The Tale of the Run Over Book
As Rodney Dangerfield used to say —"No Respect!" Here is an example of how books get treated all the time … with no respect. Someone did not get the memo on how one is supposed to treat books!
As a book publisher we get our fair share of returns. It is part of the game. Some books are returned really late — like four years late. Some are not able to be resold. Some are destroyed.
This is the tale of book returned to us by Follett last week. An Ol’ Jimmy Dollar children’s book by Slim Randles was sent back. It had been run over.
This is not our first run over book return. Many years ago, a book was returned by a person in Texas. They had purchased a book from us directly and it was also destroyed. Texas has some bad floods and obviously the book was dropped in the water and then run over by the UPS truck. The pages were stuck together. The problem was not the customer’s fault.
This book had not been dropped in the water but something had run over it. My thought is a fork-lift. There is a sticker on the back of the book that a warehouse took possession of the book. The cover is broken in two places. The book is no longer flat but curved.
The other problem is that Follett supplies libraries. Is this the way they treat books? We don’t know. Follett also supplies bookstores and that is bad too.
What makes me ask is, if this was an accident in a warehouse of their doing, why would they return the book? My ethics would say, I caused the accident and I damaged some merchandise so I need to take responsibility for the lost income. But now the book is just returned as damaged. Who damaged it? That is your write-off, not mine. But this is the mindset of big companies. If you want to continue to sell to me then take the return and smile. I don’t smile. This is sad and a terrible way to treat a book.
Barbe Awalt
Today's Rants: A Random Thought!
At what point does lobbying become bribery? It appears that if you hand a legislator cash in a paper bag to buy his vote, you both go to jail. If on the other hand you announce publicly that you will pay the legislator to vote a certain way, that's okay. So much for the fiction that campaign money only buys "access," and is never given as a quid pro quo.
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
Rio Grande Books
April 8: Gallup Public Library, 9am-5pm "Author Fair"
April 20-22: Arizona-NM Historical Society Conference, Flagstaff, AZ
June 16-18: Sacred Art Market, Gallup Cathedral
July 15: Lavender in the Village, Los Ranchos Agri Center
Henrietta Christmas & Paul Rhetts
April 30: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm "Basic Genealogy Checklist: 101 Tips & Tactics to Finding Your Family History"
June 24: Treasure House Books, Albuquerque Old Town 1-3pm "Basic Genealogy Checklist: 101 Tips & Tactics to Finding Your Family History"
Loretta Hall
March 18: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm "New Mexico's Contribution to Space Travel"
April 2: Explora Science Center & Children's Museum (Albuquerque Old Town), 2:30pm "Miguel & Michelle Visit Spaceport America" new children's book
April 5: Bear Canyon Senior Center, 10:00-11:30, "NM is a Treasure Trove of Space History"
April 7, 14, 21, 28: LifeLong Learning Institute class, Covenant Presbyterian Church, 9315 Candelaria Rd NE, Albuquerque, 10:00-12:00, "New Mexico's Contributions to Space Travel"
April 9: Treasure House Books (Albuquerque Old Town), 1pm "Miguel & Michelle Visit Spaceport America" new children's book
May 3: Bear Canyon Senior Center, 10:00-11:30, "Getting Men to the Moon: Behind-the-Scenes Stories"
July 13: OASIS, 1:00-2:30, "What Sex Differences Mean for Space Travel"
Pat Hodapp
April 23: Collected Works, 2pm "Santa Fe Bucket List"
Ross Van Dusen
June 4: Treasure House Books, 1pm "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree"
This is the tale of book returned to us by Follett last week. An Ol’ Jimmy Dollar children’s book by Slim Randles was sent back. It had been run over.
This is not our first run over book return. Many years ago, a book was returned by a person in Texas. They had purchased a book from us directly and it was also destroyed. Texas has some bad floods and obviously the book was dropped in the water and then run over by the UPS truck. The pages were stuck together. The problem was not the customer’s fault.
This book had not been dropped in the water but something had run over it. My thought is a fork-lift. There is a sticker on the back of the book that a warehouse took possession of the book. The cover is broken in two places. The book is no longer flat but curved.
The other problem is that Follett supplies libraries. Is this the way they treat books? We don’t know. Follett also supplies bookstores and that is bad too.
What makes me ask is, if this was an accident in a warehouse of their doing, why would they return the book? My ethics would say, I caused the accident and I damaged some merchandise so I need to take responsibility for the lost income. But now the book is just returned as damaged. Who damaged it? That is your write-off, not mine. But this is the mindset of big companies. If you want to continue to sell to me then take the return and smile. I don’t smile. This is sad and a terrible way to treat a book.
Barbe Awalt
Today's Rants: A Random Thought!
At what point does lobbying become bribery? It appears that if you hand a legislator cash in a paper bag to buy his vote, you both go to jail. If on the other hand you announce publicly that you will pay the legislator to vote a certain way, that's okay. So much for the fiction that campaign money only buys "access," and is never given as a quid pro quo.
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
Rio Grande Books
April 8: Gallup Public Library, 9am-5pm "Author Fair"
April 20-22: Arizona-NM Historical Society Conference, Flagstaff, AZ
June 16-18: Sacred Art Market, Gallup Cathedral
July 15: Lavender in the Village, Los Ranchos Agri Center
Henrietta Christmas & Paul Rhetts
April 30: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm "Basic Genealogy Checklist: 101 Tips & Tactics to Finding Your Family History"
June 24: Treasure House Books, Albuquerque Old Town 1-3pm "Basic Genealogy Checklist: 101 Tips & Tactics to Finding Your Family History"
Loretta Hall
March 18: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm "New Mexico's Contribution to Space Travel"
April 2: Explora Science Center & Children's Museum (Albuquerque Old Town), 2:30pm "Miguel & Michelle Visit Spaceport America" new children's book
April 5: Bear Canyon Senior Center, 10:00-11:30, "NM is a Treasure Trove of Space History"
April 7, 14, 21, 28: LifeLong Learning Institute class, Covenant Presbyterian Church, 9315 Candelaria Rd NE, Albuquerque, 10:00-12:00, "New Mexico's Contributions to Space Travel"
April 9: Treasure House Books (Albuquerque Old Town), 1pm "Miguel & Michelle Visit Spaceport America" new children's book
May 3: Bear Canyon Senior Center, 10:00-11:30, "Getting Men to the Moon: Behind-the-Scenes Stories"
July 13: OASIS, 1:00-2:30, "What Sex Differences Mean for Space Travel"
Pat Hodapp
April 23: Collected Works, 2pm "Santa Fe Bucket List"
Ross Van Dusen
June 4: Treasure House Books, 1pm "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree"