Industry Info: Skipping a Book

Antick Musings explains the phenomenon of skipping a book, which is "what it's called when your book isn't picked up by a particular bookseller. Your book is 'a skip,' and they have 'skipped' you."

Here's more:

I market books for a living, so I can tell you an unpleasant truth: the order for any book, from any account, starts at zero. The publisher's sales rep walks in the door with tipsheets and covers, past sales figures and promotional plans, to convince that bookseller's buyer to buy that book. In many categories -- SFF is still one of them -- the chain buyers say "yes" the overwhelming majority of the time. But not all the time. Sometimes, that buyer is not convinced, and the order stays at zero.

It's tough to be a writer. Not only do you have to write a book, but you have to get it published (which often requires getting an agent), get it publicized, get it not skipped, and then get it bought (which turns out to be very difficult if your book is a literary novel).