The Importance of Buying Books
Do you buy books? Besides promoting books and reading, interviewing authors, and reviewing ARCs, book bloggers should be buying books. Yes, I am a strong supporter of my library and, yes, I'm not even close to being rich, but if we don't buy books, good-quality, well-edited books will cease to exist or will be so expensive, only the wealthy will be able to afford to them.
I love going into a house that is filled with books. When I decided to take a photo of one of my bookshelves this morning, I realized that I could have taken a photograph in every single room of the house except the bathroom. I chose one of three bookcases that are in my living room (which is also home to many stacks of unshelved books).
Think about this: How does an author earn money? Mostly through book sales. Where do you think the $12.00 that you spent on a book goes? Here's a list of just some of the people who get a piece of that sale:
1. The author
2. The publicist
3. The publishing house
4. The agent
5. Editors (two to three)
6. Proofreader
7. Compositor
8. Designer
9. Cover artist (may be more than one)
10. Indexer (depending on book)
11. Photo researcher (depending on book)
12. Permissions (depending on book)
11. Legal (depending on book)
13. Paper company
14. Binder
15. Shipping
16. Bookseller
I may have forgotten someone or some chore, but based on this list, each person gets only 75 CENTS from each book sale. Of course, the money isn't divided evenly among the team, but regardless, you can start to see how little an author makes from each sale. An author has to sell a lot of books just to pay the rent.
So where am I going with this?
Amy of My Friend Amy is hosting a book drive, and I'd like you to participate. Here's what I'm asking. First, read all about the book drive and the prizes that will be given out. Then go read the review of Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart. Third, buy the book. Finally, send Amy the receipt. Did I mention that there'd be prizes?
Inquiring minds want to know
What was the last book (besides Kephart's!) that you bought? What stops you from buying books (cost, storage space)? How often do you buy books (once a month, once a week)?
⇒The last book I bought was Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris (in preparation for my Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge).
⇒Er, um, nothing ever stops me from buying books.
⇒I buy books several times a month, and I usually buy more than one at a time.
59 comments:
Great post! I did buy Nothing But Ghosts and Finger Lickin' Fifteen on Tuesday. The last book I bought before that was American Psycho for Carl for Father's Day.
Great post! The last book I bought was The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich - a collection of new and previously published short stories. I probably buy books every couple of weeks, but I'm running out of storage space! The library is for genre books, books I don't want to own, or books I want to 'test' before buying.
Off topic - your comment on my blog about authors narrating audiobooks got me thinking. It lead to my Sunday Salon post today - thanks for the inspiration!
This is a great post!
The last book I bought... Well, actually I bought 4 yesterday: The House In Grosvenor Square by Linore Burkard, and three by Deeanne Gist: A Bride Most Begrudging, A Bride in the Bargain, and Courting Trouble.
So clearly, nothing stops me from buying books. I usually buy one (or a few) once a week.
I recently got a library card after living in Georgia for over 6 years, but I haven't checked anything out since my first trip. I do plan to use it for some books I'm not sure I'd want to own, however...
Kathy, how do you feel about your father-in-law? LOL!
Great post! I bought four books yesterday: Nothing but Ghosts and The White Tiger (Amazon) and Nefertiti and Travels with Charly (independent bookstore).
I love owning books. I love their smell, the way they feel, and how they make a room feel warm and inviting.
What a lovely book case! The last non-used book I bought was Driftwood Summer at Borders on Friday. I had a lovely time picking it out because for the first time in a long time I just wandered around and picked out something I had never heard of! What stops me is the fact that I have no space for them and over like 800+ books that I own and haven't read. So yeah... but it doesn't REALLY stop me, just slows me down. I probably buy an average of a book a week, and I'm talking brand new from a bookstores instead of a used ex-library book. Because those I buy a lot more of! :P
I love buying books. The last books I bought were Kephart's and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson on Amazon. Last month I bought five books from Borders UK and I think two in store. I find that I usually buy an order once a month or so from Amazon or other online places. I can't really afford too much more than that, but I look forward to the day when I can. Nothing will stop me, unless I can't afford to eat.
