Subject: Re: [Homestead] Home Business, Startup, from concept to successful operation
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 08:39:32 -0700
k. Keep control of customer orders and cash-flow.
m. Balance the books daily---you don't need any business-threatening
surprises---
How to avoid surprises? We had a good business selling my book. Low
overhead and good margin even with the 50-55-percent discounts demanded by
distributors. Our CPA said it was good. What killed us was the bankruptcy
of Pacific Pipeline, a major book distributor with years of solid track
record. PP was our primary distributor to bookstores, including Barnes &
Noble. PP hired someone to set up a new computer system for handling their
business. Long story short, the system created chaos, they filed for
Chapter 11, we got a few cents on the dollar for the thirty thousand-plus
they owed us. (90-day pay is normal in publishing.) The lesson of the story
for me is that if I do future publishing I will be my own distributor. That
will restrict the number of retail outlets and increase the workload, but
greatly decrease the odds of losing a critical accounts receivable. The
best way to sell books is mail order, direct from writer-publisher to book
buyer. The challenge is publicity. I did 104 radio interviews from the
house, surrounded by blankets hung from clothesline to create good sound.
After every interview there was a flood of orders. After the PP disaster I
sold the rights to Warner Books, a big-time New York publisher. They really
know the business, right? Oh, yeah. They got me two radio interviews,
skimmed the cream and let the book die.
Re: [Homestead] Home Business, Startup, from concept to successful operation,
Gene GeRue, 10/01/2004