First Word

You know those moments when you completely scratch your head and just don't get it. Life is loaded with absurdities. Rather than get angry (although I still do get irritated at some of it), I thought I would share the most absurd business relationship I ever got into and JUST extricated my company out of it. Our now former distributor Atlas/Bookmasters (thank goodness we're done with them) did all kinds of things that one could call absurd, ridiculous and incompetent. Let me start with the list for your enjoyment. Perils of Printing -- We initially worked with them on a print job. It went awry immediately. When we tried to remedy all of the mistakes and over-charges and hidden fees, the president (not the staff) told us we were incompetent. First, you never tell a client they are incompetent (horrible customer service) ... oh wait what's my second point again? Oh yeah, you NEVER tell a client they're incompetent. AND they had the nerve to try and win our business on ...

With the acceptance as a Bakers and Taylor publisher, there is only one difference between 3L Publishing and traditional publishing. In exchange for super high royalties, you pay for the services you consume -- and that's it. We had a weak distributor in the past that didn't really move books. We expect the new arrangement with Bakers to push books so much better through their reputable services and quality catalog. When we went to the New York Book Expo and our former distributor handed us a CD and mentioned ignore the typos, we knew we were in trouble. Not just any publisher gets accepted to Bakers and Taylor. In fact, most publishers without the quality catalog and sales track record can get into Bakers. Some publishers don't have any distribution model outside of Amazon . In fact, many small publishers in and around Sacramento don't have this capability. So, if you're looking to work with a local outfit, ask your representative how they distribute to the book...