Ever wonder what happens to the unsold books sitting in the major publishers’ warehouses across the country once that publisher decides to call it quits on a title? In short, they get the hook. This hook isn’t the one that a roomful of people spend weeks devising to convince the media and public to pay attention to the title in the first place; it’s the one that unceremoniously pulls our featured performer offstage.

In the interest of making sense of all of this, let’s clarify the difference between “books” and “titles”. In the publishing industry, a “title” refers to an individual work of intellectual property. “Books” refers to multiple reproductions of the “title”. So we may say that a certain title has 20,000 books in print.

Publishing is as unpredictable as the tastes of its master, the public. If any publisher knew the secret formula to a locked-in bestseller at the consumer level, he or she would be a gazillionaire. The reality is that creators of media are at the mercy of a lot of factors beyond their control.

A publisher may look at a potential new addition to their line and consider the quality of the work, the performance of comparable titles (“comp titles” in industry speak), the author’s ability to reach the masses, marketing budget, initial feedback from sales reps, and the current buzz on the subject matter to determine whether or not to take the plunge on a new title. If all signs say go, the publisher engages their editorial staff for improvements, finalizes a marketing strategy, and goes to press for a significant quantity of books. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, the public and the marketplace can be fickle. Public opinion on the subject of a biography or an issue may turn, an unexpected competing title may be issued around the same time, or the title just may never hit with the media and/or public. It’s a guessing game to some degree, and we all guess incorrectly here and there.

When a publishing house has a surplus of inventory and a lack of sales momentum, remaindering the books is an option to at least recover a portion of production costs. Remainders are “overstock” units of a title that may be sold in large quantities through a bid list to bargain book wholesalers. The wholesalers then resell them to retailers. These books may also be sold directly to retailers in smaller quantities in what is referred to as a “white sale.” In general, remainders bids come in at less than 10% of retail price under an exclusive buy arrangement. The market skews heavily towards the soccer mom demographic—gardening, travel, cooking, kids, etc. A remaindered title will generally be taken out of print and/or have its barcode punched in an effort to safeguard against returns to wholesalers and retailers at the full price.

When making a decision on how to proceed in publishing your title, this information is important in a couple of ways. First, to give your title more time to sell, consider holding onto your rights and publishing outside of the major houses so that you may have more control over how long your title stays in print. Second, remember that it’s a crowded marketplace. Hone the value, uniqueness, and quality of your product and invest in marketing support—you’ve got a lot of competition. Third, realize that these remaindered titles are competing on the same turf as your new book at a fraction of your cover price and then reread the second point. Do your homework and plan carefully up front to give your title its best shot at a successful launch and a long, profitable backlist life.