Hiya, kids—
Well, as some of you I’m sure are aware, there’s a debate going on in the lesfic blogosphere about used books. If you’re a member of Facebook, you can find one author’s take on it there. It’s KG MacGregor, and she raises the point that used book sales do not benefit an author. If you’re a friend of KG on Facebook, you can read it in her “Notes” section. It’s called “Trade-ins: Another nail in the coffin for lesbian fiction.”
Author Nicola Griffith made a similar argument in January. That one’s called “don’t be fucking cheap! a rant.” You can check that out right here.
Read the comments under both KG’s (if you can access it) and Nicola’s. That helps with more perspective, and it gives you other writers’ views and readers’ as well.
Now, initial reaction: KG and Nicola are right—authors make money off new book sales and not on subsequent sales of used books. Here’s where things get a little sticky, though. In order to ensure that your fave authors are making money, thus, you should (according to the arguments presented by KG and Nicola) purchase all their books new, and you should do so direct from the publisher (since large companies that start with an “A” further skim from publishers’ and authors’ royalties). Used books, the argument goes, hurt authors. Following that logic, loaning the book to friends also hurts authors. As would libraries, since hundreds of people can check a book out without buying it.
My take? I’m a writer. And a reader. And yes, I know that used books and book borrowing doesn’t give me any royalties. But I’m not sure what, if anything, there is to be done about it. Why? Because there are used markets for practically anything and I happen to be a consumer of used goods. Why? Various reasons. Money (lack thereof); not wanting to add to landfills; not wanting extra resources consumed in the production of a new item for me to buy. I’m sure we all have reasons for buying used, cost being one of the most important. KG argues that most people who buy used books just want cheap reads (something Nicola also seems to imply) and no matter how many used copies exchange hands, there’s no guarantee that one of those used book/loaner readers will turn into a new book reader. She may have a point. But on a deeper level, is it a “bad” thing, to want a “cheap read”?
KG also argues that a used book market could supplant new books in lesfic, making it harder for authors to break in and produce. Nicola notes that the more used books that are bought, the less inclined an author is to write and will probably have to spend most of her time working a day job while the “amateur” and “hack” writers are able to keep publishing. There might be merit to that argument, too, though I don’t have the figures to bear it out. And yes, a used market can play havoc with an author’s backlist. If nobody buys new copies of an author’s backlist, then there might be an argument made that the backlist books could go out of print. Which means even used copies become expensive.
Devil’s advocate—if that backlist is print-on-demand, there might not be that issue.
At any rate, there’s a used market for everything, and there’s been a used market for everything since there were things to market. And sure, it’d be GREAT if readers only bought new books of mine—one new book per reader. But books, unlike something like CDs, aren’t necessarily things that someone is going to enjoy over and over and over again. One read, maybe two. And then it sits on your shelf. So why NOT loan it to someone else? Like you loan your CDs? You bought it, after all. It’s yours to do with as you will.
Indeed, any artist is “hurt” when a used copy of his or her art is sold. Or rather, doesn’t make anything. So the argument itself has merit. However, perhaps people are so pissed about these rants because of the ways in which they’re presented. If you’re a reader, how did either of these posts make you feel? Guilty? Angry? Kind of “well, fuck you very much”? Or did you think: “wow. I never thought of it that way.” Maybe both? Mixed feelings?
And that’s why we here at Women and Words would like to now throw it open to you, the readers and other writers. What’s YOUR take on used books? Readers, do you think about an author not making royalties when you buy a used book or loan a copy out? Does it matter? If either KG or Nicola had couched their arguments differently—say, “hi, readers. Thanks for all your support! And if you could, at least once, buy a book new, that would be fabulous, thanks”—would that make a difference in your buying habits, if you buy primarily used books? Writers—what do YOU think about Nicola’s and KG’s (if you were able to read it) posts? Okay, then—go for it. We’d like to hear your thoughts.
But remember,
peace.
–andi
Women and Words
Jove Belle
Andi Marquette
Clifford Henderson
Georgia Beers
Sandra Barret