Are Readers Cheap?
Am I imagining things, or does it seem like a lot of people complain about buying books? Even those who consider the act of reading and discussing books a cherished hobby seem resentful about actually paying for books. Sometimes I see people on Facebook groups asking for copies of very specific books, and I get a sense that unless they find a copy for free, they will not read that title.
Sometimes I Take Breaks Too
Let me tell you, sometimes I’m one of those people. There are periods, whole months, when I buy the books I want to read. (And I read one book a week on average.) There are other periods, however, also whole months, when I only get books from the library and feel something like a badge of honor for “getting the book for free.”
I’m completely ashamed of this. I love reading, and I love discussing books. Therefore, I shouldn’t let myself go so long without buying books especially considering . . .
#1. I hope to publish a book one day. (Karma, are you there? It’s me, Nina).
#2. I can afford to buy books.
What the heck is wrong with me? And what is wrong with everyone else?
WE FORGOT THE VALUE OF A BOOK
We don’t expect most other forms of entertainment to come without a price. Most of us pay for streaming services. We pay for the internet connections in our homes. We don’t expect to eat at a nice or even a sub-par restaurant for free. We pay to see movies, concerts, and plays.
As author Randy Susan Meyers points out in her piece “The (Low) Cost of Reading,” some of those aforementioned experiences last only an hour or two. A book, at least, is a form of entertainment that lingers for longer. And of course you still have the physical book to own forever when you’re done. If you don’t want to keep it, you can turn into a gift. In other words, what are we all complaining about? Compared to other ways we entertain ourselves, books are not that expensive.
BOOKS ARE CLUNKY
Owning the book forever is part of what stops me from buying more books than I do. I cannot stand clutter, and my definition of clutter is extremely, maybe even clinically narrow. So a book I liked, but did not feel the need to underline, discuss, sob over, or laugh with ends up sitting on a shelf making me itchy. I inevitably give many books away. I’m not looking for pats on the back here. I’m more fearful-of-taking-up-shelf-space than generous. Trust me.
I only keep the books I absolutely loved, and the ones autographed by authors I met at a bookstore appearance. I almost always buy an author’s book at a reading because I like to support the author, and I also like to support the bookstore hosting the “free” reading. What I’m really trying to say is, I don’t completely suck as a book buyer because those readings usually feature hardcover books, and hardcovers books are practically unforgivable at this point in the “What is the value of a book?” debate. I’m sort of surprised publishers are still making those clunkers.
THE LIBRARY: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
First, let’s get something important out of the way: This is not directed at people who CANNOT afford books so stop giving me the stink eye.
Also, I know that communities need libraries, and if patrons do not check out items at the library, it looks like nobody is using the libraries, and more libraries will close. I get that. I’m not made of stone. Again, I’m not talking about people who cannot afford to buy books. I’m really not. I think you know in your heart if you can afford more books than you’re currently purchasing because you’re buying five new pairs of jeans a year instead. I know I can buy more than 1/3 of the books I read, which is why I vow to change my ways!
I realize that for some of us the idea of paying for something when we can get it for free is a psychological hurdle. I know avid readers who simply will not pay for books. They’re annoyed when “Hottest Title of the Year” has a 954 person waiting list at the library, as if the library’s books fall from the sky and don’t need to be purchased as part of a budget. It’s almost a sickness. I would urge us (I’m including the version of myself in those months when I’m all over the library instead of the bookstore) to remember the joy we get out of reading. If we value books, then I think we owe authors and book makers (aka publishers) something. Don’t we?
Does that mean we can never use the library or (authors, brace yourselves, the “u” word is coming) used book stores? Of course not. But perhaps we can buy some books, or buy more books than we have been buying in the last couple of years. That’s reasonable, right? I’m not saying never get books at the library. I’m not saying to stop taking kids to the library where they can fill up huge tote bags of books to take home for free. What is cooler for a book-loving kid (and a book-loving parent) than coming home with a bag full of new books to explore? All I’m saying it is that it’s intellectually dishonest for book lovers to treat the publishing business like a non-profit organization when people’s livelihoods depend on that industry.
Use the library. Love it. (Donate to it, too, actually.) But maybe buy some books throughout the year, too. That’s all.
