I don't keep records of sales for individual books. Partly, because I'm low tech. Partly, because I keep most books in stock, so it doesn't really matter. If I sell a book, I reorder. If I'm selling it fast, I reorder multiple copies. Pretty simple system that works because, at least so far, there are a manageable number of graphic novels in print.

I'm guessing that I've probably sold about 30 to 40 copies of the graphic novel "300" in the last year or so.

For my little store, that's a bunch.

How many have I sold since the "300" became the number one movie in the country for 10 days straight? Since over a million tickets have been sold?

Zero.

Actually, that isn't a surprise. Ever since the first Batman movies ages ago, I've learned that most books sell before a movie, in anticipation, rather than after a movie.

I have about 16 copies left in stock, and it may take me a year to sell them. That's all right, that isn't out of line for us.

The reason I'm writing this blog is to wonder........? How in the hell does the publishing industry survive with their book return policies?

See, last week all the "300" graphic novels in stock at my distributer (about 60,000 copies) went missing. My guess is that they were scooped up by the Barnes and Nobles, the Borders, the Amazon's of the world.

Dark Horse gets alarmed, and announces yet another massive (for the comic trade) printing of 80,000 copies, to arrive in a month or so.

This looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Because if the mass market sees the same slowdown in sales after the movie that my store does, alot of that initial 60,000 copies will get returned, and that means that 80,000 copies a month later is just going to slop all over the place.

I've started to google up stories about the publishing industry's self-destructive book return policies. So I'll probably be blogging about that for the next few days.

Now that I'm an independent bookstore and all. I don't intend to do any returns unless I get in trouble, because I'm just ordering one copy of every book, and I'm only ordering books that I think will have long-term worthiness. Still, I'm curious.

I can see how knowing that you could return a book if doesn't sell would make a bookstore somewhat cavalier toward overstock. Not something I'm used to, since the comic industry runs on a "You buy, you keep" basis. I don't intend to change the policy toward books, because I think that counting on returns could make a person awfully sloppy. Maybe someday, I'll weed out the real dogs, but that is in the future. Meanwhile, I'm going to research the whole thing.

But I've come to one large conclusion, based really on instinct. No one will probably agree with me, but there it is.

Sometime in my lifetime, the whole book industry is going to come crashing down. Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, and Borders look like ponzi schemes to me, based on opening new stores and riding the backs of the publishers. There won't be enough independent bookstores left to keep the system afloat. I only hope the comic industry is wise enough to see the dangers and not remove the base of support they currently have (the independent comic stores.)

Based on what has happened to the "300" graphic novel, it isn't looking too promising.