1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be sold even before it is out in stores? 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
> 1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to > be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies > being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be > sold even before it is out in stores? > 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent > back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
Keep in mind that I'm telling you about the bigger distributors, since I think that's what you asked about; there are tons of little indy distributors who have a plethora of policies, but in general, this is what happens on a 1,000,000 copy-type scale. This may be WAY more detail than you care about.
To answer your question about guaranteed sales... I guess it depends on who they're making the claim to. If it's your magazine, and they're making it to *you*, you're probably being scammed- at the very least they're exaggerating. There will always be returns, and consider that the national average sale for magazines is only about 38%. 38%! That means that of those 1,000,000 copies you're talking about, 620,000 are likely to be chucked in some way. Of course, that's an average, and many magazines sell better than that- and many sell worse, which brings that average down to its current miserable level. In addition, the average varies by industry. If you only include "specialty retailers" like Borders or Barnes & Noble, the average sale goes up to 55-60%, depending on who you're getting your figures from. It's still an awful lot of waste. But I'll tell you this: even when a big magazine is selling like crazy, because Demi Moore is naked on the cover, or the first pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby are inside, there are always returns, due to copies that arrive damaged, or get shopworn, etc.
And I think there are lots of people, including people hereabouts, who may have been told that their mag/zine was going to sell great, just GREAT- and then the returns came in. This is tied to the returns process.
What happens to magazines when they don't get sold also depends on what industry you're talking about. The vast majority of magazines- those sold in grocery stores, liquor stores, drugstores, that kind of thing- are dropped off and picked up by a local wholesaler, so they take away the whole thing. They then take them back to their warehouses, where they're scanned and then pulped, and the number unsold is reported to the publisher- and deducted from the publisher's check. Specialty retailers usually only have to return the cover to their "national distributor." They can do this because they promise to "destroy" the magazine that remains, which usually means they make sure they get into a dumpster out back of the store. (The same thing happens with a lot of paperback books, incidentally.) The reason here is that everyone (outside of the local wholesalers, that is) has figured out that magazines are cheap to sell, so you're not making a whole lot of money on an individual magazine, but relatively heavy, and consequently expensive to ship (especially if you're driving them around, like the local wholesalers do). So the national distributors tally up all the returned covers, and then report the number unsold to the publisher, and deduct from the publishers check. (And by the way, the local wholesalers probably *do* know that it's not a terrific idea to have their own people, in their own breaking-down, aging, gas guzzling delivery trucks, tooling around and stocking magazines. But the people they're selling to are paying a premium to not have to touch those things- they just buy the shelves and make the money. Specialty retailers actually have employees who do this, so they get a bigger cut of the profits, and get their magazines shipped to them.)
AND: most of the time retailers have up to 90 days after a magazine goes off-sale to eturn it, which means that those returns keep trickling in. The distributor will deduct when they get the first batch, and then again as more returns report, and then again as more returns report. It can be kind of alarming, especially to new publishers, who would like a clean, "okay, all the returns are in, and here's what we owe" experience. You can have that- but it means you have to wait a LONG time for your check as the distros wait for ALL the possible returns to come in. Oh, and did I mention that the publishers get charged for all the covers that get counted? That gets deducted from the paycheck, too.
The only people who ever give publishers unsold copies back are small distros, usually zine distros, and I'm not even sure that's common. And then there are some distributors who'll just buy everything outright, no returns. Diamond Comics is the biggest outfit that does this, btu a lot of zine people do, too. The tradeoff for getting a paycheck and not worrying about sales or returns is that you get a MUCH smaller piece of the action, since the distributor assumes all the risk.
Thank you Clint for such a thorough reply. I was just wondering because having seen the circulation for let say rolling stone magazine (I think it was 1.5 million), I thought it was odd to hear that a NEW magazine would have a guarantee of sales. But what you are telling me is that it always comes back to the publisher if magazine are not sold (unless the are with a big company that will assume the risk - btw, why would a big company assume the risk?)
> > 1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to > > be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies > > being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be > > sold even before it is out in stores? > > 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent > > back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
> Keep in mind that I'm telling you about the bigger distributors, since > I think that's what you asked about; there are tons of little indy > distributors who have a plethora of policies, but in general, this is > what happens on a 1,000,000 copy-type scale. This may be WAY more > detail than you care about.
