Inquiring Minds: Used Books, Part the Second

[rolanni]

First, thanks to everyone who took the time to answer the poll questions and to comment. I will, I promise, Reveal what this is all about, but first, my anwers...

Full disclosure:

I buy used books; how many I buy a month depends on how flush I am. At the moment, for instance, I'm depending on the library and on gifts from friends for reading matter. Usually, I buy fiction new, non-fiction used. As someone else mentioned, research books are expensive. I will buy fiction used, if the book I want is OOP.

I'm very aware that authors do not receive royalties on used book sales. While I'm sorry that authors in general earn so little from their efforts (oh, baby), I don't think it's used book sales that are breaking the bank. In the case of the Liaden books, for instance, it was used book sales that kept growing the fan base during the decade when we couldn't place a novel. It was used booksellers handselling our books to their customers that helped bring us back from the dead. Used book sales have, as far as I know, done us only good. And that's without getting into the fact that used bookstores fed my science fiction reading habit when I was a starving secretary.

I don't believe that sales of new mass markets are suffering because of the proliferation of cheap, used hardcovers. As is rather apparent from the SRM poll recently posted in this space, people who buy hardcovers don't necessarily buy mass market, and vice versa, while trade paper is a whole 'nother issue -- and the preference is not based on price.

I do not sell my culls on the internet; I usually give them to a friend or a family member, or donate them to the Friends of the Library sale.

In the distant past, however, I was half-owner of a used bookstore. We sold used sf, fantasy, mystery and romance. We did trades. After a while, we regretfully had to stop accepting Harlequin romances in trade because there were just Too Dern Many of Them. They would have taken over the whole store and the sidewalk, too.

More on Next Rock.

Comments

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

The good folks at Uncle Hugo's (Scott Imes, RIP) did a LOT to spread the word. I know Don (the owner) kept a steady stream of comment to DelRay to get your stuff back in print. Didn't change their minds to my regret but he did try.

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

Used bookstores are a good thing indeed. They were my source of initial addiction for many of my favorite authors who I now buy new and often in hardback.

[shana.livejournal.com]

It's the only way to get E. Phillips Oppenheim...

[janni.livejournal.com]

In the case of the Liaden books, for instance, it was used book sales that kept growing the fan base during the decade when we couldn't place a novel.

It's kept people able to read my Phantom Rider books, too.

And when you get a letter from a ten year old who desperately wants to read the third book in your series, I really prefer being able to say "check out your local used bookstore, or the online bookstore sites" instead of "sorry, it's out of print, and I'm out of copies, so I guess you can't read it."

My only real objection is to people selling ARCs or advance promotional copies ahead of the pub date.