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Jane, check out what Misty Lackey has to say about e-books and how they extend the life of a series or catagory. Hmm, I was going to quote her but I can’t find the site. However, loosely paraphrasing it as I remember it it goes something along these lines. Once she started having some of her books released in e-format she found that her backlist recieved a boost and her older series started selling again.

Time, it takes time for readers to find a book sometimes. Often more than the month that’s available for a romance. Or as often happens to me I’ll find a book by an author, enjoy it and then want to read more by that author but can’t find the older books. The benefits, to the authors, of having their books available in e-book are enormous, but the benefits to the reader are just as great. Now if we can only confince the *Publishers*!

A little off topic. it’s been noted that the baby boomers are flocking to the HC and TPB format, which is why the mass market paperback has suffered, and younger readers aren’t replacing those baby boomers. Which is funny because most teen fiction is published in TPB and HC–why is the romance genre one of the few genres where everyone (but mega bestsellers) is given MMPBs ad along with that, the chance to break-out?

I agree wholeheartedly with the poster who said it was ridiculous that ebooks are often sold for the same price as print. When you read that an author receives $0.36 per book, you have to assume that much of the rest is printing, shipping, storage, destruction. Yes, promotion and editing costs would be static. But the difference must be pure profit for publishers! So frustrating!

Especially when you consider my ebook will never show up in a UBS or library tag sale. It will only be swapped with a friend if I’m willing to loan my ebook reader! (And since the DRM format I purchase requires the entry of my credit card number to first open the book, there’s no way I’m going to let a pirated version float around in the ethernet, even if I wanted to!)

Most of the brick and mortar UBS that I know have had to develop a website just to stay in business. I know some of gone out of business.

I don’t have any issue with UBS, period. Back when I was 19 and broke, that was the only place I could afford to buy a book. People who consider them bottomfeeders probably need to take a hard look at reality.

While yes, I’d love it if all of my readers bought only new, and right on the day of release, it’s a fact of life that isn’t going to happen. People have to prioritize and if that means they are going to buy some of their books used because they have to buy shoes for their kids, I’m fine with that. I know what it’s like to be tight on money.

And UBS store owners have to make a living just like anybody else. They aren’t doing anything illegal and like I said before, a UBS can be an author’s best friend. That is how a LOT of readers find new faves. And most readers, when they have a fave, they want the books nice and shiny and new. People who consider the UBS owners bottomfeeders need to step back and take a long, hard look at reality.

Ebooks are a whole different subject, in my opinion. An ebook is a file… one that can be copied, shared, indescrimately, forever. You don’t have just ONE copy~you can sell the file and keep your copy. That’s piracy and that IS illegal. I know of one ebayer who kept selling ebooks, the same titles repeatedly, until Ebay finally stepped in. Before they made her stop, she’d sold those files enough to have made hundreds of dollars. No work on her part, and she was stealing. A used book can’t be multiplied and sold to fifty or sixty people, who can then go on and try to sell THEIR copy to fifty or sixty people. Ebook files can.

2) Ebooks that cost more than the print version or is the same price is ridiculous. I hate that.

3) I do think that widespread ebook popularity can create profits where there weren’t any in the past. I wrote an article a while back called the Long Tail based on Chris Anderson’s theory that the internet and digital downloads can create profits from the misses.

Karen – I believe that some authors view Used bookstore owners as bottom feeders who earn money off some one else’s labor.

What does tick me off is seeing new print titles sold as e-books for essentially the same price (although I guess I’m not spending any gas money to buy it). E-books cost a publisher less to produce and I’d like to see publishers encourage us to buy these with discounts and volume buying promotions. New and mid-list authors might really benefit, especially as the e-book market grows.

Phyl, who buys it all–new, used, and electronic.

One part of me understands the buy new deal. If authors don’t sell well, then the next book won’t get picked up. And a lot of excellent books are written and then we never hear from the author again…reason, the sales didn’t justify a new contract in the publisher’s opinion.

Another part of me understands those who buy at UBS. UBS can be an author’s best friend because readers discover new faves there and then go out and buy the author’s current releases. I also know how expensive books are, so i definitely understand from the reader’s viewpoint. For those of us that can put away a book a day, buying that many new books would be impossible for a lot of readers and they shouldn’t have to miss out on their hobby just because they can’t afford new books.

But UBS sales don’t mean squat to publishers. Doesn’t matter how popular a title is selling thru the UBS biz~if readers aren’t buying some of the mid list or new name authors, they shouldn’t be surprised if they don’t see a sequel to a book they found in a UBS and loved. There may not be a sequel.

If you want to support a fave author or a new one that wrote a book that blew you away, the best thing you can do is buy the book new. If you do, that increases the possibility of the author selling more books to that publisher. I’d say it’s even more important when it’s a mid list or fairly new author. This is how the people who constantly hit the best sellers lists continue to hit the best seller lists~they have a large, devoted following that will buy new.

