OED
Or look at it this way, If we list the OED at $950, and plan on sales of
5,000, we can figure that the retailers are going to stay out of it. Who
is going to stock something at that price that only the library is going to
buy? So virtually all sales are going to be "direct from the publisher."
Gross sales would be $4.75 million, publisher take all. Keep the "Rolls
Royce," image and drive around in one too.
Or, list the OED at $400, plan on sales of 20,000 copies. Still an
expensive item for my corner bookshop. So we can figure that a lot of
retailers are still going to be shy about it. If half our sales are mail
order, direct from the publisher, and the other half are sales through
retailers who keep half, then we gross $6 million. Skip the Rolls Royce
image, just drive one, and keep a spare in the garage, (in case we need to
cut a deal with a used car salesman in LA.)