> To answer your question about guaranteed sales... I guess it depends on > who they're making the claim to. If it's your magazine, and they're > making it to *you*, you're probably being scammed- at the very least > they're exaggerating. There will always be returns, and consider that > the national average sale for magazines is only about 38%. 38%! That > means that of those 1,000,000 copies you're talking about, 620,000 are > likely to be chucked in some way. Of course, that's an average, and > many magazines sell better than that- and many sell worse, which brings > that average down to its current miserable level. In addition, the > average varies by industry. If you only include "specialty retailers" > like Borders or Barnes & Noble, the average sale goes up to 55-60%, > depending on who you're getting your figures from. It's still an awful > lot of waste. But I'll tell you this: even when a big magazine is > selling like crazy, because Demi Moore is naked on the cover, or the > first pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby are inside, there are always > returns, due to copies that arrive damaged, or get shopworn, etc.
> And I think there are lots of people, including people hereabouts, who > may have been told that their mag/zine was going to sell great, just > GREAT- and then the returns came in. This is tied to the returns > process.
> What happens to magazines when they don't get sold also depends on what > industry you're talking about. The vast majority of magazines- those > sold in grocery stores, liquor stores, drugstores, that kind of thing- > are dropped off and picked up by a local wholesaler, so they take away > the whole thing. They then take them back to their warehouses, where > they're scanned and then pulped, and the number unsold is reported to > the publisher- and deducted from the publisher's check. Specialty > retailers usually only have to return the cover to their "national > distributor." They can do this because they promise to "destroy" the > magazine that remains, which usually means they make sure they get into > a dumpster out back of the store. (The same thing happens with a lot > of paperback books, incidentally.) The reason here is that everyone > (outside of the local wholesalers, that is) has figured out that > magazines are cheap to sell, so you're not making a whole lot of money > on an individual magazine, but relatively heavy, and consequently > expensive to ship (especially if you're driving them around, like the > local wholesalers do). So the national distributors tally up all the > returned covers, and then report the number unsold to the publisher, > and deduct from the publishers check. (And by the way, the local > wholesalers probably *do* know that it's not a terrific idea to have > their own people, in their own breaking-down, aging, gas guzzling > delivery trucks, tooling around and stocking magazines. But the people > they're selling to are paying a premium to not have to touch those > things- they just buy the shelves and make the money. Specialty > retailers actually have employees who do this, so they get a bigger cut > of the profits, and get their magazines shipped to them.)
> AND: most of the time retailers have up to 90 days after a magazine > goes off-sale to eturn it, which means that those returns keep > trickling in. The distributor will deduct when they get the first > batch, and then again as more returns report, and then again as more > returns report. It can be kind of alarming, especially to new > publishers, who would like a clean, "okay, all the returns are in, and > here's what we owe" experience. You can have that- but it means you > have to wait a LONG time for your check as the distros wait for ALL the > possible returns to come in. Oh, and did I mention that the publishers > get charged for all the covers that get counted? That gets deducted > from the paycheck, too.
> The only people who ever give publishers unsold copies back are small > distros, usually zine distros, and I'm not even sure that's common. > And then there are some distributors who'll just buy everything > outright, no returns. Diamond Comics is the biggest outfit that does > this, btu a lot of zine people do, too. The tradeoff for getting a > paycheck and not worrying about sales or returns is that you get a MUCH > smaller piece of the action, since the distributor assumes all the > risk.
I don't want to speak for Clint -- as he is the de-facto godfather of indy pubs at this point -- but what I think he was saying is that it's more likely that a publisher will get either just covers back (not whole magazines) or will not get anything back, just a report from the "middleman distributor".
Remember, Clint is talking about three different parties when talking about larger publications: the publisher, a distributor, and a retailer.
And I think the reason that distributors assume the risk when buying mags outright, is that there's money to be made. So, instead of paying 50% of the cover price per issue, they may only pay 30%. When dealing with a distributor that can give you cash upfront terms, you tend to do whatever they ask of you, since it's better to have a dollar in your hand than a promise of two dollars tomorrow.
As for Rolling Stone's circulation numbers -- keep in mind that magazines lie about such things so that they can charge more for ads.
And anyone who guarantees sales in ANY industry, publications or otherwise, is pulling a fast one on you.
David D wrote: > Thank you Clint for such a thorough reply. > I was just wondering because having seen the circulation for let say > rolling stone magazine (I think it was 1.5 million), I thought it was > odd to hear that a NEW magazine would have a guarantee of sales. But > what you are telling me is that it always comes back to the publisher > if magazine are not sold (unless the are with a big company that will > assume the risk - btw, why would a big company assume the risk?)
> clint wrote: > > Hi David-
> > > 1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to > > > be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies > > > being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be > > > sold even before it is out in stores? > > > 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent > > > back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
> > Keep in mind that I'm telling you about the bigger distributors, since > > I think that's what you asked about; there are tons of little indy > > distributors who have a plethora of policies, but in general, this is > > what happens on a 1,000,000 copy-type scale. This may be WAY more > > detail than you care about.
> > To answer your question about guaranteed sales... I guess it depends on > > who they're making the claim to. If it's your magazine, and they're > > making it to *you*, you're probably being scammed- at the very least > > they're exaggerating. There will always be returns, and consider that > > the national average sale for magazines is only about 38%. 38%! That > > means that of those 1,000,000 copies you're talking about, 620,000 are > > likely to be chucked in some way. Of course, that's an average, and > > many magazines sell better than that- and many sell worse, which brings > > that average down to its current miserable level. In addition, the > > average varies by industry. If you only include "specialty retailers" > > like Borders or Barnes & Noble, the average sale goes up to 55-60%, > > depending on who you're getting your figures from. It's still an awful > > lot of waste. But I'll tell you this: even when a big magazine is > > selling like crazy, because Demi Moore is naked on the cover, or the > > first pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby are inside, there are always > > returns, due to copies that arrive damaged, or get shopworn, etc.
> > And I think there are lots of people, including people hereabouts, who > > may have been told that their mag/zine was going to sell great, just > > GREAT- and then the returns came in. This is tied to the returns > > process.
> > What happens to magazines when they don't get sold also depends on what > > industry you're talking about. The vast majority of magazines- those > > sold in grocery stores, liquor stores, drugstores, that kind of thing- > > are dropped off and picked up by a local wholesaler, so they take away > > the whole thing. They then take them back to their warehouses, where > > they're scanned and then pulped, and the number unsold is reported to > > the publisher- and deducted from the publisher's check. Specialty > > retailers usually only have to return the cover to their "national > > distributor." They can do this because they promise to "destroy" the > > magazine that remains, which usually means they make sure they get into > > a dumpster out back of the store. (The same thing happens with a lot > > of paperback books, incidentally.) The reason here is that everyone > > (outside of the local wholesalers, that is) has figured out that > > magazines are cheap to sell, so you're not making a whole lot of money > > on an individual magazine, but relatively heavy, and consequently > > expensive to ship (especially if you're driving them around, like the > > local wholesalers do). So the national distributors tally up all the > > returned covers, and then report the number unsold to the publisher, > > and deduct from the publishers check. (And by the way, the local > > wholesalers probably *do* know that it's not a terrific idea to have > > their own people, in their own breaking-down, aging, gas guzzling > > delivery trucks, tooling around and stocking magazines. But the people > > they're selling to are paying a premium to not have to touch those > > things- they just buy the shelves and make the money. Specialty > > retailers actually have employees who do this, so they get a bigger cut > > of the profits, and get their magazines shipped to them.)
> > AND: most of the time retailers have up to 90 days after a magazine > > goes off-sale to eturn it, which means that those returns keep > > trickling in. The distributor will deduct when they get the first > > batch, and then again as more returns report, and then again as more > > returns report. It can be kind of alarming, especially to new > > publishers, who would like a clean, "okay, all the returns are in, and > > here's what we owe" experience. You can have that- but it means you > > have to wait a LONG time for your check as the distros wait for ALL the > > possible returns to come in. Oh, and did I mention that the publishers > > get charged for all the covers that get counted? That gets deducted > > from the paycheck, too.
> > The only people who ever give publishers unsold copies back are small > > distros, usually zine distros, and I'm not even sure that's common. > > And then there are some distributors who'll just buy everything > > outright, no returns. Diamond Comics is the biggest outfit that does > > this, btu a lot of zine people do, too. The tradeoff for getting a > > paycheck and not worrying about sales or returns is that you get a MUCH > > smaller piece of the action, since the distributor assumes all the > > risk.
I was told that out of 1,000,000 copies, that 600,000 were guaranteed to be sold in 150,000 store - now whether that means something that I am miscomprehending, I am not sure. I am going to phone the company today to clarify. I find it hard to believe an unknown magazine, 1st issue ever would get that kind of coverage, but I guess you never know...
