Why Amazon's book stocking system needs a major haul

If you've ever been a small publisher selling to Amazon, or an author/editor dealing with a small publisher dealing with Amazon (that's me! With Pretty Things Press and Naughty Spanking Stories from A to Z 1 and 2 and Sex and Candy), you know that their stocking system makes no sense. Or, well, it makes sense to them, but sucks bigtime for publishers because they are constantly ordering in extremely small increments. I had to deal with frustration as an editor with my books not always being in stock; I've also had other Amazon issues with them de-listing the rankings of books like He's on Top, but that's another story.

Stephanie Grenier's Blog Blazers: 40 Top Bloggers Share Their Secrets to Creating a High-Profile, High-Traffic, and High-Profit Blog! is one example of the flaws in the system. Today it's still showing "Temporarily out of stock" (and doesn't give potential customers a clue when it will be in stock). Bad Amazon. You deserve a spanking!

One commenter wrote:

Sometimes it’s good to be out of stock. It gives a certain degree of ‘get-it-now-before-it-runs-out-again’ perception to the buyers.

I respectfully disagree. What happened with me, full disclosure, is that Steph's reply to my comment convinced me to order it, but then the lovely Jennette Fulda (an interviewee) said she'd send me a copy, so rather than wait, I'm getting that one and will of course review it here and on Amazon. I really do look forward to reading it; I mean look at the bloggers who are interviewed: Dan Lyons, Jessamyn West, Seth Godin, Penelope Trunk, and onward. I think I found it via SEO Book, but I'm not sure.

My main point is, through no fault of the editor's, she lost a sale, and I'm sure more people will click through and buy a book on impulse if they think they're going to get it right away. One thing Amazon does well is shipping; I order from them often and usually get my book within 2 days, sometimes the next day (Manhattan delivery).

You can, of course, also order it directly from the author, and it does indeed exist:



I especially like the simple but informative blogger bios section, where you can easily find out more about these talented bloggers.

Jennette Fulda's magic weight loss video

Actually, my subject line is a joke, because Fulda's Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir, is about how she lost over half her body weight, and there's no magic about it. It's a really inspiring memoir and I appreciated that she doesn't make it a simple "I lost all that weight and lived happily ever after." She questions herself and the fat-phobic culture, as well as how she was raised and her ideas about food, nutrition and body image. Mostly, she has a huge task ahead of her and she tells about her process in an engaging way (though my one big disappointment is she didn't talk about what diet she did, though in an interview she said it was South Beach). Check out her blog Pasta Queen and her blog about the book (which I find even more interesting, but I'm a book nerd) Half-Assed Book.



I'm posting this as part of a contest she's holding. You can win a Spaghetti Scepter! I don't even know that that is, but it sounds cool.