Quote:
Originally Posted by haertig
I wonder how many returns Daniel Keyes had to put up with for Flowers For Algernon?
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I think that at least some bookstores back then (including department store book sections*) took returns, and that
the publisher of that title in turn took returns from the bookstores on unsold copies.
The question then is -- did this impact Daniel Keyes?
To know that, we would have to see his contract. My speculation is that:
a. He got an advance, since the original magazine story was the equivalent of a strong book proposal.
and:
b. He earned out his advance, since sales surely exceeded expectations.
If I am correct with a and b, he took a financial hit on each return.
However, if Keyes sold the rights outright, then it would be more the situation with a farmer who sells watermelons to a supermarket chain. There is no direct financial hit to the farmer when watermelons are returned. But the return rate must directly or indirectly impact how much he or she can get for next year's crop.
I'm guessing that people who market their eBooks through Amazon, without going through a major publisher, often don't like directly losing money for each return. But if returns were disallowed, fewer people would buy the eBook in the first place. And if Amazon absorbed the immediate loss on a return, it would still impact the author in the long term, just as with the farmer.
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* I recall the center city Philadelphia department stores having had large book sections.