> I don't want to speak for Clint -- as he is the de-facto godfather of > indy pubs at this point -- but what I think he was saying is that it's > more likely that a publisher will get either just covers back (not > whole magazines) or will not get anything back, just a report from the > "middleman distributor".
> Remember, Clint is talking about three different parties when talking > about larger publications: the publisher, a distributor, and a > retailer.
> And I think the reason that distributors assume the risk when buying > mags outright, is that there's money to be made. So, instead of paying > 50% of the cover price per issue, they may only pay 30%. When dealing > with a distributor that can give you cash upfront terms, you tend to do > whatever they ask of you, since it's better to have a dollar in your > hand than a promise of two dollars tomorrow.
> As for Rolling Stone's circulation numbers -- keep in mind that > magazines lie about such things so that they can charge more for ads.
> And anyone who guarantees sales in ANY industry, publications or > otherwise, is pulling a fast one on you.
> David D wrote: > > Thank you Clint for such a thorough reply. > > I was just wondering because having seen the circulation for let say > > rolling stone magazine (I think it was 1.5 million), I thought it was > > odd to hear that a NEW magazine would have a guarantee of sales. But > > what you are telling me is that it always comes back to the publisher > > if magazine are not sold (unless the are with a big company that will > > assume the risk - btw, why would a big company assume the risk?)
> > clint wrote: > > > Hi David-
> > > > 1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to > > > > be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies > > > > being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be > > > > sold even before it is out in stores? > > > > 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent > > > > back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
> > > Keep in mind that I'm telling you about the bigger distributors, since > > > I think that's what you asked about; there are tons of little indy > > > distributors who have a plethora of policies, but in general, this is > > > what happens on a 1,000,000 copy-type scale. This may be WAY more > > > detail than you care about.
> > > To answer your question about guaranteed sales... I guess it depends on > > > who they're making the claim to. If it's your magazine, and they're > > > making it to *you*, you're probably being scammed- at the very least > > > they're exaggerating. There will always be returns, and consider that > > > the national average sale for magazines is only about 38%. 38%! That > > > means that of those 1,000,000 copies you're talking about, 620,000 are > > > likely to be chucked in some way. Of course, that's an average, and > > > many magazines sell better than that- and many sell worse, which brings > > > that average down to its current miserable level. In addition, the > > > average varies by industry. If you only include "specialty retailers" > > > like Borders or Barnes & Noble, the average sale goes up to 55-60%, > > > depending on who you're getting your figures from. It's still an awful > > > lot of waste. But I'll tell you this: even when a big magazine is > > > selling like crazy, because Demi Moore is naked on the cover, or the > > > first pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby are inside, there are always > > > returns, due to copies that arrive damaged, or get shopworn, etc.
> > > And I think there are lots of people, including people hereabouts, who > > > may have been told that their mag/zine was going to sell great, just > > > GREAT- and then the returns came in. This is tied to the returns > > > process.
> > > What happens to magazines when they don't get sold also depends on what > > > industry you're talking about. The vast majority of magazines- those > > > sold in grocery stores, liquor stores, drugstores, that kind of thing- > > > are dropped off and picked up by a local wholesaler, so they take away > > > the whole thing. They then take them back to their warehouses, where > > > they're scanned and then pulped, and the number unsold is reported to > > > the publisher- and deducted from the publisher's check. Specialty > > > retailers usually only have to return the cover to their "national > > > distributor." They can do this because they promise to "destroy" the > > > magazine that remains, which usually means they make sure they get into > > > a dumpster out back of the store. (The same thing happens with a lot > > > of paperback books, incidentally.) The reason here is that everyone > > > (outside of the local wholesalers, that is) has figured out that > > > magazines are cheap to sell, so you're not making a whole lot of money > > > on an individual magazine, but relatively heavy, and consequently > > > expensive to ship (especially if you're driving them around, like the > > > local wholesalers do). So the national distributors tally up all the > > > returned covers, and then report the number unsold to the publisher, > > > and deduct from the publishers check. (And by the way, the local > > > wholesalers probably *do* know that it's not a terrific idea to have > > > their own people, in their own breaking-down, aging, gas guzzling > > > delivery trucks, tooling around and stocking magazines. But the people > > > they're selling to are paying a premium to not have to touch those > > > things- they just buy the shelves and make the money. Specialty > > > retailers actually have employees who do this, so they get a bigger cut > > > of the profits, and get their magazines shipped to them.)
