Banned Books Week is a Sham! Replace it with Banned Books Year

Because books published by smaller publishers have limited access to libraries and the marketplace, Southfarm Press suggests that 'Banned Books Week' be replaced with 'Banned Books Year.' This article offers reasons why small press books are not found in libraries and on the shelves of chain bookstores in larger numbers. Suggestions to readers on how they can find books published by smaller book publishers are also listed.

(PRWEB) September 23, 2005 -- More books than you would ever expect are banned from libraries and bookstores. For more reasons than you would expect too. The American Library Association (ALA) does produce an annual list of the most challenged books with the reasons why they were cited for banning. That list has been printed extensively because Banned Books Week is September 24th to October 1st.

Most of the books on the official ALA list were written for teenagers or children and are attempted to be banned because of sexual content, offensive language, religious viewpoints and/or violence.

But what the ALA or anyone in this country does not acknowledge is the year long banning by librarians and booksellers of books from smaller publishers.

Access to libraries and the marketplace for books from small publishers is severely restricted. And it doesnt matter if a book from a small publisher receives a good review from Publishers Weekly or ALAs Booklist magazine, it will still not wind up in many libraries or on many booksellers shelves if a national distributor doesnt offer it.

Why?

Economics, laziness and lying.

Economics keeps small press books out of bookstores. Wholesale distributors demand a 55% discount from small publishers, bookstores a 40% to 50% discount. Print runs on titles published by small publishers are anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 copies. At a retail price of, lets say, $30, a small publisher is expected to sell that book to Baker & Taylor or Ingram wholesale distributors for $13.50. That $13.50 is supposed to cover author royalties, editing, design, printing, binding, marketing and a profit for the publisher. If the publisher manages to sell 5,000 copies to distributors, his total gross would be something like a whopping $67,500.

But wait, theres more bad news. If some books make it out of the wholesalers warehouse to the shelves of Borders or Barnes & Noble, and dont sell quickly enough in the stores, there is a custom in the book industry called 'Returns. The big box booksellers can return those books not selling well to the wholesalers warehouse or to the publisher at any time. The books the publisher receives back are usually damaged and were never paid for in the first place.

If the books arent selling well in their bookstores in the eastern states, but are selling well west of the Mississippi, Borders or Barnes & Noble will return the books from eastern stores and order new ones for the western stores instead of shipping those books from the east to their western outlets. Now the small publisher has to ship new books for the second order and absorb the loss incurred by the receipt of damaged books from the first order.

Accordingly some smaller book publishers cannot afford to place their books in bookstores across the country.

The economic disadvantage is the same for selling to libraries. The figures mentioned above concerning the wholesalers are the same. In addition to this disadvantage, many libraries are mandated to buy books only from distributors such as Baker & Taylor and Ingram. Some librarians arent allowed to buy books directly from publishers unless a patron requests the book. And in cases where libraries are allowed to buy smaller publishers titles directly, they frequently do not. The paperwork is too time consuming or there is insufficient staff or librarians simply decide its too much effort to seek out books not presented by national wholesalers. Heres where the laziness kicks in.

If a bookseller doesnt have a title that a customer is looking for, whether from a large or small publisher, they will say its out-of-print, whether it is or not. This kind of restraint of trade happens all the time and its called lying. It happened to us again this week: On Monday a potential customer from New Jersey had been told by a bookseller that one of our books, Janey: A Little Plane in a Big War, was out-of-print (its not) and that she would have to wait until next month to get the book. Meanwhile, that bookseller hasnt ordered the book from us and evidently has no intention of filling that order. Fortunately, the woman had the presence of mind to contact us and we sold it to her.

Small publishers are the alternatives to corporate publishing where large media corporations own dozens of imprints, control what mainstream books are published and subsequently offered in bookstores and libraries. Small presses are the backbone of book publishing; they provide the means for alternate voices and opinions to be published and available in the marketplace. Small publishers help ensure that American democracy survives, particularly during times of social unrest and war, such as now. Unfortunately, libraries and bookstore chains dont see it that way.

What can you, as part of the reading public, do about this problem? Here are some suggestions:

1. Seek out and shop at independent bookstores and encourage their management to stock small publishers' titles not found at the chain bookstores. Independent bookstores are becoming an endangered species. If their inventory didnt mirror what is found at the chain bookstores, they might do better.

2. Encourage your local libraries to seek out and stock books from smaller publishers and not restrict themselves to only buying books from national wholesalers. If librarians cite budget limitations, ask them to buy fewer copies of Harry Potter and use the money left over to diversify their collections. If a library wants to increase patronage, one sure way is to increase the number of titles on its shelves, not more copies of fewer titles.

3. Use the Internet to find small publishers and their books. Most have Web Sites. My firms main Web Site is http://www.war-books.com . Google a topic youre interested in and invariably books from small publishers will turn up on your screen. Do not depend on Amazon.com or bn.com to carry all small publishers titles. They dont. Last year Amazon.com refused to carry our first childrens book, The Macaroon Moon, which retails for $17.95, because we couldnt give them a 60% discount. Meanwhile, they allow their associated used book suppliers to offer the same title at up to $150 a copy!

4. Use your local library to find smaller publishers. Look them up in the annual Literary Market Place (LMP) usually found in library reference departments. In one section of the book, all publishers are listed by the topics of the books they publish.

Support a free press. Demand access to smaller publishers' books in your library and at your local bookstores. Put an end to 'Banned Books Year.'

by Walter J. Haan, Publisher

Southfarm Press, Middletown, Connecticut

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