Amazon’s “Temporarily out of stock” notices
Recently, I’ve noticed that Amazon has put a “Temporarily out of stock” notice on the paperback version of The Boy Who Ran. Based on what their agent said over the phone to me, I’m not sure they ever stocked many (or perhaps any) copies. The Boy Who Ran printed, bound, and distributed by Ingram Books’ Lightning Source in a model called “Print on Demand”, or POD.
POD has changed the nature of publishing. It’s made it inexpensive to print, bind and ship one copy of a book and it’s helping to revolutionize publishing hardcopy editions, both soft-back and hardback copies for those who prefer to buy a physical book rather than an e-book. I personally buy Kindle editions, originally because it was more convenient for me to carry a Kindle when I travel than 100 books. I read a lot, and I used to travel for months at a time for my job—living in hotels. But many people prefer to hold a physical book when they read, a sentiment I can understand even if I don’t share it. POD makes it possible for small publishers (like me) to compete with the big boys. Ingram (using their Lightning Source entity) does my production and Ingram (the largest book distributor in the world) is my distributor. My books are made available globally through their catalog. There is no need to print thousands of copies, to be housed in a warehouse, nor is there an overwhelming need to stock many copies in a store, since Lightning Source can create and ship any number of copies within 2 to 3 days. In some bookstores, there are even machines that can produce the book on site.
I offer my book in three formats: paperback, Kindle, and e-pub. E-pub is a format used by other e-readers, although many tablets can accept either the Kindle or the e-pub versions. The book is offered through numerous channels, Amazon and Barnes & Noble both have an e-version and the paperback. SmashWords partners with numerous channels, like Barnes & Noble for the e-version, as well as Apple Books, Scribed (a subscription service) and many others.
My recent confusion over Amazon’s reported delay deepened when i called them to understand why they had suddenly used a Temporarily out of stock notice, beginning around Thanksgiving. The representative told me that all of the Lightning Source books were being treated this way—this may or may not be true. Meanwhile Barnes & Noble is still reporting that they could ship in one day. I suggested to the rep at Amazon that, if Amazon’s internal receiving, warehousing, handling, and shipping process was causing a delay that they arrange for Lightning Source to ship directly to the customer. They would save cost and the customer would get their books faster.
Meanwhile, I’ve added a Barnes & Noble button to my web site, to allow customers to choose: Amazon or B&N for their paperback choice. I decided early on that I would not sell books directly. I want to avoid the complications of setting up shipping and managing sales taxes. My main objective is to write and publish books, not to be a sales distributor.
I don’t know what’s behind the change at Amazon and I don’t want to speculate about motivations. It doesn’t matter—only actions matter—and the customers are best served when they can decide if they want a paper or e-book, and then to receive what they buy as quickly and efficiently as possible, while keeping the prices reasonable. As a publisher, I make almost exactly same gross profit on each book, be it e-book or physical book. The e-book for the Boy Who Ran is priced at $2.99 and the physical book at 10.99. No matter which is bought, my gross profit is $2, although I paid for development, design, layout, and I still pay for marketing and advertising from my profits—In fact The Boy Who Ran is still a large net loss for me. Publishers, like myself, also offer a very significant discount to all physical bookstore channels, to make it worth their while to carry the book. They can sell the book for less if they like and still make a profit. Writing and publishing books is not something you take up for money. Very few (less than 1% of books published) sell many copies.
So. If you have a choice if you are looking for my book: Amazon is a great company and I will continue to use them, but they seem to have a built in delay for Ingram / Lightning Source physical books (although I suspect it’s less than estimated). But there are other places that have them in stock and Barnes & Noble seems to have found a way to ship quickly. The consumer has (and should have) a choice.
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