WHERE DO EBOOKS FIT IN
I think it’s fair to wonder if all this “Free Kindle Book” stuff has diminished the value we all see in books. The same goes for newspapers and magazines online. Hey, you’re reading this article for free, and I spent some quality time writing it. I will probably put it on Huffington Post in a few weeks, and readers there will read it for free too. It’s a bonanza of free content out there on the interwebz. Suddenly paying for a book seems like a magnanimous gesture, right?
Back to those free books on the Kindle. Want to know something funny? Every book I downloaded for free has sat on my Kindle unopened. Every one. Anyone else found that to be the case? It’s almost as if my mind says, “Hey, if Amazon doesn’t value this book and the author doesn’t either, then why would I be in such a hurry to read it?” Food for thought.
How do you feel about this? Have you noticed that people don’t want to pay for books? Are you one of those people? (It’s okay! I am too sometimes!) Do you think I’m being too harsh here?
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58 Responses
I love book stores. I also love buying books. Even now, with all the ‘free’ online books. There’s nothing quite like the first time you sit down with a new book. Opening the first page, getting into it.
I admit, I have a few online books and I’ve been buying less. Only because I too, dislike clutter, and I haven’t really been er, out much. 🙂
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I buy most of my books. Oddly enough, a few times I’ve been criticized by others for buying instead of using the library, e.g. not taking an opportunity to trim spending (an acknowledged goal of mine). My argument is that I’m supporting my industry and the arts with each purchase. I do donate to my library and nonfiction that I’m reading for research I tend to borrow rather than buy.
What really annoys me, though, are those cheap readers who read illegal downloads. I have a few friends who love to do that, and it drives me crazy. I have yet to convince them to stop stealing books, sadly.
Well, reading pirated books is full on theft and there’s no excuse for that. Same goes for downloading music illegally. Do people still do that?
I’m in the camp of “can’t really afford” to buy many books — but that said, I may be an anomaly because I love to buy books…. and probably buy way more than I can afford. I also download free books on my Kindle (and have read as many of those as the ones I’ve paid for). Still, I do know what you mean, and from my point of view, it extends to other written material in addition to books. I liken it to people who used to buy/subscribe to newspapers but now read them online, same with magazines, and other reading material. I almost never buy a magazine if I can read it online for free. There’s just so much free reading material available online — more than most of us could read in a lifetime — so I’m wondering (if there is a decline) maybe some people just don’t see a reason to pay for something to read?
Julia Munroe Martin recently posted..THE VOICE: A Writer’s Dream
Oh man, is this so me. I go to the library constantly, and I get a considerable amount of pleasure from books. Yet, I do not buy them nearly as often as I should. I feel some serious guilt whenever I add a book to Goodreads because I most likely have not purchased it, and I’ve gotten all my pleasure or knowledge for free. And it just doesn’t seem fair. But at the same time, I don’t always want the books I read in my home. Maybe if a book is exceptionally enjoyable or informative, yes, but we have a little apartment, and our bookshelves are already full.
Most of the books I purchase are for my children. And usually at Marshall’s.
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I hear you on the apartment issue. Less bookshelves would sure mean less books!
Yep! I think readers can be shockingly cheap. I was brought up on weekly (or more frequent) visits to the library, and we couldn’t afford many books. But even though I had my kids when I was young, and we managed on one budget for a few years, I always bought children’s books — which I’m now thrilled are being shared with my granddaughter. And as soon as I could afford to augment library visits with buying books for myself I did. Now, I’m ashamed to say I rarely patronize the library anymore, but I’m an avid book-buyer. The ones I suspect I won’t want to reread I buy for my Kobo, but I also buy 3 or 4 a month of hardcovers and paperbacks. Relatively speaking, it’s a small column in the monthly budget. Those 4 books don’t cost as much as many spend for an evening of dinner and drinks, right?
Thanks for this post — more people need to think about this because books don’t get written, edited, published, marketed and distributed for free. And we want them to keep on coming!
Yes! This—> “Relatively speaking, it’s a small column in the monthly budget. Those 4 books don’t cost as much as many spend for an evening of dinner and drinks, right?”
The thing is, I think people feel a certain entitlement to read for free. So there’s an acceptance that you have to pay for the food produced in a restaurant, but less acceptance about paying for something in the creative realm (art, etc). It’s a problem! Well, for writers and artists, it’s a problem.
