If you look at several different kinds of books that have triangles
next to the barcode, you'll notice that some of the triangles are
"empty" and some have the letter "S" inside them. The "S" designates
the books that are "strippable," meaning that bookseller can receive
credit from the publisher for unsold volumes by sending in just the
cover, stripped off the book. The rest of the book is supposed to be
destroyed.
If a book has an empty triangle, the book is not "strippable" and must
be returned intact. That is usually the case with more expensive,
"trade" paperback editions and with almost all hardbacks.
Not all publishers are doing this yet, so you'll still see some books
with no triangle next to the barcode, but many widely-distributed
small-format paperbacks now bear the symbol.
"And recently, publishers have started putting a triangle on the cover
next to the bar code, with an "S" inside if the book is strippable,
empty otherwise. This way people (esp. bookstore clerks) don't have to
look at the copyright page to determine the format. I've even seen
hardcovers (with and without dust jackets) with the empty triangle."
Evelyn C. Leeper's Home Page: Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824/sf-written.htm
"WHAT IS STRIPPABLE?
To tell if an item is strippable, look for an inverted triangle with an (S) in it."
Time Warner Bookmark: Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.twbookmark.com/library/faq.html
My search strategy:
Since I worked in a bookstore for several years, this question was
right up my alley. This was the search string that gave me the best
results:
Google Web Search: "book OR books" + "triangle" + "strippable"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=book+OR+books+triangle+strippable
I hope this helps! If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before
you rate my answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
