According to Widipedia: Remaindered books are books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. While the publisher takes a loss on the sales of these books, they're able to make some money off the sale and clear out space in the warehouses.
What isn't mentioned in that definition is that AUTHORS DON'T MAKE ANY MONEY ON THESE BOOKS.
Sad, but true.
Do I still buy remainders now that I'm an author? *blush* Yes. The thought of a book being pulped is just terrible (and that's what happens to books the publisher can't sell, either because they don't have enough (places like B&N, Borders, and Edward Hamilton) buy by the pallet load, often for pennies). And the shipping is very reasonable. If you buy from the catalog (snail mail), shipping is $3.50 -- no matter how many books you buy. (It's more expensive if you buy online--and they charge an extra $.40 a book, too.)
Since I learned about remaindered books, I often wondered if I'd see Murder on the Mind or Dead in Red in the catalog. Wasn't going to happen. For one, they never even printed a pallet full of either title. (Okay maybe Dead in Red--but then I bought what was left in the warehouse when the book went out of print, and it wasn't anywhere near a pallet load. That said, I'm selling the $26 book for $11 postage paid (US only) on my web site and I sure would like to clear that space. If you're interested, click here.)
The newest catalog came the other day and I started flipping through it. Weeee. There's a Sandra Lee cookbook for $6 that I marked as a possible, and they're selling The Greatest American Hero full series for only $20 (that's three seasons--I almost bought it for $25 over the summer, but then lost the catalog), and they're selling a version of the Yule Log (I have no fireplace) for only $3!!! How can I possibly turn down these bargains???
Holy Smoke! One of my books is in the Edward Hamilton catalog! Not only that, but there's Susan Albert Wittig's current hardcover The Tale of Oat Cake Crag, and Miranda James's Murder Past Due (that I wrote the blurb for).
These days, the company does sell in-print books, books the authors DO earn royalties on, and they do sell them for a reduced price. The list price on Chapter & Hearse is $7.99. Edward Hamilton is selling it for $5.95. (Plus shipping.) Susan's books is a $23.95 book going for $14.95 -- quite a savings.
Do I care that they're selling my book for $2 off list price? Heck no! I still make my full royalty--because the book is still in print (and I hope it stays that way for a LONG TIME.) And I love the fact that they choose to feature the covers of Miranda's, Susan's and my book books. Hopefully, we'll find new readers via the catalog. I'm crossing my fingers that it happens.
I don't buy the bulk of my books from Edward Hamilton. I buy from Barnes & Noble and now Amazon for Kindle downloads (and get this, authors make more money from e books than print books). If we had an independent bookstore within a 15 minute drive, I'd support it, too. (The closest one to me is about a half hour drive in a nearby college town.)
Where do you buy the bulk of your books?
I buy the bulk of my books at Borders. Im there so much with knitting friends so I usually always pick up a book off my list while I am there.
ReplyDeleteI buy the bulk of my books from Amazon, a few purchases from Borders or B&N. I also buy from the Tattered Cover up in Highlands Ranch - they're and independent with a couple of stores just in the Denver area and often have author signings. And lastly, I do seem to buy a large number of books at library book sales. I'm a big fan of libraries and so I like to support their fundraising efforts. But mostly what I buy from them are books they have discarded that are still in good condition that I can put in my school library.
ReplyDeleteI buy most of my books at the local B&N. When we lived in NJ, I shopped at three different B&N stores (Clifton, Union, Menlo Park), and developed good relationships with several sellers at each store (in fact, when I retired, two of them tried to talk me into applying for jobs with them, since they see booklovers as assets to the staff). I'll buy the odd book on B&N.com if it's a special online price which is cheaper than what I'd pay in the store with my discount.
ReplyDeleteI buy the bulk of my books (printed and digital) at either B&N or Amazon and I comparison shop between the two.
ReplyDeleteAmazon.com is where I purchase most of my books. I have the Kindle app for my iPad and iPhone and love it! However, I will continue to buy the hard copies of the authors/series that I have in hard copy all ready. I got a Nook for Christmas, and hope to use it to check out library ebooks. I have found new authors that way. Then I end up purchasing their books.
ReplyDeleteB&N gets most of my book dollars, especially since I got my Nook. When I pre-order, I can download at 12:01am on release date! And I'll be doing more now that I know my favorite authors get a bigger royalty from the ebook format (must be the lower overhead for the publisher!)!
ReplyDeleteI buy physical books & e-books at the B&N across the street. Audiobooks I buy via Audible for my MP-3.
ReplyDeleteI will admit that I am a library girl. We've run out of room for books to live in, so they only come to visit. Someday I shall have a vast library and buy them all from an indie store :)
ReplyDeleteI use Amazon alot. My husband and I use our c.c. rewards point for gift cards to use on Amazon. But I look for cozies any where there are books. If there aren't any......I nag :) And it works!! The Shopko near me had about 15 different cozies on the shelf this time :-D Better than the 2 last time!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm almost 100% digital (LOVE my Nook!) so I buy mostly from B&N. I'll buy an occasional hardback -- again, at B&N, but I literally can't remember when I bought a paperback. I've switched over to digital because, quite frankly, I was running out of room to store my paperbacks! I'm a reader -- there are exceedingly few books I've ever read JUST ONCE. Some I've read upwards of 10-12 times. Now I find I can read/re-read my Nook books as often as I want. And I never have to try and figure out where that special book is -- it's in my Nook! My favorite independent bookstore went out of business & I don't shop at Amazon because they don't (to my knowledge) sell e-books for the Nook. Thank heaven YOUR books are available for my Nook!!!
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