Snuffy xXx
Authors and Bookcrossing
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Snuffy xXx
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I was stunned. An author will not receive a royalty from the sale of a second-hand book. This site is no more depriving her of cash than second hand bookshops do. It seems to me that writers ought to be grateful that sites such as this encourage people to read. Anyway, I thought her attitude was rather greedy and if I could remember who she was, I would make a point of not buying her books in the future.
Am I the only person who feels like this? Is this site robbing authors of their rightful royalties?
The solution seems to be limited release of your work, or demanding a higher commission, upon publication. Is that realistic? I don't know. I'm a Writer, but not an author of novels. If its not realistic, then it seems an issue for The Writer's Guild to take up with Publishers, because this Author should no more beef with Bookcrossing, than she should with...say...Goodwill, for instance.
As a final note, it is important to realize that many people keep Permanent Collections. I, as a true Bibliophile, will always purchase a copy of a book to keep, in case I want to read it again and again. My money is stuffing Anne Rice's, Tom Robbin's, Hunter S. Tompson's, and SARK's, Shel Silverstein's couches. In some instances, I requested the books as gifts. In other instances, the books were so good that I bought them as gifts. After I read, "Little Altars Everywhere", I knew that every girlfriend on my list needed a copy; therefore, every girl on my Christmas list got a copy...full price.
Some thoughts for you to pass on to the Author.
I don´t think that this is right in any way. People might even be reading books that they wouldn´t read otherwise because of bookcrossing.
I hope authors see that this is a good thing!
Melkorka
Self-publishing a book is not cheap. For me personally it called for a great financial sacrifice. BUT I made the decision to deplete my savings account and self-publish because I felt it was important to say what I had to say!
The joy of holding that first copy of the finished book for the first time is a joy that only another author could appreciate! I believed then and I continue to believe that it is not so important how many people BUY my book; what is important is how many people READ my book. And that is why I have such an appreciation for BookCrossing. BC is giving me the opportunity to get the word out, to offer free copies of my book; to make it available TO BE READ.
However, it would be less than honest for me to say that I don't care about selling the book, about earning back some of the many dollars I invested in getting it published.
So I guess I see both sides of this discussion. Yes, how great to have purity of intention, to write for the sheer fulfillment of writing. But, well, it's not quite that simple....I have bills to pay.....I would like to rebuild my savings account........I would like to be able to give money to some truly incredible non-profits.......I would like to go to London.......I would like to......etc.etc.etc.
For those who get to know an author's work through this site and go on to patronise their work, I thank you for your support. You are helping the writing community to keep itself alive. You are sharing in the great dialogue that is literature in a very real and generous way. I understand that not everyone may feel able to do the same ... books are seen these days as a luxury, an often unjustifiable expense. This POV can be exacerbated when they are made freely, or cheaply available through BC, libraries & the resale market. I am not demanding people *not* support these ventures, for they do encourage literacy and can support other local business that need your patronage. I'm only trying to raise people's awareness through my posts about the realities of working in the field and how important those first sale numbers are when you look at them in terms of the livelihood of real, struggling writers and smaller publishers.
I lost money on the first publication of my book, "An Acceptable Level Of Violence". The reason being that everybody to whom I supplied a free copy circulated it among their friends. Everybody read it, raved about it, passed it on and nobody bought it!
It was both infuriating and flattering!
The second and most recent publication has been slower to take off which is why I'm on here trying to promote it.
I still haven't made any money and I'm not expecting to. I want people to read what I've written. That is my most important validation...
...but a royalty cheque would be nice...
Alex Ashe.
Let's see...where's a handy example. Ok...let's use...me.
I joined BookCrossing a month ago. In the past year, I have purchased somewhere in the neighborhood of...oh...20 books. About 12 of those have been in the past month, since joining BookCrossing. These people may be writers, and therefore more adept in English than math...but the math really isn't that hard.
One example (and seemingly a BC favorite) that comes to mind is Chistopher Moore. I never heard of him before finding BookCrossing, but I've already bought 2 of his books, and planning on buying the rest. I may not have bought him a new car, but I certainly bought him lunch! And just by talking about his stuff to friends, I've probably sold an additional 12 or so books of his. But, no, BookCrossing really hurts authors. They hurt their poor hands trying to fold that extra cash into their wallets.
I find this extremely interesting. I'm a book-a-holic, and in the past year, I must have bought about 60 books. 50 of them were in the last month, since joining Bookcrossing (and now I really must stop; my budget is suffering, and I broke one of my bookshelves yesterday while adding another book to it!).
