A Critical Responsibility for Every Writer

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

I often hear fascinating stories from writers about their experiences in publishing. I listen to these stories because I learn more about the world of publishing. Often in the process, I discover some pitfalls to avoid with my own publishing efforts. Yes after years in publishing, I continue to learn—and I hope you are learning too because that is how we continue to grow as writers.

This author has written a number of nonfiction books. For his most recent book, he signed with a literary agent and had high hopes for the success of this book. While I'm not including the name of this agent, she is well respected within publishing. She has a large number of clients and has placed a number of books with various publishers. In other words, this agent has a good reputation and this author was thrilled to sign with such an agent. This agent took his nonfiction book and placed it with a small traditional publisher located in the midwest.

With the agent placing his book with a traditional house, he had high hopes for the success of this book. The author is connected and worked hard at getting reviews and book signings and other events to promote his new release. Yet this author could not get much traction (exposure and sales) in the brick and mortar bookstores. They would not order or carry his book inside the bookstores. Then he discovered the reason: this publisher did not allow retailers to return unsold books.

An aside: books inside bookstores have been 100% returnable for the lifetime of the book since the great depression in the 1930s. Publishers take all the risk on these books and while it seems unusual to people outside of publishing, returning books from retailers is simply a part of the fabric of publishing.

This author was enraged to learn his traditional publisher didn't allow returns. He spoke with his agent and she shrugged it off, saying, “Most books are sold through Amazon anyway. Returns is not an issue.”

Another aside: Amazon is a large player in the book publishing business but books are still selling in brick and mortar bookstores and other venues. You narrow your possibilities if you are only selling through Amazon (in my view).

This author learned a lesson from his experience—and one that every author should learn. You can delegate some things to your agent or a publisher, yet at the end of the day, the author bears the ultimate responsibility. The agent doesn't sign the bottom of the contract. Only the author signs the contract with the representative of the publisher. Yes the devil is in the details. It doesn't mean you have to do everything, but you have to know enough to monitor everything because if something falls apart, you will take the blame.

What did you learn from this story? Does it help you take the critical responsibility for your own writing and work? Let me know in the comments below.

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Why Authors Must Report Their Activities

Recently one of my Morgan James authors contacted me and asked, “Is my book really inside any Barnes and Noble bookstores. It was a good question and I turned to a colleague to find the answer.

I learned this particular book had been available to the brick and mortar bookstores for about six months (often the decision point marker for the retailer to return the book). Yes this book had been placed inside brick and mortar bookstores around the country (a big deal for any author) yet it was starting to be returned.

Surprise Information to Authors

When I speak with authors, they are often surprised to learn every book inside a brick and mortar bookstore is there on consignment. If the book does not sell, the retailer has the right to return the book to the publisher for a full refund. It’s a practice that began during the Great Depression and continues today. Returns cost publishers thousands of dollars each year. 

Hardcover books have a high rate of return (90% some years). It’s why when you go into your local Barnes & Noble there are hardcover books in the entry way which say “Last chance.” It is the last chance for these books to be purchased before they are returned and destroyed.

Everyone loses when a book is returned—the reader who misses the opportunity to purchase the book, the publisher who risked, printed and distributed the book, the author doesn’t make a sale (royalties) and the retailer invests energy to send it back. It’s a terrible business practice which isn’t going to change in the brick and mortar bookstores.

Broad distribution to brick and mortar bookstores is a key benefit of a traditional publisher. These books are not “available” for order but physically sit inside the retailer store so anyone can immediately purchase it.

What Authors Can Do

Every bookstore in the country buys books based on their perception of what the author is doing to promote their book. Are you promoting your book—and not just doing it but doing it in an effective way that gets people talking about your book and buying it? What works for one book is different for what works with another book. It will take experimentation and tracking on your part to see what will work for your book. There is no one path to success for a book. Every author has to take their own responsibility, and then be actively working at telling people about their book and encouraging them to get it at their local retailer.

For example, look at the website for my Billy Graham biography and notice the different buttons for purchase. One of them is for the local independent bookstore. Are you giving people different options to purchase your book? I recommend it.

At Morgan James, we are on the phone with our sales team every week—giving them specific details about what our authors are doing to promote their books. These sales people pass the information on to the bookstores and that is what keeps your book in the stores and not getting returned. If we don’t hear from our authors, we assume they are doing nothing—because most authors are doing nothing to promote their book.

The author who asked me if her books were in the bookstores was actively promoting her book—but she was not telling Morgan James. The communication was not happening between author and publisher.

Are you reporting your marketing activities to your publisher on a regular basis? It might be the difference between sales and returns. Ask your publisher what they need from you then deliver it on a regular basis.