One of my biggest childhood milestones was being allowed to ride my bike to the library alone and one of my favorite jobs was working at a library. The first thing I do when I move to a new place is get a library card. I love libraries!
I read a lot, so if I bought every book I read, there would be no room in my house for anything else, so I do use my library frequently. I buy a lot of books, too, though, sometimes for karma reasons. 🙂
I buy when I can’t wait for the latest release from an author I love, when I’ve met the author, when a friend recommends a book. I use the library when I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy a book. If I don’t like it, I don’t feel like I have to finish it and I can just return it to the library and forget it.
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Yup, this is me exactly: “I read a lot, so if I bought every book I read, there would be no room in my house for anything else, so I do use my library frequently. I buy a lot of books, too, though, sometimes for karma reasons.”
I guess I’m unusual in that I’ve always spent a good deal of my expendable income on books. My house is lined with them. I guess it’s because I worked in bookstores so many years. Half my paycheck would go right back into the store 🙂 My Kindle has made me cheap, though. I don’t like spending more than $5 for an e-book.
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My daughter uses the library extensively – and good thing. The child reads (on average) 1 book per day. I bought her the hardcover of THE GIRL IS TROUBLE by Kathleen Miller Haines (great book, by the way) at an author event at a local store. Had it signed and everything. That was at 7pm Saturday. By 3pm Sunday, she had it finished. She gets ebooks for her Nook – she asks for B&N gift cards and devours them too. So yeah, the library is her friend.
Me, well, I don’t buy as many hardcover books as I used to. Price is part of it, but the other part is space. I have four five foot-high bookshelves in my living room – all filled, I have 3 10-foot floor to ceiling bookshelves in my den – all filled. There are books on the toilet, books on my dresser, my children both have bookshelves in their rooms and we have a giant Rubbermaid bin of paperbacks in the basement. I just don’t have the space, especially since my husband insists that we can’t get rid of anything that we have (oh, four stacks of books on the piano bench too). So I only buy the physical books I really want.
I do buy a fair number of ebooks. I went for a lot of free and they were crap. So I buy probably 95% of what I read ebook-wise now (granted, I get a lot of stuff on sale, but hey, I’ve got kids).
I do think the mass of free and 99-cent Kindle stuff has made folks expect to pay less for ebooks. After all, you’re not buying a physical book, right? Those ebooks are practically free to produce – or so the thinking goes, until you realize the hours put in by the author to write the story, the publishing costs (cover art, editing, formatting – whether your an indie or traditionally published).
So yeah, I don’t buy as many books as I used to – but I don’t go to a lot of movies either, and I know what I’d rather spend my $30 on. =)
Thanks for the thoughtful comment there. I for sure agree that low-ebook pricing has altered readers’ expectations and what they can and should pay for a book.
Woo man, you took us to task, didn’t you? This is absolutely my favorite kind of post. It’s logical, well argued, and challenges the general perception. And dang it, Nina, you are so right. I definitely need to reevaluate when I buy versus check out books.
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Thank you, Annie! What a compliment. Your post this week is EXACTLY all those things and more.
I am sort of slutty when it comes to books.
There are some that I know I just want. I have to have the. Immediately, right away. And they are good. And there are some that I’m like: “Yeah, I heard that’s great. But I can wait for it. I mean, at least until it comes out in paperback. *cough* Fifty Shades of Grey *cough* There are others that have been out for so long that I know I can easily get them from the library, and since I don’t like to buy books for my son (who is also a voracious reader), when we are there, I usually pick something up. I feel good about supporting the library, and — like you — I often cart along a bunch of my older, unwanted titles. *cough* Fifty Shades of Gray *cough* and I know they will be able to sell them later and make some money off of them.
I still haven’t settled into my e-reader. Yes, I can read on my iPad. And I do. But it’s not as enjoyable for me. I like to write comments in the margin, and while I know I can make comments, it’s not the same. Whatever. It’s just me. I have downloaded a few free titles or won a few free titles and enjoyed them. It’s just, I’m 44. I learned to love reading while clutching a book in my hands while sitting in a really ugly green swivel chair in my parents’ family room. I just can’t get that feeling from an e-reader.
And like you, I hope to be a published reader one day.
All I can say is I can understand why many writers drive themselves to drink. Or self-medicate with drugs. Because the art of writing is so under-appreciated.