Side note to CasualReader: I have a few of Christopher Moore's books, too. PM me if you want to compare titles for a possible trade. Somehow, I don't think Chris would mind. :-)
Snuffy xXx
I can look at it from an author's POV and from a reader's - I'm probably a rare bird in that I really don't care if I make money off of my books - I want them to be read and enjoyed and if someone smiles and their day is made a bit brighter, then that's payment enough. From a reader's POV... well, it's easy to figure that one out - more fun than hanging around a library hoping for something you may or may not like to come in on the shelves!
if you write for the money, you're doing it for the wrong reasons, imo - if you're doing it to make people happy (even if you're writing a horror novel; you know what I mean!) then you won't mind a few copies making da rounds...
;-)
Happy reading! ;->
For me it's obvious that this site does a lot more good than bad to all those that are in the book business. But this is just IMHO...
Both of my books are on creativity, one has a chapter on the incredible power that reading has to inspire new ideas, and a second chapter on the power of synchronicity. Here is a fantastic new idea that brings them both together. Bravo! Whining authors stop thinking small. You are never going to lose much money because of this site, if you think you are, your ego is out of whack. Who knows, I may even start leaving copies of my own book around.
> to see if anyone was leaving my books
> somewhere (still haven't figured out if I
> can do that).
Sure can! In the left sidebar, click on the category "books" That will expand and let you click on the subheading "search books". Plug in the title, author, or isbn, and wait for the site to come back with an answer.
If you want to, you can certainly register copies of your own book, leave them lying around, send them out on bookrings or bookrays, or offer them up for trade, for postage, or as RABCKS. (RABCK = Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness, a book sent or other deed done with no expectation of return, just to be nice.)
TexasWren maintains a list of Bookcrossing authors - if you do a search on her screen name (under "people" in the left sidebar) I'm sure she'd be glad to add you and your book to her list. (And if I've flaked out totally and given you the wrong person, I'm sure she'll know who to refer you to...)
Welcome to BookCrossing!
I think BX is a wonderful thing and probably encourages people to read more, but there's the fact.
Not in all countries. i think they do in the UK, but not sure in how many other countries those lending rights work. Here I think not - but authors have to be stupid not to realize that with literally millions of books on print, it's better to get a book read by somebody ( who with luck might BUY or recommend another book by the same author) than not read at all.
After I return them there's no way to know what I've been reading.
M - library commissioner, bookworm (if it sits still, I'll read it)
When a patron checks out a book, magazine, video, dvd, books on tape recording, magazine, etc. there is a record as long as the items are checked out. Once any or all items are returned there is no longer a record of what the patron has checked out then or any time in the past because when the items are checked back in the record is no longer needed and is automatically cleared until next time.
> from libraries. It's a complicated system,
> but my mother, a children's writer, gets a
> large cheque each year for books she's
> written that have been borrowed from
> libraries around the world.
> I think BX is a wonderful thing and
> probably encourages people to read more,
> but there's the fact.
an original copy of a book is not a photocopy
no author or publisher can stop me from doing what i want to with an original copy of a book as far as giving it away to someone
can Sony get sue you if you give away your 13 inch Sony t.v to someone?
> from libraries. It's a complicated system,
> but my mother, a children's writer, gets a
> large cheque each year for books she's
> written that have been borrowed from
> libraries around the world.
> I think BX is a wonderful thing and
> probably encourages people to read more,
> but there's the fact.
This year, we were eagerly invited back! Our booth was next to a writers' guild booth, and not long after we got set up, one of the authors strolled over to meet us. She commended our efforts to foster literacy. She also was interested in the Bookcrossing challenge one of my daughters had launched, READ - Respond in Earnest Action for Darfur (http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/goldem1217), for which our books were all labeled with special labels my daughters had designed to bring awareness to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This author, Hanna Davidson Pankowsky, wrote "East of the Storm, Outrunning the Holocaust in Russia," to recount her story of being a ten-year old child escaping Nazi-occupied Poland with her mother in 1939 for the safer Soviet-occupied zone, where they were told her father and brother were drafted to defend Warsaw. She knows it's imperative we take a stand against genocide. We plan to release another copy of Hanna Pankowsky's book into BookCrossing channels, as we know the grave importance of the personal message she has penned in the signed copies she passes along -- the handwritten English/Hebrew plea, . . . "Always Remember." Such a book traveling in BookCrossing channels will help us do just that.
