Quote:
Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers
Few journalists or industry representatives ever mention the 25-40% of all hardbacks that are printed, shipped out, shipped back, and shredded without anyone cracking a spine. It's a wasteful business with unsustainable practices.
L.J.
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Keep in mind this is inherent to a market where the product is produced in batches with a large scale advantages and with a limited shelf-life. Especially because buying is partly impulse based, meaning that not having something in store the moment the buyer wants something it is a lost sale.
And even with newer technology such as print-on-demand, printing in bulk is still a lot cheaper for something that sells in any quantity. Even taking in account transport, storage and wastage.
Of course ebooks don't have these problems, but they are still a growing market.