This is something of a follow up to Jerry Doolittle’s recent post on Wal-Mart . Sarah Weinman, author and Crime Fiction columnist for the Baltimore Sun writes from her blog:
Over a three week period this summer, the following sales numbers were recorded for a NYT bestselling thriller writer's most recent book:B&N: 4,140
Waldenbooks: 4,888
Borders: 3,993
Anderson Merchandisers/Walmart: 47,671
Target: 16,341
Price/Costco: 17,291
Sam's: 14,108
Amazon: 320I’m not sure what shocked me more: the unbelievably low number for Amazon, or just how powerful Walmart and Costco really are in the publishing business.
If there’s a moral to the story (so to speak) it’s that to get on the bestseller lists, it probably behooves the writer to get very friendly with the folks at Walmart.
A commenter on Sarah’s blog made this point:
One of the most important things about being a big seller at WalMart for most authors is they are paid significantly less for each book. The royalty rates for books sold at a steep discount (which is why Costco and WalMart can sell them at such low prices) is nowhere near what it is for the same book sold to say..libraries.I believe the latest figures show WalMart and other box stores such as Costco account for more than half the book sales in the US.
When books are produced, the printer gets paid the same rate whether the book goes to Costco, Powells or Black Orchid here in NYC. The editors and production people in house get paid. The only people who earn significantly lower rates for big sales are the authors and their agents.
Is it made up in volume? I don't know. Is it worth it? I don't know that either.
A strange thought crossed my mind. Although authors alone couldn’t do it, why couldn’t an assortment of Wal-Mart suppliers form their own union? Something on the order of The Grange. I suppose many Wal-Mart suppliers would find it an abhorrent idea, but what other choice do they have until trust-busting comes back?
In Germany we have the 'Buchpreisbindung' for this reason, meaning books may not be sold at a discount anywhere, except if damaged. Of course the neoliberals and the EU are all against it ...
Posted by: Peter on August 21, 2006 11:07 AMwhy couldn’t an assortment of Wal-Mart suppliers form their own union?
An assortment of Wal-Mart suppliers sort of already did form a union - the People's Republic of China.
It's not that the idea was abhorrent - so much as the joys of communism proved far less attractive than driving other suppliers out of the market.
If the Chinese wanted to, they could probably produce an "original works factory" that produced best-sellers too, and most Americans probably wouldn't even know the difference.