Actually it just occurred to me that my mom has purchased a number of new books on my behalf in the past month or so, I'm doing better than I thought!
I just bought friend Allan Ansorge's Crossing the Centerline at his launch party and Finger Lickin Fifteen. Love Janet Evanovich.
Good point, well made!
I buy a lot of books! I do sell them on though, so the author and all those other people won't feel the benefit of that.
In the UK the author does get some money every time someone takes their book out of the library too. It isn't much, but it all adds up and some of the big authors will make a lot of money this way - does that happen in the US?
Jackie (Farmlane): I don't think the author gets anything from library action. But I won't swear to that.
While I didn't buy nothing but ghosts. I bought 7 true crime books Tale of Two Cities and The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.
Anne Rule was the author of 5 of the True Crime books. Michael Fleeman was the other 2.
I buy books all the time. My wallet suffers the extreme misfortune of working down the road from a bookstore...and well on tough work days sometimes the only solution is some retail therapy and nothing makes me feel better than books. I love the library...but I buy about as much if not more than what I check out.
I am definitely a book buyer (I actually need to get a library card, on my to-do list).
Most recently I bought: Shanghai Girls, Olive Kitteridge and Commencement online, and recently picked up The 19th Wife and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in a store.
Love your post. Was just getting ready to do my own, in support of the book drive.
The last book I bought, before Nothing But Ghosts, was not one, but 6 - One Wish, Sliding on the Edge, Bones of Faerie and 3 Shakespeare plays (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream)for a challenge.
I just bought Nothing But Ghosts (yay!) and Jane Austen Ruined My Life. Usually, cost is what stops me from buying books but I still buy at least a few per month!
Oh, I definitely still buy books! Cost stops me, but not always. I most recently bought "The Angel's Game" because, obviously, I HAD to have it. :) Oh, and the coupons from Borders? Those are definitely, DEFINITELY encouraging.
I don't buy as many books as I want to buy because of my current budget. But do I still buy books? Yes, but in all honesty, on average, 2 a month. Half being "want to read it now don't want to go to library or wait for it" books, half being "must own it and have it forever" books.
Authors don't get $ for books being borrowed from the library in the US. I'm not sure it that will ever change; I haven't heard of any steps to change it. I've heard library sales account for from 20 to 40 percent of all booksales (40 percent is the figure I usually hear), so authors do get a nice percentage of their sales from the library market. This is especially true for those that get on lists & awards (NBA, BBYA, regional awards like Texas Bluebonnett, statewide "one book" initiatives) because then libraries buy multiple copies.
I rarely buy books full price. The last time I spent $18 for a Phillippa Gregory book last winter and I was mighty disappointed, so I vowed never ever again.
I shop for used and out of print books via AbeBooks, or Alibris.
From 7 years ago, my household has doubled in size yet our incomes both have decreased twofold as well, so I have to be frugal in my book obsession.
I posted a picture of my newest bookcase on my Salon post also!
Great post! I buy books all the time. Mostly because I like to write in them, and the library kind of frowns on that, but also because I really believe in supporting authors and keeping the industry going.
The bookstore I work for offers employees a pretty great discount, and our yearly statement of benefits shows how much we saved with our discount. Suffice it to say that when I saw how much I saved last year, I couldn't even bring myself to calculate how much that meant I had spent.
In my most recent spree, I bought about a dozen books, including Perfume, Beowulf on the Beach, Jane Eyre, Little Bee, American Nerd, and several others I don't remember right now. I do this a couple times a year, and I buy 2-5 books per month in general.
Budgetary constraints should stop me from buying books, but I'm totally willing to give up some other luxury items in order to have more books, so like you, nothing stops me.
