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By David Rothman

image I always root for both e-books and p-books. But sometimes P can be a little problematic for small publishers. The owners of Ellora’s Cave are suing Borders and Baker & Taylor for knowingly ordering too many books, then returning the unsold ones. So go the allegations, at least.

image Ellora’s isn’t the only small publisher claiming such problems. "Independent publishing company Impetus Press, forced to close in autumn 2008, cited the return fees charged by their distributor as the leading cause of their financial downfall, and specifically mentioned Borders as an outlet that was returning substantial numbers of books," reports the Southern Review of Books.

Anyone ever worry about improperly returned electrons?

Of course, e-books have their own B2B issues, such as distribution charges that could be lower, especially without DRM, including Amazon’s forced kind.

Related: Earlier reports in Publisher’s Weekly and MediaBistro.

 
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