random House, they don't need the small press.
>
> Finally, as I recall, Dan's book sells for $24. Forty percent of that is
> $9.60. The charge for shipping and handling is maybe $5 or $6, or more
> than the actual bookrate postage. Most small press authors are willing to
> stick on a label and drop a book in the mail for approximately $12. If you
> do that, say, once a week, say for 5 books, even if it takes 5 minutes per
> book, you're still "earning" at a rate of $120 an hour.
>
> Which can bind a lot of boredom molecules.
>
> Judy
>
> .................................................................
> | Judy Seigel, Editor >
> | World Journal of Post-Factory Photography > "HOW-TO and WHY"
> | info@post-factory.org >
> | <http://rmp.opusis.com/postfactory/postfactory.html>
> .................................................................
>
>
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