Update on Book Markets

Re: Update on Book Markets

Jason,

Absolutely not... Amazon will buy from me, compete against me, (or I against
them)
and I'll sell to anyone I like... and this morning Borders called with a PO for
my book,
the first time they have ever bought it (I suspect my publisher being a barnes
and
noble company, borders eschewed them before.)

so today I have been scrambing to set up accounting for Seattle Teachers College
press, to procees the Borders order, and it has stopped me from taking my wee
runabout out on lake washington today to enjoy the sun. (64 and sunny in
seattle).

I'll be lucky if I have time to cover the boat today. Am I to be spared
nothing?!

John


--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, "Jason Carrion" wrote:
>
> So I take it that Amazon will now have exlusive access to your book? If
> that's the case then Amazon will be definately begin selling more copies of
> the book since it's competition will have limited access to copies.
>
> More Amazon sales plus higher royalties per book. Nice!
>
> I love Amazon. Can't tell you how much money I have spent with them. :)
>
> Jason
>
>
> On 12 Oct 2006 17:31:00 -0000, John Spiers wrote:
> >
> > Folks,
> >
> > I don't consider myself a teacher, although I do enjoy explaining how
> > international trade
> > works, and learning more about it. I do not consider myself a writer,
> > although I have a book
> > on Amazon that sells better than hundreds of thousands of other books
> > there (Amazon
> > updates sales rates daily (I check occassionally) , and I've seen mine as
> > high as Amazon's
> > 3,824th best seller for the day, which means it was a better seller than
> > millions of books).
> >
> > I love lookng at how things work, especially when they are revolutionary.
> > Clearly Jeff Bezo's at
> > Amazon has spotted the unfairness in the publishing industry, because he
> > goes straight at it
> > and offers remarkably empowering means to writers.
> >
> > It is as if Amazon has taken the chief complaints of writers about
> > publishers, and is working
> > his way down the list, from top to bottom, solving the writers' problems.
> > I am wondering if
> > amazon is not so much a bookstore as a service company, dedicated to
> > writers (and
> > musicians, and filmmakers, etc).
> >
> > Recently amazon made it easy for writers to become a supplier to amazon,
> > each writer selling
> > his own books, with amazon acting as retailer. Publishers and wholesalers
> > have had such
> > wretched lock on distribution that writers would get little for their
> > work. Copyright law
> > benefits the publishers and the wholesalers, never the writer.
> >
> > Amazon has always welcomed people to compete with amazon ON amazon. What
> > retailer
> > would allow a competitor to come in and compete on the retailer's
> > premises? Unheard of,
> > until amazon. Amazon of course gets a cut of every sale, but what are your
> > chances of
> > walking into Saks and saying "let me sell Louis Vuitton luggage with your
> > luggage, and I'll
> > give you 10%..." ... ain't gonna happen.
> >
> > I see amazon selling my book for $25.95, and other bookstores selling it
> > for less, on amazon.
> > Both Amazon and these other bookstores get the book from the exact same
> > wholesaler, at
> > the same price, about $15.00. I know this because I get sales reports and
> > can trace retail
> > back to wholesale. Amazon charges $25.95, and usually free shipping, these
> > others charge
> > around $20, plus shipping. The wholesaler buys my book from the publisher,
> > who prints it.
> > These bookstores sell my book on amazon as new, for less than amazon, on
> > amazon! They
> > sell quite a few copies, and stock it for quick delivery. Amazon stocks it
> > as well.
> >
> > (And to just make it weirder, Barnes and Noble owns my publisher, but
> > B&N.com does not
> > stock my book, they only order against orders!) (My book sells regular
> > retail as well, with
> > University Bookstore in Seattle having sold a few hundred copies at
> > $25.95).
> >
> > So, this week I fired my publisher (a B&N subsidiary), became a vendor to
> > Amazon (they buy
> > from me for their warehouses instead of from the book wholesalers) I guess
> > I am now a book
> > wholesaler too, and I am running this under Seattle Teachers College, Inc,
> > a corporation I
> > own.
> >
> > Yesterday I received express 20 copies of my book printed in Hong Kong,
> > pulled out of a
> > shipment of 1000 books that will eta 6 Nov. These will land warehouse
> > value at about $3.00
> > per copy. They are superior in quality of production, paper and ink to
> > what was made in USA.
> >
> > There are reasons for this: one way the government controls the press in
> > USA is to dictate
> > paper content and ink composition. the rules are as silly as the EPA
> > declaring "sand" as a
> > hazardous material (it's true), but the effect is the price of paper and
> > ink is far higher in usa
> > than anywhere else. USA pays the most.
> >
> > Labor is not cheaper in hong kong for printing books, because the labor
> > factor is moot.
> > Printing is computer and mechanized intensive work. I visited the Hong
> > Kong plant last April,
> > and was sorry for America. The expensive part of all this is management,
> > and Hong Kong has
> > excess capacity in world class management, therefore management is cheaper
> > there. (World
> > class management is in very short supply in USA, so it is too expensive).
> >
> > But back to the economics: Amazon will list my book for $25.95, sell it
> > for something like
> > $18.00 per copy, and pay me about $12 a copy for my book. As I said, I pay
> > about $3.00 a
> > copy. So last week I got about a buck royalty for each copy that sold on
> > amazon for $25.95,
> > and next week I'll get about $9 a copy for each book that sells on amazon
> > for about $18.00.
> > At the lower price on amazon I suspect I'll be getting more $9.00s than I
> > was ever getting
> > $1.00s.
> >
> > This is no big deal, it is just an example of how one person, Bezos, acted
> > on what everyone
> > knew to be a scam (USA publishing and bookselling) and came up with a
> > better way. I too
> > decided it was wrong, and drove a truck thru the opening amazon created.
> >
> > Also this week, after topping off the oil in my car at Jiffy-Lube, I
> > walked into a high end home
> > furnishings store and blew passed the receptionist alarmed at the carpets
> > under my arm. I
> > wandered around until a nicely dressed fellow said "may I help you?" I
> > dropped the carpets at
> > his feet and said "an artist has designed these carpets, and had these
> > samples made in China.
> > She says stores like your will sell these carpets. Is she dreaming?"
> >
> > He replied, "I am not the buyer, just a designer. Here is the buyers name
> > and number. But if
> > he will not buy them, I have clients always looking for new and
> > interesting. Can I take
> > pictures for them to see." "Sure, and just contact the designer direct if
> > you want any made..."
> >
> > As soon as I can find time, I'll meet the buyer, and let you know what he
> > says.
> >
> > Folks, this stuff is easy... must get going!
> >
> > John

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