Posted by Mark Adams on July 31, 1997 at 06:47:41:
In Reply to: Re: John Varley & Joan D. Vinge posted by McDude on July 08, 1997 at 19:55:48:
: , I think my last pleasant surprise was back in '94 when I found "Throy"
: : in pb on the Mall's B.Dalton bookshelves.
: Well, for corn's sake, kid! Try shopping in a real bookstore, or try one of the many excellent mail order services,
: like Mark Ziesing, Chris Drumm, etc. Check in the back of an
: issue of Locus or SF Chronicle. There are a ton of great dealers
: out there who have the books you're looking for. Every time you
: buy from a huge chain (B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, Barnes and Noble)
: you are stabbing a knife into the back of an independent dealer,
: the very ones who are best able to serve you! Spend a little effort to find them, and the effort will be well spent! That goes for all of you!
Agreed! In fact, I've been told by a local, independent bookseller that the big chains basically control who & what is published. There is a narrow window of opportunity for a book to sell, before it goes back to the distributor, and the manner in which the big chains promote the books influences the outcome. Further, they employ (hmmm, what should I call them?) "test-readers", who read & make recommendations regarding potential purchases. Could these folks be a "filter" which determines which books hit the market? If true, this curtails composition of Vance's quality, in favor of a more mundane variety.
Does anyone have more information on how the process works between the Publisher - Distributor - Retail chain?