Walmart, Amazon, Target, Oh My!

If I were running a big publishing house right now, I would be terrified. And, if I were any of these authors affected, I would be furious. Normally a price war is a good thing but not in the case of Walmart, Amazon, Target, and now Sears (WTF!&$). They are taking a valuable (in my humble booksellers opinion) commodity and making it virtually worth nothing by charging 70% less than the cover price. I understand the concept of a "loss leader" but usually it's something like a DVD for a movie that already made $100 million or toilet paper, not a book. Independent bookselling is a precarious place at the best of times and now, during what should be the busiest time of the year, it is thrown completely off-kilter. Titles like John Grisham's Ford County, Stephen King's Under the Dome, and Barbara Kingsolver's Lacuna were supposed to be big sellers for EVERYONE this holiday, not just for the retailers who are going to lose money on them. Having read both Under the Dome and Lacuna, I was looking forward to being able to sell them as stellar novels to my customers with confidence that they were worth the cover price (or the 30% discounted price once they hit a bestseller list). Now I am going to have to convince my customers that they should give us their business as well as that a $9 hardcover is not the new standard.

How can an indie compete with that? Well, many of us are considering jumping on the bandwagon and buying them at Walmart, et al, rather than the publishers. Very scary. But what are we to do? We buy them wholesale for 46%. If we can buy them at considerably lower than that at one of these idiotic retailers, why the hell not? My issue is that I am torn between trying to make a profit this holiday and taking money out of my beloved sales reps' pockets. If I cancel my orders for these titles, titles that my reps are counting on to have great sales and help stabilize the market and therefore provoke more reorders, how is that going to affect them? And let's say that half of their indie stores cancel their orders and get them from Walmart, how much money are the reps going to lose? How much money are the publishers going to lose as a result? Will people lose their jobs? These are scary thoughts in an already shaky industry. But, if it forces people to take a stand against these kind of predatory pricing practices (thanks ABA for giving me this phrase), is it worth it? If the publishers would be willing to finally admit that the big boxes aren't playing well with others, would the industry change? Would we adopt a similar policy to some European countries that disallow pricing below wholesale (therefore making a slightly more level sales field)?

Another big question is what do the authors think? Does Grisham care whether his book is sold at $9 or $26? Or does he just care that it sold at all since he gets paid regardless? If it were me, I would be livid. It's like being told by your boss that you are doing a great job and are invaluable but that you need to take a 40% paycut because someone feels trying something new. "Take one for the Team" in essence. And the hilarious thing is that these authors aren't lightweights, they are some of the most popular and powerful authors in the marketplace today. I would be curious to know their opinions.

These are all very serious questions to ponder. Maybe all of us indies should band together and send an open letter to the affected publishers. Something that may convey the collective terror and dissatisfaction with the current state of the business.