I'm echoing the "great post" comments.
The last book I bought was Finger Lickin Fifteen on Tuesday. Two days before, I bought the next books for my book clubs-- Interred With Their Bones and Black Dahlia.
The main thing that stops me from buying more books is simply finding time to read them. Finances and book shelf space also play a small role.
I buy books on a highly irregular basis. I have enough of a backlog that I don't need to worry about not having anything to read, so I can go for a couple of months, then make a huge Amazon order and several book store stops in a short time.
Last one I bought was the second Sookie Stackhouse book. I simply cannot afford to buy all the books I read, so I have to use the library extensively. I definitely buy the ones that both The Hubster and I will read. I probably buy an average of 3-5 books per month.
I buy so many books that my husband is pretty sure I'm keeping Amazon in business all by myself. And now I've discovered Book Depository in the UK! Ironically, I only have a couple more library books to read to reach my goal of 50 library books this year, but I've only read abou 16 of my own. Oops. :-)
Lezlie
Well, just out of curiousity, I looked at my files (I'm anal retentive, what can I say?) and it seems that I have bought 32 books so far this month. Yes, I have a bit of an addiction problem! The last two I bought were The Motion of the Ocean by Janna Cawrse Esarey and Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier. My complete lack of self-control (need I actually spell out that nothing stops me from buying books?) is one of the reasons I don't blog about what I've bought versus what I've read on a monthly basis ala Nick Hornby in his Believer columns. As to how often I buy books, it varies. If I'm trying to be good, I have to avoid the bookstore because I am congenitally unable to come out of the bookstore without an armload. Yes, I think I am singlehandedly supporting the publishing trade!
Kristen: My mother and I were just talking about the fact it is absolutely impossible to enter a bookstore without buying something.
Another great post! They lat books I bought were the Vampire Diary series. I love books, sometimes too much! Lack of space and cost is what is currently holding me back from buying more books.
I would say I buy about 99% new and the 1% through Paperbackswap.com
I've got about 40 books that I bought in June, after my computer died the last weekend in May, waiting to be added to my database (which I should be doing right now).
I pre-order much of what I want through Amazon. If I see something that strikes my interest after its initial release date, I try to get it at B&N or Borders. Failing that, I go to Paperbackswap and order/wishlist it. Sometimes I'll order it from Amazon (I have Amazon Prime, so it's never an issue with cost of shipping).
I'm lucky to be able to spend what I want on books at this time. However, the move to Kentucky is just around the corner and I'm only authorized a certain weight limit on household goods --- that the Army will pay for, that is. I'll be forced to choose between furniture and books. Does one really need to ship a dining room table?? Can't I buy a new one when I get there?? ;-)
I am definitely a book buyer, but I probably buy way too many than I should. Just ask my husband. :-) I've actually cut back on the number of books I buy this year (although it's still really high--I've already bought more books than I'll read this year.)because of cost, space, and, the number one reason, I already have enough unread books in my home to last me for at least a decade or more at the rate I read. I'd say I buy books on average about every other week or so.
The last book I bought was The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.
I'll start by saying that I'm always buying books. Even if I'm provided advance copies of a book if I really love it I'll go out and buy a copy to support it. I want to see my enjoyment reflect positively on an author and the publisher.
To that end I buy FAR too many books. I suspect that if I stopped purchasing today (which ain't ever gonna happen) I'd still have enough new reading material to read a book a day for a year. Some may call it an addiction, others a compulsion, I just call it fun! Besides, it's pretty much the only thing (besides DVD's) I spend "me" money on.
So yes, I'm proud to admit I make weekly trips to my Barnes & Noble and Borders. More times than not I'll walk out of each with multiple purchases. I think I'll save you all from listing what I got this week as I believe it numbers in the double digits. Heck, that number won't even include the batch of ARC's I received for review from publishers.
I'll simply say that I think the next book I'm going to read from this most recent batch will be Fall by Colin McAdam.
