Reserve For Returns

[jpskewedthrone]

I must apologize to everyone for my previous freak-out episode journal entry about my first sales report. Oh, the freak-out was totally for real and lasted pretty much the entire afternoon, from mail delivery to my game meeting with pbray and jennifer_dunne. But then, they explained to me what the "reserve for returns" lines meant.

See, I took them to mean actual returns. As in, books not sold and thus returned so that the author can be buried in a crypt made of his or her own book.

However, it has been explained that the books sold on this report are essentially books that DAW can guarantee without a doubt have been sold. The reserve for returns are those books that are actually still out there either:

a) On a shelf in a bookstore;
b) In a warehouse (but not DAWs warehouse);
c) Actually in someone's house, preferrably being loved, because someone actually bought it.

So, more books have probably sold than it would seem on the list. I realize (now) that that's what most of you are saying. But its hard to get through the panic when there's a line that says: US Regular Sales, followed by a heart-stoppingly small number. And all other lines contain the word "return".

But I'm happy to report that the reserve for returns line has a significantly HIGH number. So there's hope. I do not need to be shot. Yet.

But I do apologize for the public freak-out. Thanks for the instant hugs and well-wishing, as well as the attempts to explain. I need to remember that I'm still new at this and should not instantly panic when something new and foreign appears.

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The things that aren't explained are Legion. It seems as though you're just expected to pick it up as you go. I recall an online discussion years ago during which I mentioned something about the fact that my books had been modeled at B&N, and that I was very happy about it. A bestselling author asked me to define modeling. I was floored. I felt that after a couple of years and a couple of books, I didn't know that much, but there were experienced folk who knew less than I did. Looking back, though, I am sure that there were aspects of the business that this writer knew much better than I did. It's like profession by committee. We each have a very firm grasp on one or two aspects. Put it all together, and you'd have one knowledgeable writer.

(for those who don't know--"modeling," as I understand it, is when a book is placed on automatic reorder in such a way that there is always a total set number of copies in a system. A one-book model means that there is always one copy of a title on the shelf or on order--as soon as that book is sold, an automatic reorder is placed. For a two-book model, there is always some combo of two books in the system--two on the shelf, two on order, one and one, etc.. That's why modeling is so desirable--you don't have to depend on a clerk remembering to place the order, or on a special request. The book will always be there. Not every store in a chain has to pick up the model, but many do, and it's a very nice thing.)