down the writer's path

Ingram Book Company shakes up the POD world

The northwest isn’t the only landscape rumbling with volcanic activity. In the publishing industry the Ingram Book Company, the largest distributor of books, is refusing to stock even one or two titles of a print-on-demand (POD) book. This news came earlier today via email from a good source on a writer’s list who shared the information from Dan Poynter’s most recent newsletter. If this is true, Ingram’s decision will certainly have an impact on many small publishers and self-published authors. Steve Carlson, publisher of the small press Upper Access Books, had an article in the Publisher’s Marketing Association (PMA) newsletter in August detailing a sudden increase in returns followed by a move to purge all his company’s titles. Admittedly there were only three and the publisher had fallen below Ingram’s requirements but it now appears Carlson was, indeed, sounding a warning.

The news certainly won’t make POD authors happy, and now, more than ever, they will have to rely on distribution from Baker and Taylor and others to pick up the sudden slack.

The art of book distribution and Greeleaf Book Group

I am convinced that in the publishing world, book distribution is an art form, some would even say a dark one. Had I not already leaned in that direction, Greenleaf Book Group's Meg La Borde would have surely convinced me. I attended Houston's Association of Authors and Publishers (AAP) last night and heard La Borde's entertaining and highly informative talk. With the mantra "In an industry that is sink or swim, we help you fly," Greenleaf has set a high bar for excellence. If you're new to the writing and publishing game and are considering the self-published route, be forewarned: taking the time to learn all you can about the business, particularly the distribution process, can make or break you. What is needed is honest self-scrutiny. Do you have the knowledge needed to bring your project to a successful completion? In today's world that means more than a rudimentary understanding of the laws of punctuation--even for writers embarked on the traditional path to publishing.

Cautionary tales on taking the self-published route

A recent thread on an email list for writers discussed the various problems and decisions authors have regarding even things like size and binding. One poster noted that “Bookshops much prefer hardbacks or perfect bound paperbacks. Something where you can read the title on the spine while the book is filed on a shelf. Other kinds of bindings are a nuisance to display and to pack for delivery.”

Having worked at a Borders Books store in Houston for four years as a community relations coordinator, I can testify to some of the wounds self-published authors self-inflict. Odd sizes can be problematic. I remember our inventory manager complaining about a couple of mystery books we'd accumulated due to the authors having done a signing at our store. Larger than mass markets, they were more difficult to shelve and affected the displays, etc. While the copyright suggested they were small press, the books were in essence self-published. So many things need to be taken into consideration when the self-publishing route is contemplated..