It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month and encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.
The awesome co-hosts today are Rebecca Douglass, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Cathrina Constantine, and Jacqui Murray!
July 1 question: Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?
There are so many aspects of publishing that could be changed or adjusted:
Marketing
Royalties
Fees and hidden costs
Vanity presses
Book returns
Book events
Book tours
Consignment
Printing costs
Shipping costs
Amazon monopoly and eBook returns
Use of AI and AI authors
Copyright infringement
Big publishers and agents
Bookstore monopoly by bigger publishers
Book reviews
Audio book royalties
The list goes on and on…
As the owner of Dancing Lemur Press LLC, I know the one area that needs to be changed – book returns. They began during the Depression and never stopped. Book stores and wholesalers/distributors to book stores have 90 days to over a year to return unsold book, demanding a refund and sometimes shipping for books that are no longer in good condition. This results in a negative balance to publishers and authors. It is a practice that is long overdue to be retired. Along with Amazon’s 7-day return policy on eBooks – they are the only ones who allow returns.
What aspect of the industry do you think needs to change?
Be sure to find us elsewhere on social media:
X
Newsletter
17 comments:
Yeah, you have better insight than most people on this topic. But I agree. Unless an ebook was an accidental purchase, there should be no returning it. 7 days is plenty enough time to finish reading something.
So many things! Yes, the return policy is overdue for a redo!
Easy for most people to read a book in seven days so that's not fair.
Book returns are so archaic.
A ridiculous and punitory action that harms authors and their careers. I had a book returned with a well broken spine and even passages underlined! You order it, you bought it.
All reasonable thoughts, Diane. Let's hope...
Well if anyone should have good insights into the publishing world in our group, Diane, it would be you. I didn't know about the return issue. I have never returned a book in my life. You've done amazing things in writing and publishing, in spite of the challenges. Let's hope changes come to improve things!
Crystal, and I am sure that is exactly what people do - read and return.
Elizabeth, they are! Time for a change.
Nancy, yes!
Louise, thank you.
Thanks for sharing your concerns. Book returns are an issue that needs to be addressed.
Oh yeah, All those things need to be changed. Book returns have always felt really unfair, especially the 7 day ebook thing. I can read a book in a week, easy. It's just inviting people to game the system.
Diane, as a publisher, you definitely know these problems much deeper than any of us, mere writers, do. We can only comment from one side, but you know both sides, as you're an author too. It's not easy to be on both sides of the problem simultaneously.
Hi, Diane! I finally made it to the end of the members list with Nancy Gideon. I saw your comment there and replied to it there. But I want to make sure you see my reply: "Diane, I think you've done a wonderful job of publishing quality books. I've read quite a few from DLM, and I can't recall spotting an error. I also learned a lot by having you as an editor. You're someone who does a lot of heavy lifting for your authors." You are the perfect example of someone who does publishing on the small scale really well, and you deserve to hear it more!
As an indie writer im not as familiar with the details of the publishing industry. However, there are couple of areas that I feel need to change. I talk about those at my blog. I hope you have great weekend with your visitors!
As usual, you have hit on some important points. I agree that the ebook return policy is wrong. Returns after an hour or so--that I can go with. Seven days? That's long enough to read the book, then return it, effectively turning Amazon into a library, only without any profit to the writer. Given the 20% sample most books give, there's really no reason for returns at all.
Alex - sorry to pop up like this out of the blue - it's Mark K (now changed blog name to 'Tom Raillin'). I've been trying to get hold of Jeremy [Retro] for a while, as he'd sent me an email all the way back in '22, but could not find an email address to respond to. Being out of the loop for so long I looked up his blog and saw your comment about "missing him" - any chance you can bring me up to speed, please?
All the best,
Mark (K)
I’ve been trying different AI writing tools over the past few months, and it’s interesting to see how quickly they’re improving. For anyone still comparing options, I found this guide on Best Tested AI Book Writing Tools quite useful because it compares multiple tools instead of focusing on just one. Definitely worth checking out if you're planning to write an ebook or a full-length book. Thanks for the informative post!
I really enjoyed reading this article—it's always great to find content that provides practical insights instead of just repeating the same information. While researching similar topics, I also came across a few resources that might be useful for other readers: inaivideo.com for AI video creation, us-freelancer.com for freelancing resources, us-userway.com for accessibility-related information, and a helpful guide on tubemagic alternative free. Thanks again for sharing such a valuable post—I always enjoy discovering helpful resources through articles like this!
Post a Comment