Oh Krapp!

This needs to be fixed.

Last week, Kai from Offscreen wrote that he hadn’t received more than $1,600 in fees from Magma Books. To me, this seemed like a huge amount, and I was shocked to read that it was this much. Kai sells magazines at wholesale at $10 or $11 a copy, so Magma must have bought (and sold on) a considerable amount of copies.

I’ve been following the response to Kai’s original post on Twitter, and Magma are yet to comment (or even tweet from their account). Silence is a sign that they know they’re wrong and don’t know what to do, but without a response they are just making the situation worse.

What is strange to me, is how these offending shops a) think they can get away without paying publishers, and b) can get into this situation in the first place. Do they not keep books (pardon the pun)? Surely, as brick-and-mortar stores, they have accountability to file taxes etc. How can they not pay the publishers for magazines they have sold on at upwards of a 100% markup? Where does this money go?

Somehow, we need to put pressure on these shops to pay up. This should not be happening. I am shocked and upset that people who spend hours and hours creating beautiful magazines are being taken for a ride by the outlets that help provide them more sales. $1,600 is not a small amount.

On the flip side: publishers, how can you let it get this bad? From what I understand, most magazines are delivered to shops with payment only coming once they’ve been sold there. The risk balance is totally in the shop’s favour (you take all the risk, they take none). I understand that as smaller magazines, you have less clout than a shop selling tens or hundreds of other titles, so they can call the shots. But try to be more bullish. Send out trial packs to test the shop, or charge half up front. Do something. Do not get caught out, because you may never see that money; the money that will help get your next issue out of the door.

–Dan