Note: This example was specifically about a PAPERBACK EDITION. Hardcovers are handled differently, and the publishers DO keep a portion of the royalties back to cover returns. And that include four years down the line when a bookstore finds a copy in the back corner and returns it, not realizing that the hardcover copies are in high demand and they could almost certainly make double cover price putting the book on eBay (one of John Ringo's more recent royalty statements had a line-item for one copy of _A Hymn Before Battle_ being returned, a copy in good condition goes for $50-100 from a dealer).