I've got to admit, I don't buy new books very often. The last one I bought was THE INVISIBLE RING by Anne Bishop, as I was right in the middle of the series and couldn't get it at the library. Price is definitely a factor, (Canadian cover prices can get pretty hefty), as is rereadability. If I know I'm going to reread a book, I have no problem buying it new; I've got a commodity I'll get some repeat use out of it, and I like knowing I've supported the author and the publisher.
The trouble is, I reread relatively few of the books I read. I've got to admit, spending $10 on a book I won't return to kind of bugs me. The situation is even worse with hardcovers; they're $30-40 here, and I'm just not willing to spend that unless I already love the author and know I'll be returning to the book time and again.
That said, I do buy 1-2 new books per month, on average. Most of them are either mass market paperbacks or graphic novels I can't get from the library. I've only bought one hardcover so far this year, compared to two last year.
Great post. I think it's easy for book bloggers to forget why we need to buy books too! The have bought a lot in the past week or so -- eight of the Sookie Stackhouse books, American Lion for a gift and Nothing But Ghosts for me.
Very interesting post. I always buy books, sometimes I feel like I buy too many, but then again, too many for a book lover, is never enough! LOL
I'm a bit late in telling you this, as I have been out all day, and scheduled this post for early this morning! You have an award to pick up! HERE!
Thanks for such a wonderful blog!
Sassy
:)
Sheepish grin - How often do I buy books. All the time, I have no willpower. Was ordering home school books off amazon yesterday and of course had to buy a few for myself. Especially with the buy 4 for 3 sales. Plus Writer's Digest was having a 50% off sale, so bought some interesting writing books.
Great post. Will check out Amy's book drive.
Great post and I enjoyed reading all the comments. It is impossible for me to stop buying books. Even though I love libraries I am not always able to use one. The last book I bought was Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I'm heading out the door to go buy Janet Evanovich's latest. I will visit Amy's blog and check the challenge out as well. Thanks for this post.
I buy A LOT of books. too many probably since Im running out of room to move around ;)
I bought two books by Carol Plum=Ucci yesterday after finishing The Body of Christopher Creed, Death's Daughter by Amber Benson, The Red Headed Stepchild, and a book of du Maurier short stories which includes The Birds. So yeah...5 books just yesterday!
Thanks for your support!
We buy sooo many books. In addition to novels, we buy design books, art books, children's picture books (for ourselves!) and that's not even counting all the books we give as gifts.
Excellent post! I mooch books and I use the library, but I also buy new books. I was reading through the comments, and I think that even those who of us say don't buy new books all that often still buy more than the majority of the population. We have to consider that we're quite an extreme sample...we're addicts :P
Anyway, I go through phases. In late May/early June I went through a phase where I ordered 2-3 books a week. That wasn't very sensible of me, but hey, at least I supported quite a few authors :P Before Nothing but Ghosts, I bought two books by Catherynne M Valente. I found out via Twitter that she was going through some financial troubles and I wanted to do my bit to help.
Umm...I just ordered North and South and North of Beautiful from amazon. A week before that I got a shipment of seven books from Powells. I made these purchases with gift cards. This is the one year I promised to cut back on buying books because, while I do want to support authors and publishers, I can't keep up the level of support I used to without breaking the family bank. I have plenty of space because I donate the books I know I will not read again or do not want to save for my daughters, so it is the cost that is changing my book buying habits. I also love to walk into a home with lots of books but I have noticed that a majority of them do not have any kind of personal library.
I haven't bought a lot of books lately, because I don't have a job. :( I really miss buying books, though. I hope I get a job soon so I can buy moar.
I've just looked it up and here in the UK authors get 5.98p everytime a book is borrowed from a library.
You can read more here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jan/07/public-lending-right-library
I have a serious medical condition called Buybookitis. It started w/ the morebooksnowitis. Alas,it is what it is. There is NO cure -- darn-- but I am treating it by book shopping.
