|
Neil,
This reminds me of a program by the US retailer Kmart. Some of the books they offered had a sticker on the front which said "Kmart Money Back Guaranteed Read on this title. See bookmark for details." On the included bookmark, it said: "Kmart Money Back Guaranteed Read. Kmart guarantees you will love these new books. Choose from our specially marked selection by Future Famous Authors. If you're not completely satisfied with these titles, we will refund your money. If not satisfied, return the book to any Kmart within 60 days, with the original receipt."
As I remember, this program ran for several years during the 1990's (so Kmart must have seen is as at least somewhat successful). For all I know it may still be continuing today (our local Kmart closed several years ago, a victim of Walmart, so I haven't been to a Kmart in perhaps 10 years).
The particular book I got the above quotes from was Douglas Clegg's short story collection "The Nightmare Chronicles", a paperback published in September 1999 by Dorchester. It later picked up a Bram Stoker award.
I bought several titles under Kmart's program; never returned any of them. Found some good authors I may not have discovered otherwise.
This sticker on the book was a positive factor in my purchasing decision at the time. Since I drove past this Kmart on the way to work each day, returning a book would have been trivial for me, much like returning an ebook over the internet. Had the purchase been a print book from, say, Amazon, where I'd have had to repackage the book and send it back, I doubt if it would have had as much of an effect on me.
Of course this is pbooks I'm talking about. It was only offered for certain books, and it was done by a retailer, not a publisher, so it's probably not particularly applicable to your situation.
Oh, and another thing. Judging from a lot of the posts I've seen here on MR, most of the books you sell will go into someone's "To Be Read" pile and never be seen again.
|