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August 30, 2008 3:37:01 AM CDT

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Book Publisher Takes Stab at New Model

Posted Apr 4, 08 2:46 CDT in Technology,  Business 

(Newser) – HarperCollins has decided to rock the book-publishing boat, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s launching a new imprint that won’t allow retailers to return unsold books—a potentially risky departure from tradition—and will offer little or no advance payments to authors. The imprint will focus on online sales and likely refuse to pay for prime bookstore real estate.

"This is the right time to experiment with a new business model," HarperCollins' CEO said. "We have to look at a changing marketplace." With the slowing economy spelling trouble for the book industry as a whole, analysts say it might be the right time for another look at the no-return policy, which Harcourt Brace Jovanovich disastrously tried in 1980.

Source Wall Street Journal

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Barnes & Noble in New York. A new imprint from HarperCollins probably won't pay for prime display space for its books, unlike most publishers.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A shopper at Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007, in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Shoppers browse a Borders bookstore on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, in New York. A new imprint from HarperCollins won't buy back unsold books from retailers and likely won't pay for better display space.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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book  • retail sales  • publishing  • online retailers  • HarperCollins  • Borders  • Internet sales


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