This year, we were eagerly invited back! Our booth was next to a writers' guild booth, and not long after we got set up, one of the authors strolled over to meet us. She commended our efforts to foster literacy. She also was interested in the Bookcrossing challenge one of my daughters had launched, READ - Respond in Earnest Action for Darfur (http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/goldem1217), for which our books were all labeled with special labels my daughters had designed to bring awareness to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This author, Hanna Davidson Pankowsky, wrote "East of the Storm, Outrunning the Holocaust in Russia," to recount her story of being a ten-year old child escaping Nazi-occupied Poland with her mother in 1939 for the safer Soviet-occupied zone, where they were told her father and brother were drafted to defend Warsaw. She knows it's imperative we take a stand against genocide. We plan to release another copy of Hanna Pankowsky's book into BookCrossing channels, as we know the grave importance of the personal message she has penned in the signed copies she passes along -- the handwritten English/Hebrew plea, . . . "Always Remember." Such a book traveling in BookCrossing channels will help us do just that.
I'm a newly-self-published author of a fantasy novel (16th January, and a pile of books are arriving from the POD's printer today!). I have loved Book Crossing since a friend introduced me to it last October. It ties in with my personal philosophy and has provided hours of entertainment, fresh perspectives, and friends - tomorrow is my third "in real life" BX meeting here in Sunnyvale.
I've been fascinated by the concept and have actively looked *forward* to being a Book-Crossing author since day one! I don't think BX detracts from sales; I would tend to think it enhances them. As an author, I'd be *happy* to know that people enjoyed my book and were willing to share it with others... the exposure it brings is probably going to be quite important to me, as other authors in this thread have noted.
Admittedly, I have a different perspective from one whose only source of income is royalties; I will be handling my own sales, for the greater part (online book stores come later, etc etc). But I think that anything that encourages people to read, think and get to know one another has to be a great plus.
Linda Moore (whiteraven13)
http://www.rhaeva.com <-- novel
One fellow book crosser did a book ray on one of my books. I love the feedback I get and that the books are passed on as well as that many people from other countries are reading my books due to book crossing. I have only been trading and sending out my books to those that request it for three months now so I am looking forward to the quarterly royalty check I will get in July to see if backcrossing made any impact in a positive way.
I should have know to look at the press releases for bookcrossing.com to find it!
Thanks!
Hope that works, if not cut & paste into your browser.
I found her remarks pretty funny. Apparently, she actually believes that IF ONLY we weren't participating in bookcrossing, we'd all be out buying HER books. Perhaps "the author" needs a reality check. I suggest she get out, get a job and get over herself.
Jill, I am always happy to hear that people are talking about my books, and I don't think that several dozen free copies scattered across the U.S. is going to cause a problem for me--I've been in the business for a decade, and my series are pretty well established.
My concern is, rather, for authors just starting out, and I hope the writer of the newspaper article (which I didn't see) made that clear. I believe that readers should realize (many don't) that the author does NOT receive a royalty for books bought used or picked up free, and that all this after-market traffic can negatively influence sales to the point where the publisher decides to drop the author. Publishers go by the numbers, like it or not, and I know too many good writers whose contracts were not renewed.
There are lots of problems in the book business--Bookcrossing is only the tip of the iceberg. There is now an active used book market on-line that is beginning to seriously affect many authors' sales. I know of no author who does not have a very strong opinion about after-market book sales, on the scale it is now reaching on the Internet, although most authors find it politically incorrect to say so. I'm glad that my book sales have put me in a position to say what I think, and I know that I speak for many up-and-coming writers who are afraid to share their views.
You may share my comments with others, if you like. Thank you for writing to me--and I even dare to hope that when you get around to reading my work, you will like it well enough to support it.
Regards,
Susan Albert
Perhaps she does have a point but as usual I am amazed when people just don't 'get' bookcrossing. But not everyone is coming from the same place obviously! I am going to buy one of her books.
She doesn't appear to be anti-bookcrossing from this message. She does have a point though where sites like eBay where people sell used books to people that are believing they are buying new books inexpensively. Auctioner buys 1000 books from a bookstore (i.e. amazon) at a bulk rate where the royalty may or may not be honored (if Amazon sells to a bookstore, the bookstore is responsible for the royalty if I'm reading the rules correctly). Auctioner sells on eBay for just above the bulk rate. I do know this happens but as to what extent I don't know.
Ms. Albert seems to want people to buy new books instead of buying used books if they can afford it. Nothing wrong with that.
