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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 2923721" data-attributes="member: 13098">Actually, there are some disincentives for publishers to use the book distribution channel.  Book distribution is brutal in that the big stores, Barnes & Noble, Borders and now Amazon, have a lot of negotiating room.  If you sell through the book distribution channel, you have to be prepared to provide free shipping, including drop shipping to each location.  You will need to be prepared to provide a deep discount.  You will need to be prepared to extend your accounts receivable beyond 120 days, perhaps as much as 180 days.  You may need to be prepared to settle your accounts receivable for pennies on the dollar if you want that cash flow back.  You will also need to be prepared to accept returns of product that didn't move, and those returns are another hit to your cash flow.This is true to a different extent with the hobby distribution channels, but it really isn't as vicious.  Vicious enough to kill small publishers like Green Ronin!  But not as vicious as I saw working at an independent bookstore for 4 years.  I believe these are some of the reasons why Malhavoc would choose to be an imprint company rather than a full fledged publisher.  I have worked both at the FLGS level and the independent bookstore level.  Truth being told here, I am surprised either business can exist in the onslaught driven by online and mass chain resellers.  It gets even worse when one of the ways local stores reduce cost is by hiring less expensive labor.  Labor that can barely stock the store or help the customer.  Seriously, for a while I had an online reseller (small) that provided better service to me than any FLGS for the better part of a decade.Sure, you have to get your product to the customer.  But the mega resellers are at the point where they dictate end price and they don't want to reduce their profit.  So they also dictate what they will buy a product at.  If you aren't able to produce efficiently, your profits get squeezed out until you close your doors.  Remember folks, the gaming market is not a big market.  We are a niche audience.  The loss of our sales to the big chains is less than a rounding error in the context of their overall sales.  If you are a big enough company, you can probably make a strong go of it in the book distribution channel and do well.  But WotC is the best positioned company to do that.</blockquote>

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