[LMB] Tax law and the publishing industry

[Ed Burkhead]

The third topic we discussed, relevant here, was about backlist books.

The bookstore owner said that in the 1980s, Congress changed the tax law
making it no longer profitable to keep backlist books.  He said that
publishing companies used to make big print runs of an author's books and
keep the extras in a warehouse, selling them slowly as orders came in.  The
tax law changed this.

Now the publishers are punished for warehousing these books so when sales
drop off, the remaining books are dumped, often at cheap prices, to get rid
of them.  The publishers are no longer offering slow-selling backlist books.

He gave an example of a romance author with 160 published books.  In the old
days, he said, the entire backlist would usually be kept available on the
warehouse shelves.  Now, only the newest books are kept.

I'm also thinking of Herself with 13 Vorkosigan Saga books, stretching back
into the '80s.  If it weren't for Baen Books publishing omnibus editions,
the first part of the series might be very hard to find.  As it is, I'm
discouraged how difficult it is to find the series-starter books in book
stores.  How do you sell books 11, 12 and 13 in a series if people can't buy
the entry point #1?  It makes sense for an ongoing series to keep the entire
series in print.

What about books that don't fit a series?  Will they be available?  Will we
need to buy e-books or books printed by "Just In Time On The Spot" book
printing machines to get them?  Will these things save the writing
profession (and the reading hobby) by keeping good books "in print"?

Ed