Meanwhile, on an unrelated note: I love the new pic of the family. And I I can’t comment on anyone’s blogs who uses commentluv. I think it is a WordPress thing, and I have sent them a note about it. I’m not happy. At all. And this is just another reason that I need to follow you down the rabbit hole and invest in self-hosting. You are a clever girl, Clarisse! 😉
“All I can say is I can understand why many writers drive themselves to drink. Or self-medicate with drugs. Because the art of writing is so under-appreciated.”— HA, so true. For me, chocolate.
I’m so glad that you wrote about this topic, Nina. Why do people think that they should get books for free when they don’t bat an eye at taking their family to a movie? Maybe, like Julia mentioned, it has to do with the digital age. Or it may have to do with the proliferation of so many free self-published e-books out there. (You know where I work, so you can imagine how this issue is rehashed endlessly. This is why we stand firm on pricing e-books the same as the hard copy.)
I get my reading material from the library and bookstores. The clutter issue reigns supreme for me also. If I can’t fit it in my at-capacity bookshelves, I try to borrow them, but I give some thought to which books I get from the library. As a writer, I feel it’s incredibly important to buy books written by emerging authors to support them. So if my shelves are at capacity I will buy the book written by debut author Karen Thompson Walker or Erika Robuck and go to the library for Stephen King’s latest.
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I find that over the years buying books becomes a space issue. I’ve donated a library full of books over the years because I literally have run out of room! Now I only purchase those books that have a special meaning to me. Books that I read and re-read over the years.
When I’m deep in library mode rather than buying mode, I’m also uber-strict about what I’ll buy. I have to be sure I’ll want to refer to it again, reread it, or just REALLY want it on the shelf. Then when I’m feeling guilty about not supporting authors as much as I should, the standards lower quite a bit.
Thanks for commenting, Eric!
…and don’t get me started on the number of PIRATE sites that distribute books for free without anyone’s consent, even directly tweeting the link so people can find their stolen copy more easily…
If you like a book, or an author, support them much like you would your favorite restaurant (good point, Nina) or movie (another good point). That’s the best way to ensure there will be more books to follow.
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I was scared to read this article in a way! I was afraid you were going to cite some statistics that would doom my future as a writer. So–whew! I think you make some great points above, Nina. My husband, for one, pretty much refuses to buy books. He reads all he “needs to read” on his iPAD from books he downloads from the library.
I, on the other hand, still buy lots of books, sometimes for no good reason. I love to read them of course, but I also just love to own them. Lots of them.
Ha! Free books! A writer’s scourge!
I enjoyed this, Nina.
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I always see that dooms-day stuff and never believe it. It’s the optimist in me!
I grew up in a home where books were considered most treasured possessions. And, even during times of financial struggle, books were the one expense my parents never cut.
So, while I respect that people may have a different outlook on this topic, I am always surprised to hear “books” and “price” mentioned in the same sentence. To me, this is sacrilegious. It’s like debating what a painting should or should not cost.
Olga, my parents valued books a ton too and still do. I was surrounded by books. I wonder how it will be for kids whose parents read only on kindles, ipads, etc.
Thanks for this terrific post, Nina (although I can’t say I’m ever surprised by anything wonderful from you–you’ve set your own bar high.) And thanks for the shout-out.
I still have books from when I was a teenager–and many more I wish I still had. I recently had a book autographed by the author–a book I bought 40 years ago, and it was a thrill. Books are more than the words they contain–they are talismanic objects for me. Just seeing them there warms me no end.
When I had no money, I went to the library and took out tons of books. Now, I can afford to buy, so I buy. How can I not support authors who provide that what I need almost as much as shelter!
Awww, thank you for saying that Randy. Speaking of books, have we discussed the cover art I saw for your newest? I can’t wait to read it!
I buy all my books, but simply because I am too exhausted to get myself to either the library or the bookstore – I buy on Kindle. Also, my kids eat paper books. Also, I only buy it after I read the first chapter and decide I’m interested. I forgo buying a lot of pairs of shoes, new sweaters, accessories, and dinners out so I can read – I’ve only very rarely regretted it.
What percentage of this is due to the fact that I hope to sell a book (or two, or three) this year? uhhhh….probably about 70%. Gotta be honest. 😉
I’m with you in that 70%. Karma! But really, any writer who hopes to one day SELL books should buy books. If we won’t support the industry we want to enter then who will?
