• umbraroze@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      The way publishing industry has been for a very long time, authors (especially first time ones) don’t get to pick whoever pays the best deal. Just whoever pays the first.

      Edit: Also, theoretically, publishers should accommodate author wishes once a publication contract has been made. Actually not unheard of that a publisher would do something cool for their up and coming star. But this? Sloppiness on the publisher’s part, plain and simple.

      • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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        2 hours ago

        The author doesn’t get to pick who can print his book? Or do you mean he has no real choice because he’s got bills to pay?

        • umbraroze@lemmy.world
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          2 hours ago

          Authors have to submit manuscripts to publishers individually (or, in some markets, agents who work with multiple publishers in the same niche).

          Publishers get showered with manuscripts. Very small percentage of them are what publishers deem will meet market goals.

          In standard publishing contracts, the author gets paid an advance. This is basically the royalty percentage for the entire first print run. It’s not refundable. It represents the trust the publisher puts on the author, and if the publisher can’t sell all copies, well, tough for them. (They’d probably just not work with that author again.)

          Getting to that point is a pretty massive hurdle to clear for first time authors.

          So no, authors don’t really get to pick their publishers. The only scenario where people get to pick their publishers is some celebrity deal bullshit.

          • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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            17 minutes ago

            Interesting! I’m curious if he addresses this lack of choices in his proposals for how to make a difference.

            Maybe I’ll just download it though.

        • konju376@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          2 hours ago

          From what you hear it’s that they have bills to pay. If a publisher doesn’t know your name, they’re not going to assume it’s an automatic best-seller so they’re less likely to actually look at your work to see if it’s worth it.

          Also, to pay your bills before the publisher actually prints the book, you have to find one way ahead of you finishing the book, meaning that you have to send them an unfinished manuscript, further hurting your chances - but if they like it you get that money before it’s done, with the caveat that they’re gonna sue if you don’t deliver.

  • bluewing@lemm.ee
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    4 hours ago

    No. More. Plasticccc? Whelp, there goes my new hip and wheel chair and pain here I come!

  • beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 day ago

    I don’t understand why some books are wrapped in plastic at all. Like is it to protect the cover? Prevent people from reading it at the book store? Some weird contract with a vendor that requires a percentage of books be wrapped? A quirk of the shop that printed the book?

    It makes zero sense.

    • theneverfox@pawb.social
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      24 hours ago

      Probably so they can be stored carelessly in dirty warehouses that may or may not control for humidity

      • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        Used to work in a warehouse that did exactly this, can confirm drove a forklift loading pallets of books on trucks and “humidity control” meant closing the bay doors that didn’t have trailers backed in so the snow wouldn’t blow inside.

      • beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        22 hours ago

        Aren’t books shipped in boxes though? I guess maybe a printer might palletize the books and find it cheaper to not wrap the whole pallet?

        It still seems like the individual book is the wrong place to focus on protecting it from damage it might incur in transit.

        • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register

    • Chev@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Both is correct. But the second one is less about reading and more about making a crease. People who buy new books, want to be the first ones to read it. If they wouldn’t care, they would just go to the library.

    • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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      1 day ago

      that’s still bad though. it requires petroleum based processes to grow the corn and then convert the starch into a plastic like substance when the book could have just not been shrink wrapped. i get that you’re joking, and i’m being pedantic, but not enough people realize bioplastics are not the solution, they’re a gap measure, like EVs, and i’m usingeyour comment as a soapbox

      • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Bioplastics also cause contaminated petroplastic recycling batches, are difficult to compost (my city, like many cities, does not have the facility), and release methane when breaking down in a landfill.

        • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
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          23 hours ago

          What’s up with cities (in the US) not having the facilities for this? I know it’s not a perfect solution but everyone I see walking their dog in Los Angeles has these compostable bags.

          Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like Europe does (generally speaking). Is it a matter of laziness or something else on our part?

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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            4 hours ago

            building these facilities must be funded by levies, and most jurisdictions vote no on most levies because no one ever feels like they can afford more taxes. really, if the world worked correctly, the richest people and companies would just pay for these things because society benefits them more than the rest of us, and we should receive benefits from society

      • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I guess they could have been wrapped in bulk, but I wouldn’t say you can ship books around without any protection.

        It could have been an e book though