> namely, that of book publishers It's entirely different, actually. The risk to publishers is much lower because the book publisher, not the author, control

> namely, that of book publishers It's entirely different, actually. The risk to publishers is much lower because the book publisher, not the author, control the means of printing the books. In Groupon's case, Groupon would be like a publisher paying in advance to a printing company. There's nothing wrong with such an arrangement, but those that invest in the publisher should acknowledge the risk that the printer will go out of business before delivering. It's doubly risky if the payment terms ensure that the printer will lose money on each book printed.