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Where do you buy your books? Barnes & Noble, online, local bookstores, or do you not buy at all and borrow from your local library? I used to buy books from B & N and now I am starting to find them a little expensive. I buy books from the bargain racks that are older. If I really want to read something newer I wait until it comes out in paperback. I just purchased Cross by James Patterson and Kite Runner at Target for less than 7 bucks each. There used to be a used bookstore close by in my town but now its gone and I am at a loss for options. Just wondering what others did.
I buy books at many places (a) local bookstores, (b) online at amazon, and/or (c) B&N; second hand bookstores; and use the library as much as possible.
So much depends on where one lives. When last in VT, I was 1/2 mile to the library, and they had a wonderful inter-library service. I read all summer and didn't buy one book.
Mostly at Half-Price Books and also from abebooks.com. Rarely from B&N. I love the library, but it takes me so long to read a book because of limited time that I don't take advantage of the library often enough.
Title Wave and Twice Told Tales here in Anchorage. Borders for a desperate fix for new that has been long awaited. eBay for reference end text. Value Village if they have something I want.
Local Independent bookstores only.
(You may have seen my rants elsewhere)
The great homogenization of available books is looming, because publishers struggle and so are less willing to give an unknown author a chance, so we end up with 15 new James Patterson's every month.
Only buying used books, while more cost-effective, hurts authors and publishers. Authors don't get royalties for the sale of used books. That beleagured genius living in a tire behind 7-11 could use some help...
Buying only online ensures that eventually you'll HAVE to buy online, because brick and mortar locations will be gone.
Buying from the box stores hurts your community and the local availability of books, since the boxies have a very limited number of publishers that they deal with on account of the economies of numbers; smaller publishers are under-represented and the self-published author may as well just sell books out of the trunk of their car.
If you want the list of available books to look about as exciting as the NYT Bestseller's list, then by all means farm your money to Amazon/B&N/Borders. If you think Nora Roberts is all you need for 'literature' or that David McCullough is all you need for history, then ensure the failure of lesser known authors by making it financially unfeasible to publish them.
Or you can go here to find an independent store close to you: BookSense.com
Well Colorado Native...here's my take on it....It's my money so it's up to me on what I spend it on....I buy my books at yard sales and thrift stores...or I exchange them with my friends.
I love to read but see no sense in paying $25.00+(hardback) or $5.00+(paperback) for something that I'll just pass on to someone else when I am done.
I read ALOT so it would cost me a small fortune to buy them new, plus you never know what you're going to find.
A good point. I try to go independent when I really want to own a good book, but I'll buy a good where I can get the best price for a book I have on my list.
And, btw, paperbacks are now as high as $15..00 or more. I haven't seen a five dollar book for ages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by captnemo62
Well Colorado Native...here's my take on it....It's my money so it's up to me on what I spend it on....I buy my books at yard sales and thrift stores...or I exchange them with my friends.
I love to read but see no sense in paying $25.00+(hardback) or $5.00+(paperback) for something that I'll just pass on to someone else when I am done.
I read ALOT so it would cost me a small fortune to buy them new, plus you never know what you're going to find.
The great homogenization of available books is looming, because publishers struggle and so are less willing to give an unknown author a chance, so we end up with 15 new James Patterson's every month.
Only buying used books, while more cost-effective, hurts authors and publishers. Authors don't get royalties for the sale of used books. That beleagured genius living in a tire behind 7-11 could use some help...
Buying only online ensures that eventually you'll HAVE to buy online, because brick and mortar locations will be gone.
Buying from the box stores hurts your community and the local availability of books, since the boxies have a very limited number of publishers that they deal with on account of the economies of numbers; smaller publishers are under-represented and the self-published author may as well just sell books out of the trunk of their car.
Or you can go here to find an independent store close to you: BookSense.com
...now's the part where you defend your choices...
Wow, Colorado, you make an excellent point! I'm an avid reader and an aspiring author. It never occured to me, blond that I am that buying only used books hurts the authors and publishers.
I rarely buy books from the huge bookstores, not so much because of price, but more because I just don't like the feel of those stores. They remind me too much of Wal-mart. Sadly, though there are not that many independent stores near where I live that are part of that "booksense" thing. I used your link and did a search. The closest store is over 50 miles away!
Does it help to shop at just any independent store or do they have to be involved with "booksense"???
Does it help to shop at just any independent store or do they have to be involved with "booksense"???
Booksense is just a tool for independents who are part of the American Bookseller's Association to market themselves and to band together and be treated as a corporation of sorts (when it comes to insurance, publisher issues, and legal advocacy). Not all independents are part of Booksense, obviously. In your case, ya gotta just know your area, it sounds like, to find an independent. Of course, there may not be one any closer, due to the competition with online retailers and big box stores... A cautionary tale, perhaps?
The real issue is just buying local, more than anything else...
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Local Independent Bookstores Only.
that buying only used books hurts the authors and publishers.
