Ask anyone that has been in publishing for more than ninety days what they like least about the industry and you will undoubtedly get the answer, “returns!” Returns are high on the list of frustrating and hard-to-accept aspects of the book business.

When I first began working in publishing years ago, I was told early on about returns during my training with our own Tanya Hall. I remember kind of chuckling when she told me that all sales could be returned for any reason at any time. Having never heard of such a practice in my prior retail, B2B, and direct to consumer experience, I thought surely she must be joking. Well, she wasn’t, but the hundreds of authors I have worked with over the years have certainly felt like the joke’s on them when it comes to returns.

Stop the presses! Before you print your book, make sure you’re not committing a major packaging faux pas that will diminish retail buyers’ interest. We’ve all heard the statistic: 2,000 books are published every day. That means the competition for shelf space is fierce, so as an author, you have to make sure the physical presentation of your book is flawless or you don’t stand much of a chance.

We receive so many submissions that, despite having great content, have one part of the packaging off, which makes it hard for us, or any distributor, to effectively sell the title. Interior layout is one facet of packaging that can be easily overlooked but remains essential to the professional presentation and readability of a book. I spoke with managing designer Sheila Parr, who’s won numerous awards for her book designs, about common layout errors, and she offered some simple advice to anyone looking to produce a book on their own.

We know shipping (and its associated costs) can sometimes be a big pain. However, in the publishing industry, there is just no way around it. Books must get to the wholesalers and retailers in order for them to be sold to the customer, and someone has to incur the shipping costs.

There are a few options, though, when it comes to moving your books from here to there. Some are just OK; others are better. Trust me, we speak from experience (lots and lots of it!).

So, the big debate: which carrier to use? While Greenleaf Book Group typically recommends shipping with a courier such as UPS or FedEx, I will lay out the particulars of each option and let you decide which is the best option for you.

For the purposes of comparison, I’m going to lump UPS and FedEx together as couriers since they both operate in the same general way. Their primary challenger is the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Everyday thousands of new books are released, most by first time authors. What is interesting is that what an author thinks is a good book is not always what a book distributor or the general public deems a quality book.