Hiccups have left the biggest titles from some

hiccups have left the biggest titles from some publishers out-of-stock and unavailable for purchase at
the all-important retailer. Several publishers, wholesalers, and distributors spoke to PW, on the
condition of anonymity, about how the situation is impacting their holiday season. Many said the
problem is stemming from the fact that Amazon placed unusually large orders in October and
November that it is now struggling to process. “The whole industry is set up so that everything moves
through the pipeline: if someone plugs it up, everything goes kablooie,” said one editor at a regional
press. This editor's house has a frontlist title which he feels is being adversely affected by the
situation; although Amazon ordered a significant percentage of the book's total print run, the retailer
has yet to make the title available online. The book, which was released last month and has received
significant media attention, is currently listed as “temporarily out of stock” on Amazon. Another
publisher said the issues at Amazon are forcing it to reprint books more aggressively than it would, in
order to keep stock flowing through other channels. Some sources told PW that the problems at
Amazon are leaving their books sitting on distributors' loading docks for up to four weeks. When
asked about the situation, Amazon downplayed the suggestion that there are any issues. "We are
excited about strong customer demand for books this season and our holiday forecasting has
prepared us for increased volumes. As always, we are working hard with publishers to keep books in
stock for customers," an Amazon spokesperson said. Don Linn, director of the Chicago Distribution
Center and one of the few people contacted by PW who would speak on the record, confirmed that
his company, which largely handles academic and scholarly titles, has had some issues with Amazon
this season. While Amazon skipped several scheduled pick-ups from to CDC in the past two weeks,
Linn told PW that a large shipment was taken by the retailer this past Friday. “They’re being
responsive,” Linn said of the retailer, adding that he's confident the problems will be resolved soon.
The situation Linn and CDC client-publishers described, in which Amazon's trucks are missing
scheduled pick-ups, seems to be at the heart of the issue for others as well, including some larger
indie publishers. A number of affected publishers told PW about regularly-scheduled “milk runs,”
pick-ups which facilitate the delivery of shipments to Amazon's warehouses, being skipped. This
means stock is left piling up at distribution centers, instead of making it to Amazon's warehouses.
(When titles do not make it to Amazon's warehouses, they are left listed as out of stock on
Amazon.com.) Currently the situation seems to be limited in scope; many publishers contacted by
PW, including several of the Big Five houses, reported no problems with Amazon. But for those
affected, concerns are mounting about when the problem will be fixed and, come February, how the
issue will impact returns. "It's been so frustrating," one publisher told PW. "For small presses, this is