Bookselling economics
Sep. 3rd, 2012 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pbrayI like bookstores. I like walking into a store and seeing what they have in stock. I like spotting new releases from favorite authors and finding new authors to try.
In order for bookstores to exist, they must make money. If I see a book at the store and then go home and buy the e-book version, I feel guilty because the store gets no credit for the sale. The fewer sales that go through that store, the fewer books they will stock, until eventually the store ceases to be profitable and shuts its doors.
So I don't mind buying physical books from an actual bookstore. But-- like so much else in the publishing industry-- the pricing is nuts. Today I bought a hardcover new release at the local bookstore. With my Barnes & Noble discount card I saved 10% off the cover price. If I'd bought it from Barnes & Noble online, it would have been 42% off the cover price, and shipping is free. How much longer before fans like me only order from online sites, so the bookstore no longer bothers stocking these books? And then how much harder will it be for new readers to discover this series?
Bah. Humbug. There's much about this brave new world that does not please me. But on the other hand, I have a long awaited new book, and a lovely day for sitting outside and reading.
In order for bookstores to exist, they must make money. If I see a book at the store and then go home and buy the e-book version, I feel guilty because the store gets no credit for the sale. The fewer sales that go through that store, the fewer books they will stock, until eventually the store ceases to be profitable and shuts its doors.
So I don't mind buying physical books from an actual bookstore. But-- like so much else in the publishing industry-- the pricing is nuts. Today I bought a hardcover new release at the local bookstore. With my Barnes & Noble discount card I saved 10% off the cover price. If I'd bought it from Barnes & Noble online, it would have been 42% off the cover price, and shipping is free. How much longer before fans like me only order from online sites, so the bookstore no longer bothers stocking these books? And then how much harder will it be for new readers to discover this series?
Bah. Humbug. There's much about this brave new world that does not please me. But on the other hand, I have a long awaited new book, and a lovely day for sitting outside and reading.
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-04 06:42 am (UTC)My rule of thumb has thus become this: if it's a paperback that is readily available at the store, or a hardback by one of the few authors I won't even stop to think about, I'll get it from the store.
If, on the other hand, it's not there in the store, or if it's a hardback that's cheaper as an ebook, I'll just as likely buy it as an ebook.
I'd rather be able to buy several ebooks for the same price as one hardback (or maybe 3 for the price of 2) given the way some of these things turn out. I've had to watch my book buying budget a lot more these days, y'know? Paperbacks are easier to factor in, and I like being able to pick up a stack of romances for my wife or a few books for me, but if I can save a few dollars on the YAs I love to read for variety...
Not a perfect solution, but this way the local store still gets some of my money, and I still have the fun of going to the store.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-09-04 04:51 pm (UTC)There ought to be a way the local store could get credit for an e-book sale. I'd rather carry my Nook on vacation than a hardcover or trade paperback, but if I spotted the book at the store, there ought to be some way the store gets credit for the fact the main reason I bought the e-book was that I saw the physical book on their shelves and it looked interesting.