April 14, 2005

Dear Ms xxxx,

Baker and Taylor never ceases to amaze me. Let’s recap:

From 1990 until 1997, Baker and Taylor bought books from Clearwater at a 50% discount, prepaid. As demand increased, prepayment became a nuisance for you; Baker and Taylor called me wanting terms, we agreed on 50% net thirty days and that’s what we maintained for years until you moved to North Carolina.

After the move, your payments got later and later. Twice I discontinued sales to you until you caught up. When some invoices were six months late, I said we had to go back to prepaying until your systems were running more smoothly.  Your representatives said that had been done.

But I got no orders, and {a buyer from a large chain} explained that, even though you were Vendor of Record for my titles for them, you had changed your discount to bookstores and were now charging them full retail plus a surcharge. No one had mentioned that to me. She switched VOR to Ingram. I told the BT rep that if you could not change your discount to book stores and act like a wholesaler, I could not offer you a wholesale discount, but would give you a ten percent courtesy discount for any stray orders that happened your way. Several reps said they’d see what they could do, then never called again. That ten percent discount did not make it into your computer, by the way: the purchase orders you just sent still list 50%.  Before you sent these, a buyer asked me to send her a note confirming I’d sell at a 10% discount, which I did. Still did not make it into the computer.

Then you sent a box or returns, a jumbled pile of books in the bottom of a large box with no packing material whatsoever; scuffed, bent and completely un-sellable. To add insult, you wanted me to give you a credit for the full retail price, even though you had never bought a single book from me for more than a 50% discount. And to this date, you still haven’t. But your computer thinks you buy from me at wholesale, then sell back to me at retail.

On October 20, 2004 I sent your Accts Payable and Baker and Taylor’s CEO Richard Willis a certified letter saying I’d sure like to start dealing with you again, but not like this.  I told my contact at the time I would be accepting no more returns from you. I got no response, but kept getting these weird returns. Having tried phone calls, emails, and certified letters unsuccessfully, I threw up my hands and gave up. I decided you guys were just too crazy to deal with.

Now you want me to buy my own books from you, books I did not sell you in the first place, and you want me to pay twice as much as I received for them from anyone, even though most were returned in unusable condition. Books that no one bought from you for full retail, because you have never had any inventory since you changed the discount. And by the way, you’d like me to send some nice, fresh new books as part payment because you’ve got orders, probably from Wisconsin libraries. We sure wouldn’t want BT to lose sales, as long as it can get the books for free and sell them at retail, plus a surcharge.

Can you see the absurdity of any of this? Does it seem odd that a company with six titles run by one old guy in his basement on the dusty plains of Colorado should have to scold a billion dollar a year business because they seem disorganized and clumsy? That, at best, you’ve reversed the whole business model: you’re buying my books from bookstores at a 40% discount, then trying to sell them to the publisher at retail. Or, at worst, you are giving bookstores a credit of full retail, even though you’ve never sold them any at that price and now you want me to cover the cost of that silliness for you. That would be amazing: if it’s the case, I would think bookstores would buy from Ingram at 40% and return them to you at retail.  If I were a bookstore, I’d do that all day long. Here in Broomfield, we’d figure that out after about a day and stop it, so I can’t imagine you guys would let something like that go on.

Like I said in my previous letter, for years I was your biggest fan. When I orchestrated the largest book signing in Colorado history for the Colorado Association of Libraries, I encouraged them to use you as the vendor. As president of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, one of the largest in the country, I encouraged the group to develop a relationship with you. When you wanted to promote regional catalogs, your people called me because, as the founder of Book Organizations of Colorado (www.coloradobook.org) I could spread your message to all the libraries, bookstores, authors and press in this region with a mouse click. I was happy to help.  Now, as one of the ten people charged with deciding whether or not the state will reinstitute the Rocky Mountain Book Festival, in its prime an event that 20,000 people attended, I want to maintain reasonable relations with everyone who might participate in that. I include BT in that category. I want to feel good about BT, I really do. But I’m having trouble.

I’m going to put your purchase orders in my drawer for a while and ponder if there is some way I’m not looking at this fairly.

Thank you

Kenn Amdahl

clearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writing algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, algebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loats calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the joy of writing sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make thisalgebra unplugged, math book. kenn amdahl jim loatsclearwater publishing company publishes Kenn Amdahl books in Colorado. Clearwater Publishing Company publishes educational fun books. Books include There Are No Electrons Electronics &lt;span class=&quot;style8&quot;&gt;for Earthlings, Algebra Unplugged, Calculus for Cats, Joy Writing: Discover and Develop your Creative Voice, The Land of Debris and the Home of Alfredo. Clearwater also publishes The Barefoot Fisherman: a fishing book for kids by Paul Amdahl. and Economics for the Impatient by C.A. Turner. Our books are about science, math, creative writingg algebra, calculus s, economics, fishing, kids, parenting, education. Curriculums like them, and so do home schoolers. Joy of Writing and The Joy of Writing are not our books, but Joy Writing is. Kenn Amdahl is president. He's a songwriter and author in Broomfield Colorado. Electronics, teaching electricity, teaching math, especially alebra and calculus and creative writing. SAT, LSAT, and other test takers may like these books. They are like books for dummies, algebra for dummies, calculus for dummies, creative writing for dummies, fishing for dummies, parenting for dummies . Or Algebra for Idiots, Calculus for Idiots, Creative Writing for Dummies. Memoir writing or memoir writers may find Joy Writing useful, although it is not The Joy of Writing or the Joy of Sex or the Joy of Algebra for that matter. They are not chicken soup for the writers soul, or algebra for the writers soul, or calculus for the writers soul. They are not strictly speaking Christian or religious or spiritual, but those folks are welcome. Jesus would not disapprove of these books. Jesus might like them. The Rapture of Writing might be a good title. Self-publishers read our books, Dan Poynter is recommended. Top ten bestsellers not on the list. New York Times Bestsellers are loved here. DaVinci Code or Harry Potter fans welcome. Obviously I'm practicing my writing on this web area that you should not be able to see because I need to make this square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. Sorry, no Jill, no wagner. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>
square bigger and have not learned how yet except to type in words, poetry, prose, language, steinbeck type stuff, No Child Left Behind, that's my motto. Naked books, with no girls gone wild, no bikini models no first amendment problems. no amateur index ladies or lightspeed girls or coeds or women. Just books about electricity, like Tesla or Edison might write, books about Algebra like Aristotle might write. Calculus books like Garfield the cat might write. Cat stuff, feline stuff, study guide type raw material. Books for girls who like to read and boys who know how to. Teach yourself math, science, fishing, in clear water or clearwater economics creative writing and poetry. Sing a song. Release a CD Write a book and self publish it. Groups we like include Book Organizations of Colorado, Colorado Independent Publishers Association CIPA Colorado Authors League Rocky Mountain Fiction Wri</span><span class="style11">ters Pikes Peak Writers Aspen Writers Mountains and Plains Booksellers Independent Booksellers SPAN Small Press Association of North America Publishers Association of the WEst Colorado Library Association Last Note Singers Cottonwood the music group. Jill Wagner is the actress in the Mercury Mariner TV commercial. Jill Wagner will become a big star and people will google her. That's Jill Wagner, mercuryvehicles.com, TV actress. She's in Vancouver filming a movie.Edward Ormondroyd and George Garrett gave blurbs to our books </span></div>