On a side note, a few months ago I was at a new and used bookstore, talking to the owner. A customer came in and joined in on the conversation about how she couldn’t find any good historicals any more. Conversation came around to that she never, ever bought books new. She then went on to complain about the lack of decent, recently released historicals. While she’s entitled to buy her books however she chooses, if she isn’t buying anything new, ever, it’s my opinion that she doesn’t have a justifiable complaint when it comes not being able to find her type of books any more. She’s not buying, so techinically, she’s not giving herself a voice with the publishers.

Huh? Negotiation over what?

Nothing material, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m just talking about negotiating terms of understanding in the absence of agreement; after all, this is hardly the Arab Israeli conflict. Parties that have competing or even adverse interests can admit the opposition has some valid points, even if each side refuses to subscribe to the views of the other side. I set this apart from “discussion,” because often I think that takes the form of people talking “at” one another more than anything.

I also realize that not everyone is aiming for greater understanding across the author-reader divide, that some people are completely comfortable with the separatist position. I have absolutely no problem with that, either. I just tend to gravitate in the direction of bridges.

Okay, laying discussion and education aside because I’m not saying nor will I ever say there shouldn’t be any of either of those, just that I’m suspicious of some of the topics and this happens to be one – I have to admit that the idea of “negotiation” between authors and readers lost me completely.

Huh? Negotiation over what?

I think the reason I question the validity of this discussion is that it seems to be between two sides who lack power to do anything about the issue in the first place.

I guess this all depends on how you define power. While publishers produce and price books, do they really “sell” them in every sense of the word? I think authors play a role in whether and how many of their books sell, and that websites and blogs do play a role in marketing (along with book signings, etc.). As Alison pointed out, there are some readers who don’t know how the royalties structure works, as well.

I don’t think there’s ever a good reason for authors to “lecture” readers about why it’s bad to buy used, nor do I think it’s the reader’s responsibility to “save” any particular author. However, it must be admitted that readers DO play a role in the market value of authors, and that we do vote — however crudely and imperfectly sometimes — withour dollars. So while there might be an ever-existing conflict of interest between authors and readers on this issue, I still think there’s room for discussion, negotiation, and education on both sides.

Which is why I keep coming back to the thought that this is just a crazy discussion and wondering why it’s even an issue for ANYONE.

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This issue, IMO, boils down to a somewhat unresovable conflict of interest between authors and readers. [/quote]

Somewhat? I’d think totally unresolvable and what’s more it’s never going to be resolved, either. No matter how much “some” authors lecture readers, no matter how much other authors might wish to “educate” readers, selling and buying used books is always going to be there.

Is the difference of perspective about money? Well, sure, but does acknowledging that change anything either?

Not really.

I think the reason I question the validity of this discussion is that it seems to be between two sides who lack power to do anything about the issue in the first place. Authors really don’t have that much control over the prices of their books and, while readers do vote with their pocketbook, I don’t see publishers stopping printing new books anytime soon because a large number of readers buy used books.

So, again, I have to wonder what exactly we’re really talking about. Individual authors falling by the wayside, possibly? I don’t want to sound heartless, but is it really my responsibility as an individual reader to worry about that?

Which is why I keep coming back to the thought that this is just a crazy discussion and wondering why it’s even an issue for ANYONE.

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This issue, IMO, boils down to a somewhat unresovable conflict of interest between authors and readers. Authors make more money the more new books that are sold, and readers save money the more used books they buy. Authors, IMO, have a legitimate gripe about authors being dumped for low numbers when readers won’t buy new books by new authors, but it’s also the case that many readers wouldn’t have money to buy nearly as many books to support the genre in general if they didn’t buy used.

I buy a combination of used and new; if I want to send a message to a publisher that an author is worth investing in, I will buy new. Some authors I will only buy new because I want them to have my royalty money. Some authors I will try in used, but msot new authors I will buy new so they at least have a chance. I don’t borrow from the library because I like to own my own books. I buy a lot of OOP books used. And when I’m unsure about an established author, I will often try one book used to see what I think.

Even though I buy the lion’s share of my books new, I don’t think there is anything wrong with buying used. In fact, I think readers who buy used and then go on to recommend these books to other readers are potentially more valuable than readers who buy new and simply recycle their books to the UBS or library. I don’t think readers who buy used should feel obliged to do this, but I think those who do are contributing quite substantially to the sales of authors who might only be narrowly focused on those readers who buy new. I wish that publishers could somehow track used book sales, too, as a way to measure the popularity of an author, because some might be selling quite well on the used market. I also like it when publishers offer new authors at a cheaper price, or when they periodically offer cheapter editions of books (I have bought new copies of both Crusie and Brockmann that way). Perhaps more creative promotions would HELP more readers buy new. Because I don’t always think it’s that they need encouragement, but actual assistance to be able to afford more new books.