As for the library, I rarely go there because I like to OWN my books, I am weird & don't like the idea of so many hands touching my books.
I am like that @ bookstores, too... have to grab the one all the way in the back -- the "fresh" one. lol.
The last book I purchased was Evanovich's latest for my hubby, Catherine Coulter's for moi, & the Harry Potter boxed set, Prism...
I would rather buy books than buy clothes -- so naked reading may happen in my home/yard. lol.
If I leave a bookstore w/ one book it is because I "forgot" something & had to go back to buy that "one" book -- rare because I grab a few more "just in case".
What stops me from buying... nothing! If times are rough, I'd still buy @ least 10 -- 20-- books a month.
ARC's don't mean a thing, I always buy my favorite authors no matter if I have a ARC or not.
Great post, Beth :). Thanks, Amy, for the tweet :}.
I do buy books. Book blogging hasn't changed my habits much. Actually, I think I might wish list more books now than before because I'm now aware of more books.
Receiving review copies has reduced the number of books that I check out from the library but not the number of books I buy.
I always buy the books of the authors I'm a fan of. If I received a review copy of one of these books, I'd simply run a contest for it when I'm done reviewing it.
To answer your questions, the last book I bought was "A Posse of Princesses" by Sherwood Smith, bought from Books-A-Million (along with other books) on June 17th. This book is a birthday present for a young girl I know.
Price stops me from buying new books. I'm living on a very tight budget right now. Obviously that hasn't prevented my book buying habit altogether, but it does mean I tend to buy books once every other month instead of every month like I used to.
My wife thinks I buy too many. I think I just a little too much. I do get a few galleys from publishers but the majority of the books I read and end up reviewing were purchases. I recently bought: Green by Jay Lake, The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives by James Blaylock, Lightbreaker by Teppo, and Implied Spaces by Williams. The last 2 I purchased through the Night Shade Books sale, but I ended up getting review copies of them as well. I'll probably do a giveaway with the extra copies. I buy online, chain stores, indies, and from publishers. My biggest weakness is The Strand in NYC. I can't leave there without at least 3-5 books. I also bought 2 travel narratives just yesterday. My shelves are always swooning.
Cheers,
The Mad Hatter
booktionary.blogspot.com
I agree that not enough people buy books nowadays. I personally took it one step further and started collecting leather bound books.
What a great post! I had no idea that so much of a book's costs when to so many people.
The last book I bought was Marcelo in the Read World by Francisco X. Stork. Paying my rent and the cost of a book stops me from buying every book that I want.I usually buy a few books every month, not counting when I put myself on book bans.
Great post!!! I love buying books!! I think I'm buying more books ever since I've started my blog, and I love all the recommendations from you guys. :D
I would just like to know why you don't have bookshelves in your bathroom. Bad bookworm!
I have to commmend you on such a nice neat bookshelf but was glad to see that you have unshelved piles, too (I have lots of those!). :)
I just bought Lady Macbeth by Susan Fraser King a few days ago. I have a hard time NOT buying anything when I go to any bookshop. One thing I have started doing lately, though, is to check the copyright date. So many books that were published in the 80s or 90s have been rereleased with new covers (and sometimes even new titles!), I can't even count the number of times I have mistakenly bought something I already owned because I didn't recognize it!
Carey
Great post!! I love books. I love to buy books. But with my current financial struggles, I just can't. I did, break down and buy Nothing but Ghosts though! Before that? It was probably Colleen Gleason's latest release.
Other than that I have to rely on the library. Or else, I'd be sitting in my house with nothing to read! OK...that would just be silly, since I probably have over 1,000 books on my shelf (haven't always been so strapped for cash!)
As someone involved in the book industry, I agree that there are many, many hidden costs involved in creating a book and getting it to the customer. I feel guilty when I buy a used book because then the author gets nothing from that sale, but can't afford my book habit any other way. It sure would be nice if resales could benefit the author also.