I buy lots of books. Besides supporting the publishing industry and fellow writers, I feel like artists should get paid for the work they spent months, and sometimes, years producing. People will pay $30.00 for a decent meal, but they won’t pay $30.00 for a hardcover book that they can keep and share? This is a problem for all artists – people believing art should be enjoyed for free. I do check things out from the library occasionally when a book is older, out of print, or hard to find. And I never engage in piracy – I consider it the same as stealing from a store.
Yes! Cindy–your comment is in line with Randy’s article on Beyond the Margins. I couldn’t agree more.
It’s strange. Some books I’ll pay for without batting an eye, and some I’ll hem and haw over, ridiculously, like it’s the most important decision I’ll ever make. I’m definitely not cheap over them, but a book has to grab me energetically I guess. The timing has to be right. Something has to click.
Great post!
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I’m with you on all of this. Every word!
I have to admit that I do still use the library, but I buy books, too. I’m trying to up my purchasing of books, though, as I realize that a writer getting books from libraries is a lot like a musician who passes around burnt CDs.
No shame in using the library!!! I really didn’t mean to imply that. But I do think people who can afford a book now and then should buy one–especially people (like me) who hope that ONE DAY (oy, who knows when) people might buy a book with my name on it.
I LOVE this post – such a worthy topic of conversation, Nina. With my business so considerably shrunken from the economic difficulties over the past five years, I should NOT buy as many books as I do. But this is ONE area I am NEVER stingy in. Ever. Because I know I am supporting authors (and I know how hard it is for them to carve out a living from book writing only).
I also rarely EVER borrow books from others because I want to buy my own copy and support the author. AND, I know hardcovers are outrageously expensive, but there is something about the heft of a hardcover that makes the reading experience that much more enjoyable for me. Thankfully I have a family friend who is just as voracious a reader and I can count on her stocking my X-mas pile with at least six hardbacks per year. What a great book angel!
As far as the notion of free Kindle books diminishing the value of all books … I have to agree. And, like you, I haven’t read a single freebie download on my Kindle. Maybe for the same reasons you suggest… Such an interesting topic to ponder.
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Here, here, Nina. I couldn’t agree with you more.
I work at the library, and I still purchase books that I don’t want to wait on the hold list for or ones that I want to own a copy of (for all that underlining and sobbing over!)
I do think e-readers and the proliferation of “free” reading material online has diminished people’s propensity to value the written and printed word. I’ve heard people say they’d never read 50 Shades because they read it for free as fan fiction. But I think eventually, this will even out. The publishing industry is just in a state of flux now.
I started following the book club blog! I need to be more balanced in my reading (which means read more adult/nonfiction and less YA). If you’re looking for suggestions, judging from your taste, I think THE CHAPERONE by Laura Moriarty would be a good pick. She’s a fabulous writer, so I’d recommend anything by her, but her latest has gotten quite a bit of good press.
Okay, I think we need to meet each other. We will either get along really well or hate each other because of the wild similarities, ha! I always buy books, and my reasoning is because I think writers deserve to be paid for their work. Then I keep all of the books unless I hated them, in which case I donate them or pass them along to someone who might enjoy them more than I did.
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Of course we’d get along! Or at least we’d pretend to. 😉
I don’t buy very many hardback books unless I am certain it is something I really want. That is a cost and space issue. I keep almost all of my books.
They are treasured possessions so I have to pay attention to what I am doing.
When I think about it I suppose that I am “frugal” when it comes to buying books out of habit. I started hitting the library as a schoolboy who had no money to buy books.
Now I go to the library to pick up books I think I might enjoy. It is where I go to grab the titles that are on the “I am not sure about the recommendation list.”
I love the library and not just because you can borrow books. There is something really nice about being able to sit and read so many different books/publications for hours upon hours. I just love it.
Jack@TheJackB recently posted..Words That Are Never Read
I’ll never feel guilty for not buying as many books as I check out from the library. For one, the library is not quite as free as this post implies. I pay local taxes, which support my county library. The library is a service I pay for and the library system spends a considerable amount of money on its digital and print collections. The books I check out were paid for; publishers and database vendors certainly do NOT make charitable donations to libraries.
