It is known, somewhat deceptively, as a cooperative advertising agreement. In plain terms, it means that many of the books on display at the front of a store or placed face out at the end of an aisle are there because the publisher paid for them to be there, not necessarily because anyone at the bookstore thought the book was noteworthy or interesting.
Pay-for-display programs are nothing new in the retail world, but the practice seems less savory in bookselling, where bookstore owners and managers were once assumed to serve as an editorial presence, recommending and featuring books they liked.
Co-op advertising has acquired a reputation as a kind of dirty little secret of the publishing business.
In many Barnes & Noble superstores, about 70 percent of the books on front-of-store tables are there because co-op money secures their spot.
While publishers disagree about the merits of paying for display, one thing about the arrangements is clear: they further concentrate money and attention on the books that need it least.
The phenomenon has been called the reverse Robin Hood effect.
The bookselling business has fallen prey to the blockbuster, too.
