But not the method. A publisher first must decide how many books to print. The maximum depends upon the author's reputation or past sales, the publisher's opinion of the book, the phase of the moon and which side of the bed the publisher rolled out of that morning. After the books are printed and bound, they are shipped to bookstores. That costs big bucks.
Books are heavy.
Surely you've moved a time or two. The bookstore or the publisher might pay for the shipping. The bookstore pays for the books, then marks them up about 40 percent. Then everyone mostly waits for the books to sell. There's not much advertising in the book world.