From: mjwiseman <mjwisemn>
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 10:06:39 -0600

As I "listen" to the discussion of the problems of getting books of interest to the Spanish-speaking and reading community, what has continued to surface in my mind is a reality in the publishing world that so far I have not seen addressed here. Perhaps one or more of those folks in publishing who deal with this harsh reality would care to say more.
        Some years ago, there was a legal decision that has had a serious impact on publishers. It was probably not intended to have this influence, but it does. The case involved Thor Power Tool and the decision requires that on a given day, the same day, every year, a tax must be paid on all inventory. Prior to this decision, publishers could have a print run of 100, 000 copies, store them in a warehouse awaiting demand, and hold them for as long as was necessary for that demand to build up and thus depete the stock. Now however, they must produce much smaller runs, and even remainder before that crucial date appears on the calendar so as to reduce the tax burden. It is one of the reasons that so many items go out of print or out of stock so quickly. There is a double whammy in the area of children's and special interest books, because initial print runs are so small, comparatively, and because of the small, relatively, market.
        Would love for others to react to this issue.

M. J. Wiseman Doctoral student - Library and Information Studies, and former Youth Services Supervisor.
Received on Sun 19 Mar 2000 10:06:39 AM CST