> > > AND: most of the time retailers have up to 90 days after a magazine > > > goes off-sale to eturn it, which means that those returns keep > > > trickling in. The distributor will deduct when they get the first > > > batch, and then again as more returns report, and then again as more > > > returns report. It can be kind of alarming, especially to new > > > publishers, who would like a clean, "okay, all the returns are in, and > > > here's what we owe" experience. You can have that- but it means you > > > have to wait a LONG time for your check as the distros wait for ALL the > > > possible returns to come in. Oh, and did I mention that the publishers > > > get charged for all the covers that get counted? That gets deducted > > > from the paycheck, too.
> > > The only people who ever give publishers unsold copies back are small > > > distros, usually zine distros, and I'm not even sure that's common. > > > And then there are some distributors who'll just buy everything > > > outright, no returns. Diamond Comics is the biggest outfit that does > > > this, btu a lot of zine people do, too. The tradeoff for getting a > > > paycheck and not worrying about sales or returns is that you get a MUCH > > > smaller piece of the action, since the distributor assumes all the > > > risk.
Bob's right- I don't know of anyone these days that even gives the covers back, as proof that something actually wasn't sold. (When Tower did returns, we did that, unless the publisher said that they trusted us just to give them a sales report.) So most just get a piece of paper saying, "We recorded this many returns." No verification, no nada, and the pubs just have to trust that the distributors are honest, and entered all the information into their database correctly.
And Bob's also right about the non-returnable thing: the only time that ever happens, the distributor takes a BIG bite of the profits, because the distributor is assuming more risk. Another reason a distributor might do this is that they may only SELL the stuff they buy to retailers on a non-returnable basis. When this happens, the retailer usually wants a bigger discount, too, since now they're also assuming more risk. (As an aside, Diamond Comics operates this way; they buy non-returnable, and then they sell to all the comic book stores in the land (and other places besides) on a non-returnable basis. If you ask me it's a much better way to do business, since shipments get paid for immediately, and it forces *everyone* to pay attention and not overbuy, to really make sure that they're striking a good balance between what they sell and what they throw away- because remember that there are ALWAYS returns, and if you buy 10 copies of The Inner Swine non-returnable, you may sell 8 of them... but two get chucked. Or they sit on the shelves, lonely and collecting dust, until See Hear finally goes under.)
One thing that hadn't occurred to me- you asked about sales, but I didn't think about circulation. Circulation *also* includes all subscriptions. Rolling Stone, based on their month-to-month sales nationally, are able to make a pretty solid prediction of what their average sale is. Add the subsciptions, and you get circulation. And what you also get is the number they use to charge their advertisers money. THAT is a situation where someone would guarantee a certain number of copies sold, for sure; the higher the ciruclation, the more they charge Sony to include an ad for the new Michael Jackson record. The Audit Bureau of Circulation (or something like that; the acronym is ABC) verifies ciruclation on an annual basis for all the big mags, so that advertisers know that they're not getting rooked. If ABC came back and said that Rolling Stone was actually only selling 1.4 million copies, and subscriptions were constant, then it would be store sales that were dropping. But wherever the loss came from, RS would have to make it right with their advertisers, by cutting their future rates, and perhaps giving them some free space or a rebate besides.)
Which means that Bob's right again- anytime any guarantees sales in any industry, a fast one is probably in the offing. That is called "advertising". Yahoo!
clint
p.s. And I don't know about the godfather thing- I think I'd still give that title to Doug Biggert, who started Tower Mag Hell and ran it for nearly 20 years. He's still buying indy stuff- just for a single newsstand where he moonlights between fixing toilets (or so his last postcard said) and working at a used vinyl record store (the same one where Dj Shadow spends so much time!). In fact, Tom H. has a better claim to that title than I do, based purely on the sheer number of zines he's touched, read, reviewed, produced, etc. over the years. I do know some stuff, though...
> I don't want to speak for Clint -- as he is the de-facto godfather of > indy pubs at this point -- but what I think he was saying is that it's > more likely that a publisher will get either just covers back (not > whole magazines) or will not get anything back, just a report from the > "middleman distributor".
> Remember, Clint is talking about three different parties when talking > about larger publications: the publisher, a distributor, and a > retailer.
> And I think the reason that distributors assume the risk when buying > mags outright, is that there's money to be made. So, instead of paying > 50% of the cover price per issue, they may only pay 30%. When dealing > with a distributor that can give you cash upfront terms, you tend to do > whatever they ask of you, since it's better to have a dollar in your > hand than a promise of two dollars tomorrow.
