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When Robert Miller announced last month that he was leaving Hyperion, the Walt Disney book unit he created, to start a new imprint at HarperCollins, he made headlines. But it's the returns policy that got everyone excited, notes Bloomberg.
Miller wants to sell his books on a non-returnable basis in a bid to kick the industry's addiction to overprinting and overstocking. Returns date back to the Depression, when publishers implemented the practice as a way to ensure that bookstores would continue stocking new books. Today, publishers have convinced retailers that stacks of books piled high in the aisles will attract customers and spawn bestsellers. It's a leaky theory posing little risk for booksellers. If the books don't sell, they're only out the cost of shipping and handling the returns.
Miller, provided he keeps his list of titles to a modest size, might succeed, though the practice has a lot of inertia on its side. Big publishing conglomerates would have to do some heavy rethinking.