Ouch.
There's a TV commercial playing out here for a closeouts store called Big Lots! (the exclamation mark is part of their name). And this week's special is...remaindered books. They show maybe a dozen paperback and hardcover books--romances, mysteries, thrillers, you name it (I don't think there was any SF shown, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any there).
Imagine you're the author of a book and you see a TV ad which essentially says (to those who understand how the publishing industry works): hey, your book was a drug on the market. As well to say, hey, your book is going to be used to wrap fish! Big Lots! isn't to blame--they're selling books the same way they sell anything else: Hey, it's cheap, come buy it! The publishers really aren't to blame: they have inventory they want to sell, and this is a way to do that. But still: ouch.
Imagine you're the author of a book and you see a TV ad which essentially says (to those who understand how the publishing industry works): hey, your book was a drug on the market. As well to say, hey, your book is going to be used to wrap fish! Big Lots! isn't to blame--they're selling books the same way they sell anything else: Hey, it's cheap, come buy it! The publishers really aren't to blame: they have inventory they want to sell, and this is a way to do that. But still: ouch.
posted by Madeleine Robins at 9:39 PM
3 Comments:
Time for a chorus of "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered"?
---L.
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Yeah, Patrick, it was an overstatement. But I still would find it rather daunting to see my book on TV as part of a close out sale: "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered, and Advertised on TV."
I think what I meant about "the way publishing works" when I posted that (last night, when I was clearly out of my mind after an heroically long weekend) was that to people who are pure consumers and see no difference (except price) between buying a book at full price and buying a book from the remainder table, might think, "Oh, good, a book by my favorite author, I must go pick it up!" But (as one who has handled the remainder lists) I would have a considerably more complex reaction.
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