> As for Rolling Stone's circulation numbers -- keep in mind that > magazines lie about such things so that they can charge more for ads.
> And anyone who guarantees sales in ANY industry, publications or > otherwise, is pulling a fast one on you.
> David D wrote: > > Thank you Clint for such a thorough reply. > > I was just wondering because having seen the circulation for let say > > rolling stone magazine (I think it was 1.5 million), I thought it was > > odd to hear that a NEW magazine would have a guarantee of sales. But > > what you are telling me is that it always comes back to the publisher > > if magazine are not sold (unless the are with a big company that will > > assume the risk - btw, why would a big company assume the risk?)
> > clint wrote: > > > Hi David-
> > > > 1)Is it possible to get a magazine distributor to guarantee copies to > > > > be sold sight unseen? For example if there was a 1,000,000 copies > > > > being printed, can the distributor make a claim that magazine will be > > > > sold even before it is out in stores? > > > > 2) What happens to magazine when they don't get sold? Do they get sent > > > > back to the publisher? The distributor? OR the store?
> > > Keep in mind that I'm telling you about the bigger distributors, since > > > I think that's what you asked about; there are tons of little indy > > > distributors who have a plethora of policies, but in general, this is > > > what happens on a 1,000,000 copy-type scale. This may be WAY more > > > detail than you care about.
> > > To answer your question about guaranteed sales... I guess it depends on > > > who they're making the claim to. If it's your magazine, and they're > > > making it to *you*, you're probably being scammed- at the very least > > > they're exaggerating. There will always be returns, and consider that > > > the national average sale for magazines is only about 38%. 38%! That > > > means that of those 1,000,000 copies you're talking about, 620,000 are > > > likely to be chucked in some way. Of course, that's an average, and > > > many magazines sell better than that- and many sell worse, which brings > > > that average down to its current miserable level. In addition, the > > > average varies by industry. If you only include "specialty retailers" > > > like Borders or Barnes & Noble, the average sale goes up to 55-60%, > > > depending on who you're getting your figures from. It's still an awful > > > lot of waste. But I'll tell you this: even when a big magazine is > > > selling like crazy, because Demi Moore is naked on the cover, or the > > > first pictures of Brad and Angelina's baby are inside, there are always > > > returns, due to copies that arrive damaged, or get shopworn, etc.
> > > And I think there are lots of people, including people hereabouts, who > > > may have been told that their mag/zine was going to sell great, just > > > GREAT- and then the returns came in. This is tied to the returns > > > process.
> > > What happens to magazines when they don't get sold also depends on what > > > industry you're talking about. The vast majority of magazines- those > > > sold in grocery stores, liquor stores, drugstores, that kind of thing- > > > are dropped off and picked up by a local wholesaler, so they take away > > > the whole thing. They then take them back to their warehouses, where > > > they're scanned and then pulped, and the number unsold is reported to > > > the publisher- and deducted from the publisher's check. Specialty > > > retailers usually only have to return the cover to their "national > > > distributor." They can do this because they promise to "destroy" the > > > magazine that remains, which usually means they make sure they get into > > > a dumpster out back of the store. (The same thing happens with a lot > > > of paperback books, incidentally.) The reason here is that everyone > > > (outside of the local wholesalers, that is) has figured out that > > > magazines are cheap to sell, so you're not making a whole lot of money > > > on an individual magazine, but relatively heavy, and consequently > > > expensive to ship (especially if you're driving them around, like the > > > local wholesalers do). So the national distributors tally up all the > > > returned covers, and then report the number unsold to the publisher, > > > and deduct from the publishers check. (And by the way, the local > > > wholesalers probably *do* know that it's not a terrific idea to have > > > their own people, in their own breaking-down, aging, gas guzzling > > > delivery trucks, tooling around and stocking magazines. But the people > > > they're selling to are paying a premium to not have to touch those > > > things- they just buy the shelves and make the money. Specialty > > > retailers actually have employees who do this, so they get a bigger cut > > > of the profits, and get their magazines shipped to them.)
> > > AND: most of the time retailers have up to 90 days after a magazine > > > goes off-sale to eturn it, which means that those returns keep > > > trickling in. The distributor will deduct when they get the first > > > batch, and then again as more returns report, and then again as more > > > returns report. It can be kind of alarming, especially to new > > > publishers, who would like a clean, "okay, all the returns are in, and > > > here's what we owe" experience. You can have that- but it means you > > > have to wait a LONG time for your check as