I like to think about this like music. I don’t feel guilty for listening to the radio. I pay to be a public radio member, much like I pay taxes that support the local library, so I do have a financial stake in the music I hear “for free.” If I’m really excited about a album or song, then I’ll buy it on iTunes or eMusic.
Similarly, if I’m really excited about a certain author, then I’ll buy their latest book at a bookstore. I also like to give books or bookstore gift cards as gifts.
Hi Deborah,
This is totally a fair perspective, and I appreciate the feeling that as taxpayers we do pay for those books. I’m mostly directing my feelings at people who hope to publish books and have hoards of people buy them (not just libraries purchase them.) There’s sort of a karma thing to all of this. We writers who hope to enter the publishing need to support the industry. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t or can’t use libraries as well.
Thanks for taking the time to comment there. Nina
I love books! I’ve always loved books. I’ve dreamed of having a reading room with a big cushy chair, good lighting, and floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall bookshelves. And the came the Kindle! I didn’t think I’d like it. Didn’t think I’d enjoy not having the book in my hands. But, I LOVE my Kindle! I just do. But, I do buy all my coaching books or any book that I’m going to reference in paper format so that I can highlight, notate, etc. Yes, I know the Kindle works well for that stuff too, but my brain doesn’t. I need paper and pen for that.
As much as I love books and as much as I love the library, I rarely check out books there. Never really have, and I can’t tell you why. I think I’m a snob and like to own my own books maybe?! Oh, I remember now…I forget to return them and then get charged fees, so I might as well buy them, right? I do support the library with monetary donation as well as donated books, but I don’t like supporting them via late fees.
As for pirated copies…absolutely NO WAY. I don’t allow my kids to download pirated music either. Artists definitely have it tough nowadays.
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I actually think people probably buy more books now with Kindle, etc… because you can’t share them with your friends, so you have to buy them if you want to read them on one of those devices… unless you get it from the library or download a free book, but like you said, the free books aren’t the ones that you want to read and you have wait times for the library ones just like with the regular books. When I go to start a book, I usually ask people to borrow ones they have because if they’ve read it and have it sitting on the shelf, why not get more use out of it. I don’t usually go to the library because the ones I want to read have long wait lists and I don’t plan ahead with my reading. If I can’t borrow from a friend or lend from the library, then I’ll buy–but I am like that with all of my purchases…
I have lots of books you can borrow! 🙂 Although not as many as I SHOULD as I’ve been using the library a lot the past year!
“I realize that for some of us the idea of paying for something when we can get it for free is a psychological hurdle.” – Hmmm… I’ve never had a problem with this, maybe my shopping addiction has something to do with that. 🙂
I did stop buying books for a while, because I was running out of room to store them. Since then I have given away/sold a lot of my old books and I have a Kindle, so storage is no longer an issue.
We do have one thing in common, I have downloaded a ton of free books on my Kindle, but I’ve only read one of them. Like you, I’m just not in a hurry to open them.
This topic is so timely, Nina. The price of books and whether or not to purchase them or check them out was a topic brought up at my last get together with writer friends. And also whether people’s perception of value was/is affected by all the free books on Amazon – you are not alone in not reading them. But here’s the thing – the writers who give their books away don’t really care if you read them – they only do it because it raises them in the ranks of Amazon’s crazy logarithm for ranking books. Sad.
Like you I probably buy about a third of the books I read. And like Jackie Cangro I try to buy the emerging writers before older established writers who don’t really need my support.
As writers, I feel we need to value our own work, for others to value it.
People complain about dropping money on anything, whether it’s necessary or otherwise. I know we can see them paying for TV or movies, but that doesn’t mean the consumer isn’t still resentful of the money they are spending on those entertainment options. Okay, maybe not the television payments, because a fixed monthly fee has been slipped into the cultural expectation (and a little “out of sight, out of mind” with automatic payment deductions), but certainly, people have been glowering over the price of buying a movie since, well, “They want $20 for that cassette tape?! That movie came out three months ago!”
Paying for coffee tends to fall in the impulse-buy range (below five dollars), where heaps of people don’t really think of it as a large enough purchase to matter. When they’ve managed to spend $4.50, twice a day, pretty much every day, for a whole year? Yeah, they might be shocked that they put $3,000 into those coffees all up, but that doesn’t parse at the time of purchase (and delicious, delicious drinking).
