If you happen to come across a copy of "She's the Girl" or "Collecting Candace," you'll notice that first, it's been signed. Secondly, there should be a label on the inside with a short blurb about the publishing industry sucking and all that, and then the address to this blog.
Two reasons for that: first, so that people who just come across the book know how the hell it ended up in their hands.
Secondly, so nobody can return the book to their local bookstore.
Returns are killing authors and publishing companies.
It's completely bullshit that people can return books. It's essentially stealing, and it costs the industry (meaning, people like me) lots of money.
If you buy a CD or DVD and use it, you cannot return it. That's how it should be. You've listened to it. Maybe you liked, maybe the movie sucked ass more than anything. But that's the chance you take when you buy entertainment.
It's never guaranteed.
So why are books different? Why are you allowed to buy a book, read it, think to yourself, "meh, it was ok, but I'm not sure it's really worth the $12.95 plus tax that I paid for it," and then return it for your money back?
WTF is up with that?
If anyone who is reading this returns books, please fill me in.
Read, don't return.
S
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4 comments:
Hi - I return books after I read them to a place called Powells Book Store, they buy, sell and trade new and used books. I don't have the heart to throw a book away. It's kind of sacreligious to me. So I take them back to Powells. You get in store credit, which goes towards your purchase of new and used books. It's kind of the circle of life:)
I never return a new book I didn't like -- like you said, when you buy it, you buy it. I found you through flickr. Nice photos:)
That kind of returning is fabulous. It is a giant circle, and if more people did that, then so many books wouldn't get returned to the publisher.
Good idea.
Don't some people return books that they got as gifts, either because they're not interested in them or because they've already read them, so they can get another book that they will actually read? I don't think all returned books have been read before they were returned.
Reading a book and then returning it seems icky.
Sad that there would be enough returns to impact publishers. Very sad. Learn to commit people - life doesn't come with a money back guarantee.
On the used book store note - how do used bookstores impact publishers? Because every book I buy from a used bookstore is one that I don't buy new.
I've gone years at a time only buying used books in fact. Does it just not matter since someone, somewhere bought them new and it has already fulfilled its role in life?
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