For a Kinder, Gentler Society

How to Order Books
from Algora Publishing

Unfortunately "B&N evolved from a bookstore to a gift shop . . . " Nevertheless, books can still be ordered through them.

We also invite retailers and libraries alike to order directly from us. Our state of the art order processing includes EDI and XML for just-in-time delivery.

We're not selling potatoes - although we do like French fries (just not "freedom fries"). We sell one book at a time, each one representing years of work and thought by dedicated thinkers, philosophers, historians, economists and writers. We are proud to publish and distribute these authors' thoughts and analyses.

Selling books used to be a simple process. The publisher issued a book, the wholesalers would order in bulk for their warehouses, and retail bookstores would put the books on their shelves. The customer could walk into a book store, fall in love with a book, pay, and take it home. The bookseller would pay the wholesaler and the wholesaler would pay the publisher. It would take a minimum of a year for the whole cycle to run its course.

That worked well as recently as 1980, when fewer than 25,000 titles were published each year in the United States. It ain't like that today! Nowadays books are sold on-line, there are print books and e-books, books printed by offset printing and on-demand. Book stores now sell less than half of all the books that are bought in the US. Is this chaos or fierce competition?

"Some 764,000 public domain and self-published books were published in the US last year, compared with 288,000 traditional titles, according to Bowker" writes John Gapper in the Financial Times.

Worse still, the wholesalers and the middlemen expect to pocket 50% of the list price for their archaic distribution systems. We think they are obsolete. We think the publishing industry does not need middlemen driving up the cost of books.

For price and availability:

Call 212-678-0232
Email editors@algora.com
Fax 212-666-3682
To send an order by FTP, click *Here*

Discounts: vary with quantity, see below.

Returns: We accept returns of damaged books or ten percent of the original order (for schools and bookstores buying in quantity).

Listen to NPR: "Recently, the CEO of Barnes & Noble called returns insane and said it's time to find a way to end them. That would mean a whole new way of doing business." — NPR's Lynn Neary reports: "During the Great Depression, publishers were looking for a way to encourage booksellers to buy more books and to take a chance on unknown authors. So they offered bookstores the right to return unsold books for credit. It's become an entrenched way of doing business, but there's one really big problem with it. What do you do with all those returned books? " . . .  Read more.

University and College Courses / Bookstores

We welcome your Purchase Order, whether for classroom quantities or special orders, via email, fax or uploading at our FTP site.

Course Adoption

Faculty may send a request for examination copies on Department letterhead. Please specify the course title and expected enrollment for the class you have in mind. For expedited service you may send your request via fax or email, or by clicking on the FTP link above.

IMPORTANT: Include your email address.

Save a tree, and get your examination copy sooner. We strongly prefer to send reading copies in PDF form. You can receive a copy of the book by email and begin your perusal right away. A regular "print" book can be sent along when we receive your school's classroom order.

Libraries and Retailers

Algora books are available through Yankee Book Peddler and Baker & Taylor.

In addition, we welcome your order via email, fax, or an upload at our FTP site. Discounts vary with quantity, starting at 20 percent for special orders, plus shipping.

Actual READERS!

Individual customers can order via our online shopping cart or through any of the online stores, including Amazon and B&N.com. Search algora.com for the book page with details and links. 

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