It’s just a sad state of affairs that the culture doesn’t see the value in their entertainment media and need to make a fuss over buying something permanent. I don’t think it’s inherently ebooks or libraries cheapening the experience for the potential customer. The video game industry (currently the largest/most profitable entertainment industry in the world) has a proud history of shareware and free indie games leading to success. They have well documented proof that giving people a taste will lead to sales if they enjoy the game. So, in that regard, is it more that the book readers market has some sense of entitlement which it shouldn’t? Are the readers themselves seeing books as a single-use, throw-away entertainment? Or do they all have the opinion (like people seemingly do with the movies and music industries) that buying the book doesn’t “support the artist” as much as support a corporate body and the author gets pennies from your purchase? Plenty of consumers have a misplaced sense of righteousness about who their money should ultimately go to.
Consumer psychology is complicated and kind of scary, but well worth thinking about and discussing!
~Ashlee
Ashlee recently posted..Reasons I am a writer: 1
I so look forward to the day I can afford to buy books. When I get there, I’ll probably still check out everything from the library the first time around, then purchase the books that I love. You know, the ones I’ll read again later. Or maybe I’ll simply enjoy looking at them on my shelf. Those are the books I want near me when I’m tooling around the house. Like old friends.
And when my books finally make it to the library and bookstore, I hope they’re the books readers can’t live without. There’s an appropriate goal for the times! Not only to get published, but to get purchased too. I can’t wait. 🙂
V.V. Denman recently posted..Dear Me . . .
I have a difference of opinion on the free ebook debate. I think you’re missing a golden opportunity to discover talented authors by not reading the free books you’ve downloaded. Granted, a lot of the free books are crap, but they can be quickly deleted. I’ve found a number of wonderful authors who offered one book free–for a limited time–and then I’ve gone on to purchase their other books at full price.
As far as free books deminishing the value of books as a whole–what did you pay the last time you checked out a book at the library?
Diana Douglas recently posted..Tagging, Tattooes and Time Travel
I want to read those books and mean to read them, but for whatever reason I don’t, and I know other people have said the same thing. There really does seem to be some strange psychology behind it.
I do read books from the library despite not paying for them . . . I think because there’s a due date there’s an urgency to them that I don’t feel with the free books on Kindle.
Thanks for commenting here, Diana!
It’s funny, I often feel guilty for not using the library! Libraries were such absolute havens for me as a kid and it makes me sad how they’re losing funding etc. I definitely buy my books, sometimes even double buying them (e-book and physical) for doorstoppers I can’t easily cart around. I like to highlight and comment in my books, and I still don’t find that feature adequate on e-books. Plus I like having them physically in case I do love it. (We also buy a lot of e-books, but I still gravitate towards the “real” thing, to some extent b/c I’m looking at a computer screen all day so more tech glare feels like work.) Plus, I do think that part of the motivation is to support writers, especially those who aren’t as well known.
But I realize I honestly don’t understand at a macro level how all of these issues interact, and I’d be curious to look into it more (I’ve pitched an article on some of them, we’ll see). But I did come across an interesting study from the Pew Institute on e-books and libraries that anyone interested in this subject may want to check out. The upshot is that tons of people don’t even know that libraries lend e-books but that the service seems to lead to a greater reading appetite generally, which I think is a good thing overall. http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/libraries-patrons-and-e-books/
Thought-provoking post as usual!
Diann recently posted..Office Yoga: Sneak These 10 Stretches into Your Day
This is wonderful! I totally agree. I think that piracy and super-cheap e-books have both contributed to the idea that books should be free.
Caryn Caldwell recently posted..Don’t Look Down: On Writing a First Draft
Good food for thought as always, Nina!
I think everyone has things they’re willing to spend money on, and you’re right – books should be high up there on the list!
Galit Breen recently posted..A Tiffany Tween Room
Hi babe! I don’t think they need to be high on everyone’s lists, but for those of us who hope to SELL books one day, we ought to support the industry when we can. 😉
Very interesting, Nina. I think that with books – because they take more time to experience – putting down cash seems like a ‘big commitment’. If you’ve bought one and can’t stand the read, it does end up clutter on a shelf of unloved ex’s. This is why I’m now loving Kindle. It is cheap, and clutter free…and, who knows, if I fall in love, I might even buy a paper copy anyway…