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The Basics...Yet Again


A Saturday Rant 3-8-03


There has been a huge outcry of moaning, carping, and griping about Ingram's
new policies as well as those from Amazon.

 From day one (and that goes back a lot of years) we have always offered
Amazon one deal and one deal only. Our books (both trade and our high-priced
tech tomes that go for $99) are sold at 40% discount and they pay the
shipping. Take it or leave it.

Same deal I give to B&N... and anyone else. Take it or leave it.

I'm still selling books to Amazon and B&N.

I don't do business with Ingram because I can't make any money doing
business with them.

Some of you need to learn how to be a lot more assertive and agressive. A
bad deal is a bad deal. Yet so many of you will do bad deals and think you
can stay profitable. I don't know how you all do it.

I don't know about the rest of you but I don't want to work my butt off to
make pocket change. (I have a very expensive Jewish wife... like there is
such a thing as an inexpensive Jewish wife?) If I can't make a fair return
on a book through a channel, I drop the channel or I make them take MY
terms.

I'm not a member of Advantage (I'm not even sure what it is!). I keep my
business simple. I have one set of terms for everyone and I try to publish
books that can't be found anywhere else... or that have very few
competitors.

If the rest of you want to kill yourself to make a few dimes that's great.
Knock yourself out. It's just so much easier and so much more profitable to
create marketable product and sell at your own terms than to try to contort
your business to fit that of the major distributors.

And you know something? If more of you did this... and told Ingram and
Amazon and whomever "thanks, but kiss my ass" this industry would be a hell
of alot healthier.

But hell. I've been preaching this for years. Maybe one day all of you will
stop griping and carping about how the business model is in this industry
and organize yourselves into an IPAC (Ind. Publishers Action Committee) and
do something about it.

I think if a lot of you would spend more time coming up with product you can
market and sell that is unique and that can only be obtained via your own
channel as opposed to moaning about Ingram, B&T, Amazon, etc., you'd be a
hell of a lot better off.

Anyone going into this biz and thinking that bookstore sales is anything
other than "found money" is fooling themselves... but that's OK because they
won't be in biz long (assuming they need to support themselves via the
business.)

You know, I love all of you. You're all so sweet and you're all so gentle,
and you're all so helpful. But when it comes to bottom-line business
strategy, most of your are just plain ignorant. Small business vs. large
business or large distributor is war. And if you think you can "beat" the
system that was set up and designed for the benefit of the large publishers
and the large distributors, you have your head up your ass.

Yeah, I know a lot of you don't like me for the way I speak and write and
for my arrogance. And I know you don't like people like Jerry Jenkins for
the way he sometimes comes off (like me.) And there are others who seek to
"tell it how it is" like our Gloria Wolk who, in her indusry has more
enemies than you ever want to think about. But one day you're all going to
wake up and realize that those of us who have been preaching  "alternative
'kick-ass' marketing" and looking at channels OTHER than retail know what
we're talking about. And the reason we are not very humble is because we
don't have a hell of alot to be humble about!! We've succeeded and we
prosper... and you're dragging your butt through the dust and moaning about
it.

Stop your bitchin' and make some changes. Publish something else...
something new, unique, different, important and above all... marketable...
to a market that has money and seeks information. Just how hard is that?
It's a hell of a lot easier than playing the Ingram game, that's for damn
sure!

You say "But I publish fiction." Yeah, well then you're an idiot! How the
hell do you propose to compete in the fiction market against the NY houses
who can outspend you 1,000 to 1 and who have the tie-ins with TV and
Hollywood (where the real money is in fiction)?

I really want you all to succeed. Hell, I sell stuff (software) to you guys.
You folks put bread on my table.. and Beefeaters Gin in my glass (two
olives, stired not shaken). But I fear that if you folks don't wise up and
get crackin' that there won't be any of you left to buy my software or
anything else.

Find a need and fill it... and don't fill it unless you can make a fair
return on it. What is with you guys that you can't understand that?


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