Can a book go underwater due to return fees?

[Andrew]

I'm strongly considering venturing out beyond CreateSpace for my novel, and Lightning Spark (Ingram) seemed to be ideal until I realized something...

Suppose a bookstore chain purchased a large quantity of my books from Ingram but because of a management turf battle they directly send the entire shipment back to be destroy.

I could go into series debt without even selling a single book!

How badly do I need to worry about something like this? Is there anything I can do to reduce my potential exposure?

[Mercia]

No bookstore is likely to order a lot of copies without good reason. That good reason being that they expect to sell a shedload. If your book has shedload buzz then you should make up for those returns with sales elsewhere. If it does not have shedload buzz you have nothing to worry about. If you set your books to not allow returns very few bookstores will touch your book with a bargepole.

PS its Ingram Spark, which is the baby sister of Lightning Source.

[Kristi]

What Mercia said.
(And she said it with more tact than I was coming up with as I contemplated a response.)

[Andrew]

I understand. I've felt I should explore worst case scenarios because I've been hurt too much in life before by people acting treacherously. What I suppose you two are saying, is that its unlikely in the extreme any conspiracy in a book chain would take place to destroy an author who they want to censor from the marketplace. That the possibility seems that the facts are pointing to.

[Mellie]

Firstly the store has to order your books. Having it in the Ingram catalog alone is not sufficient, given it contains thousands and thousands of titles. You still need to do the leg work to even have a bookstore consider stocking your title. I know, for example, that B&N ask for a submission package that includes marketing plan etc before they will even consider ordering your book.

IF it is ordered, most stores will only order a few copies to test the market, give it 6-8 weeks and then return if they're not sold. Return fees can mount, as you incur the full wholesale price plus an additional "return charge" of $2/book. I honestly can't see a store ordering hundreds of copies of an unknown author's book. The only time they order large quantities is when there is a specific event, like a signing.

[Andrew]

Signing is how I intend to start. My local B&N said I needed to have my book returnable before I could do that. I'd be doing return/destroy. I have no idea whatever what a marketing plan should be for books, other than to use social media to advertise. I'm bootstrapping from zero. However, I'm sick and tired of all the bookstores in my area boycotting CreateSpace and requiring my books be returnable. My book is going nowhere because my family only has the one car and I live in a small town. I did great in town but I saturated the local market. Money is not the issue. Having my book readable by the general public is what's on my bucket list. Unfortunately, I have to sell it rather than give it away, because people turn away from free goods on the grounds that they might be worthless and not worth their time.

[Mellie]

Andrew wrote: "My book is going nowhere because my family only has the one car and I live in a small town"

I live in rural New Zealand with no local bookstores and far too many sheep (none of whom read). Physical location is irrelevant, there is plenty you can do online to market your book and target your audience. E-book sales account for over 95% of my sales and that is where I invest my time and energy. I'm not sure why you are focusing all your energy on getting your book into stores, where you will only make a slim margin anyway?

[Kristi]

Are you releasing eBooks? If you can generate buzz about your book online, then eBooks have a great reach and do not require a physical product and therefore the overhead is minimal to none, with no return fees.

I have several very successful author friends who only do eBooks, and have great online presence, and do very well. There is even a service called Authorgraph that allows an author to digitally sign eBooks for their fans. Even books that are heavy with pictures, graphs, etc, can be reasonably represented in an eBook - if you get the formatting right.

[Jane]

Kristi wrote: "Are you releasing eBooks? If you can generate buzz about your book online, then eBooks have a great reach and do not require a physical product and therefore the overhead is minimal to none, with n..."
Like!

[Andrew]

I've got no problem with e-books. I've had modest success with them, and I intend to coordinate my efforts there as a complement to physical books.

However, its part of my bucket list to have a physical book written by myself accessible for people to obtain even after I pass on, margin be damned so long as I don't go underwater.

I'm not in it for the money, but I do want the book to pay its own freight. E-books are ephemeral to many, and so I want to honor those peoples' wishes.