That, over there on the left? That's pulp. That could be your book. I don't mean it in a derogatory way, but it's true that it's possible that's what your book can look like in the end--and that's business, not nature.

Most of us don't want to think about the nuts and bolts of the business of publishing. Especially those of us who have yet to publish a book with a larger house like to imagine that our book will enchant all those who read it including agents, publishers, customers and Oprah.

It's probably wise, although unpleasant, to learn the business end of how books are moved. Anna Louise at Tor books very generously breaks it down for everyone over at her LiveJournal page:

Mass market paperbacks that don't sell used to get stripped and pulped -- their covers torn off and the insides made into goo. Now, or so I am told, the whole book is destroyed. Usually, by the time this happens, the bookseller has already paid for the book. So the bookseller returns an affadavit (formerly known as "the book's cover") to the publisher's warehouse, and receives a credit, good for use on any other books, instead of paying with cash, and the book is counted as a "return" -- even though it doesn't get returned and it can't be shipped out again. This doesn't happen to hardcovers.

Pause. Coop. Pronounced co-op, because it is "co-operational advertising" but spelled coop because we are too lazy for hyphens. This is a word you will never hear us talk about or see anywhere because it is not really any of your particular business. But. Coop is a pool of money that all bookselling outlets (the trade and others) have. It is sort of extra, on top of their discount, based on how many books published by us they sold last year. Total. It is not per book.

Much more knowledge is dropped here.