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Backlist

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Because this book is out of print, the publisher has an opening on its list, more cash to invest, and a serious need to replace the steady (if small) income stream that book would have generated. So the publisher must release not only the new title it would have published anyway, but a second new
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The Thor decision caused publishers and booksellers to be much quicker to destroy stocks of poorly-selling books in order to realize a taxable loss. These books would previously have been kept in stock but written down to reflect the fact that not all of them were expected to sell. This has been
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Building a strong backlist has traditionally been considered the best method to produce a profitable publishing house, as the most expensive aspects of the publishing process have already been paid for and the only remaining expenses are reproduction costs and author
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one, to make up for its lack of a backlist... This results in title proliferation, which itself promotes both lower advance orders on the part of major buyers, and a higher return rate. That means writers must write more, and sell more often, in order to survive.
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had to account for unsold inventory each year, and their ability to depreciate it. Because stocks of unsold books could no longer be written down without proof of value, it became more efficient tax-wise for companies to simply destroy inventory.
160:. "Current titles, known as the front list, are often a gamble: they can become best sellers, but they are much more likely to disappear in a flood of returns from bookstores. By contrast, backlist books usually have predictable sales and revenues." 234: 179: 154:"The backlist is the financial backbone of the book industry, accounting for 25 to 30 percent of the average publisher's sales," printed 265: 346: 89: 108: 61: 68: 46: 75: 196:, which makes less popular titles more accessible to average readers. (For more on this phenomenon, see 339: 375: 57: 42: 365: 288: 370: 35: 332: 8: 270: 156: 82: 174: 320: 147: 316: 184: 359: 197: 183:. This decision reinterpreted rules for inventory depreciation, changing how 133:. This is opposed to newly-published titles, which is sometimes known as the 214: 193: 312: 130: 235:"What is the difference between Backlist and Frontlist collections?" 24: 304: 170: 242: 180:
Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
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also have backlists of music titles they have published.
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 357: 340: 173:publications were negatively affected by the 347: 333: 192:somewhat mitigated by the development of 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 263: 358: 16:Older books available from a publisher 299: 289:"How Thor Power Hammered Publishing" 283: 281: 266:"Publishing's Backbone: Older Books" 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 209: 13: 264:McDowell, Edwin (March 26, 1990). 14: 387: 278: 303: 164: 23: 34:needs additional citations for 257: 227: 1: 220: 319:. You can help Knowledge by 7: 140: 10: 392: 298: 177:decision in the 1979 case 169:In the US, backlist and 315:-related article is a 207: 162: 202: 152: 43:improve this article 215:Recording companies 125:is a list of older 271:The New York Times 194:online bookselling 157:The New York Times 328: 327: 291:. 5 January 2005. 245:. 24 January 2024 129:available from a 119: 118: 111: 93: 383: 376:Publishing stubs 349: 342: 335: 307: 300: 293: 292: 285: 276: 275: 261: 255: 254: 252: 250: 231: 210:Other industries 175:US Supreme Court 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 391: 390: 386: 385: 384: 382: 381: 380: 366:Book publishing 356: 355: 354: 353: 297: 296: 287: 286: 279: 262: 258: 248: 246: 233: 232: 228: 223: 212: 185:book publishers 167: 143: 115: 104: 98: 95: 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 389: 379: 378: 373: 371:Lists of books 368: 352: 351: 344: 337: 329: 326: 325: 308: 295: 294: 277: 256: 225: 224: 222: 219: 211: 208: 166: 163: 142: 139: 117: 116: 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 388: 377: 374: 372: 369: 367: 364: 363: 361: 350: 345: 343: 338: 336: 331: 330: 324: 322: 318: 314: 309: 306: 302: 301: 290: 284: 282: 273: 272: 267: 260: 244: 240: 239:help.oclc.org 236: 230: 226: 218: 216: 206: 201: 199: 198:The Long Tail 195: 189: 186: 182: 181: 176: 172: 165:United States 161: 159: 158: 151: 149: 138: 136: 132: 128: 124: 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 321:expanding it 310: 269: 259: 247:. Retrieved 238: 229: 213: 203: 190: 178: 168: 155: 153: 144: 134: 122: 120: 105: 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 99:August 2024 360:Categories 313:publishing 221:References 69:newspapers 58:"Backlist" 249:29 August 135:frontlist 131:publisher 141:Business 123:backlist 171:midlist 148:royalty 83:scholar 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  311:This 127:books 90:JSTOR 76:books 317:stub 251:2024 243:OCLC 62:news 200:.) 45:by 362:: 280:^ 268:. 241:. 237:. 150:. 137:. 121:A 348:e 341:t 334:v 323:. 274:. 253:. 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Backlist"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message
books
publisher
royalty
The New York Times
midlist
US Supreme Court
Thor Power Tool Company v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
book publishers
online bookselling
The Long Tail
Recording companies
"What is the difference between Backlist and Frontlist collections?"
OCLC
"Publishing's Backbone: Older Books"
The New York Times


"How Thor Power Hammered Publishing"
Stub icon

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