[MaggieScratch]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

You have to be a celebrity to get an advance before you write the book (and some authors are indeed celebrities).

Untrue for nonfiction. Nonfiction writers receive an advance on a proposal, and then write the book. Authors of fiction do write the book first, though if an author establishes a longterm, successful relationship with a publisher--not necessarily best-seller status--she might be able to sell fiction on a proposal.

For most published authors, they need to write the book, spend time soliciting reads from agents,

Only first-time authors have to get an agent (most of the time). After that, there is, one hopes, a money flow from already-published books while the author is writing the next book as well as advances, etc.

the publisher has several months to pay the royalties,

Yep, the twice-a-year payment system stinks.

and even then they'll withhold half or more "against returns."

Half or more???? 25%, usually, and you get it back after a year.

From the publishers' side, the chain bookstores will make or break a book. In return for a large order they'll demand killer discounts and even cash payments for display space. They are notoriously slow to pay, and when they decide to cut bait on a book, the publisher is on the hook for return shipping to get the unsold books back (or they'll work out some other way to recycle them). The stores might only ship back the covers, which is why publishers admonish people not to buy books without covers--the store has gotten a refund on the book and is supposed to destroy it, not sell it in a bargain bin.

All true, and the chains certainly abuse the returns system, but to be precise only mass-market paperbacks are stripped. These are usually the small-size ones, but not always. That is because mass-market paperbacks were traditionally sold at non-bookstore outlets such as drugstores, supermarkets, etc. and the system is the same as that used for magazines.

If this seems like an incredibly slow and inefficient system, remember that it's "traditional" and it's the system the publishers are defending to the death. Authors, meanwhile, are actively looking for alternatives, and so are many readers.

It would be hard for most bookstores to maintain a good selection of the most recent books if they weren't allowed to return unsold books. The returns system is not the problem, IMO; abuse of it is the problem. That being said, most people (not those here, of course) still buy books by going to bookstores and browsing. Thus, the system in place is still most efficient at getting books to readers. That being said, a shift is happening.