I am sometimes late in returning a visit but your visit and comment is always much appreciated. Thanks!
I love buying books. I love browsing book stores and the smell of old and new books.
The last book I bought was Dance of Danger by Barbara Nadel. (a murder mystery set in a small town in Turkey and really good!)
The only thing that stops me from buying books is that fact that I move around so much. It is hard to buy books in new countries and have to ship them back to my parents house. (But I still do it but in a limited amount!)
Right now I only buy books if I can't find it at the library. But I hope to buy a lot more when I get back to Canada.
Trust me Beth I don't have a problem buying books - 40 so far this calendar year and we're only half way through. Last one I bought was last week - THE TRONJAN DOG by a new (to me) Aussie author. Looking at my figures I'm buying slightly less than half of the books I read.
Yesterday I bought SOUPY SATURDAYS (a new-to-me book by Judy Blume) and two Cam Jansen mysteries for my daughter ... who is turning 7 today!
I'm ordering NOTHING BUT GHOSTS from our local bookstore, and will scan the receipt for Amy to show that bloggers do influence book sales.
I have started a book buying meme on my blog to keep track of the books that I do buy.
I usually buy once every two weeks and I can walk out of the store with one or a few. Last week I bought three: Devil bones (kathy Reich) LA Candy (Lauren Conrad)8th Confession (James Patterson)
I have noticed since I started blogging and getting books that I need to compensate for the free books so that means buying them.
Great post btw.
Great post. Even though I receive a lot of books, I also buy a lot of books-too many in fact. Just last week I bought the last 3 of the Sookie books for the challenge plus 3 Austen novels, Prairie Tale for my mom and a book for a giveaway. Yup, I definitely still believe in supporting the authors!
I have a very hard time purchasing books. When I worked in a bookstore, I bought so many books I didn't know what to do (I had no place to put them, so they lived in boxes). Eventually I got over my obsession and need to have them around me all the time... right around the time i got my library degree.
the last book i bought: The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket. I bought three copies, one for me, one for a nephew who is in music school, and one for a family friend who is a conductor (he never did acknowledge it).
I rarely buy books for personal use. I buy them regularly for my job (best part of my job, all the fun none of the guilt), but I don't think that counts.
I buy books for the same reason - if nobody is buying books the publisher makes no money and the author isn't paid for their work. I can currently afford to buy books, so I choose to do so. I buy at least one a month, most of the time more than that. Everyone once in awhile I can go for awhile without buying books, but that's pretty rare. haha! I bought a book last night - Dust to Dust by Heather Graham.
Just in the past year I have amde a commitment to buy books as gifts and I have done this for about 75% of my gift purchases.
I have no problem buying books. I just picked up an Elizabeth Berg novel from Borders in Maryland on my trip.
Great post!
Almost 90% of my books are something that I have bought :)
As I don't really get any ARC's; thats how i get books. and i dnt have a decent library around... so well!
usually - the cost stops me :)
i like buying paperbacks... they are cheaper!
and i love to ogle at many hard bounds! they have that lovely something about them - but i have never bought one :)
The last book (s) I bought were 4 fantasy novels to continue series' that I'm currently reading through.
Not very much stops me from buying books, as my 7 double-stacked, floor-to-ceiling bookcases will attest to.
I feel a little bit depressed at the end of a week if I haven't bought at least 1 new book.
Great post and thanks for the breakdown of where the profits go. I am going to check out My Friend Amy's post.
I haven't bought books since last month, which was at a library sale, so that really helped the library...but I did recently by The Hunger Games for a book club meeting...so I guess that's good. :)
I will be headed to a library sale again this weekend, but I also have a GC that's burning a whole in my email. :)
Its tough for me, since I'm the only one working at this time. I also have a 1-bed apartment with little space. Hubby might kick me out.
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