As for her argument that new authors may be pushed out of the business for poor sales.. it is possible but not likely from bookcrossing, used bookstores or public libraries. the cause will more likely be from those auctioners that sell books in bad faith.
Sorry... I just came back from the gym and the endorphins are still kicking in my bloodstream so my thinking is somewhat erratic regarding wording.
One thing of note is that the publishing business (books, comic books, magazines, etc) have ALL taken hits on their sales due to people not reading as much as they used to. Many blame this on the popularity of the internet, dvds, etc. Others blame the economy - if you don't have a job, you aren't going to be buying a whole lot of these luxury items.
Personally, I think it is partially all these things as well as the average quality of a book has gone down. There are what, 50,000 new books published each year? How many are actually not copy-cat books? 10,000? How many are original? 2,000?
jason
Her argument is absurd. Whether she likes it or not, there is an after-market for almost everything, books included. If I buy a used car, Mazda is not going to get any money. So - should we eliminate the used car business? If I buy an old house, the architect and builder aren't going to get any money. So, we should burn down old houses and only live in new ones? And no, Levi's doesn't get any money if I buy an old pair of jeans. So what? And we're giving the stuff away instead of selling it - I guess that, in her eyes, that makes us WORSE than used car dealers. ::sigh::
I, personally, pay more money to support my local nurseries rather than buying plants at Home Depot, because I want them to stay in business due to the better service I receive.
I will go out of my way to support any local merchant vs. Walmart, even if it costs me more.
The original concept of BC, that is, releasing books "in the wild" does not (in my opinion) affect book sales. In fact, if a book is free, someone is more likely to read an unknown author and then purchase more books by that author.
However, as this site becomes more and more a method of searching for particular books and trading between members, it can and will affect the revenue received by authors.
More money to the marketing department does not necessarily equate to higher quality or a greater diversity of work. It concerns me that Susan Albert seems troubled about the effects of after market sales/distribution on new authors when perhaps ever decreasing publishing ownership could leave the entire industry in the hands of a few well-off conglomerates. What benefits could there be for the unknown author if all players are catering to the tried and tested middle ground? Thankfully this is not quite the case yet and there are still many good new authors.
I've been registered on BC for 4 weeks in which time I've released three books and have bought 5 new books that other bookcrossers had given favourable reviews. Three of these books were written by authors I had previously never heard of. In these four weeks I've caught no books and it wouldn't matter if I never catch any as I would still benefit from BC.
When a book is published that I think I would like to read then I will buy it. I could be waiting a long time to read the title if I waited for a bookcrosser to release it and the suspense would just be too much!
There's a couple of authors here who are organising a bookray for their own book, and this way they're getting their book out and about, many more readers will be exposed to it, and so much book promotion seems to be by word of mouth that it can only be good overall.
I'd hate it if we ended up with only bestsellers and tried and tested formulae. Besides, those writers have got to stop writing eventually, and then what? if there's no outlet for the new writers, how will they ever become bestsellers?
What I am thinking is that the opposite should apply - maybe a new author can offer a copy of their book on Bookcrossing. That would give the author who is just starting out much needed exposure; and many of us who liked the book may decide to buy it...
https://web.archive.org/---/http
Since it's from 2002, it's a nice look at BookCrossing's early years. :)
Anybody know if the Dallas-area BC'ers mentioned in the article are still active here? (Since it doesn't list their BC names.)
I think that Book Crossing can work well for established writers. I have read books recieved through BC and enjoyed an author so much that I have searched out their other books.
Consider BC the world-wide library. Really, its no different. From hand to hand. From borrower to borrower.
Ah, then there is the arguement that follows along the lines of the copyright infringement with regards to cds, cdrs, etc. My brother and I had a conversation similiar to this topic on the weekend. It made me smile when I read your post. Oh, here we go! :-) Money wise, I am gently reminded that with every CDR I purchase, I pay an extra fee which is then spread along the recording artists. Cheers.
I've self published one book through a print on demand company, but their publicity machine is quite poor, so I'm trying all sorts of viral marketing, such as releasing sample chapters to Kazaa. I'm also (Plug Alert!) posting my current work in progress on my website ( http://www.spinneyhead.co.uk ) as a first draft serial to generate interest in my work. If anyone on the list would like to review the book and get it into the BC chain, please drop me a line.
I think there are two possibilities:
1) the author really did not understand that BookCrossing acts more like a library than anything else. No authors or publishers are paid royalties when you check out a book from the local library.
2) the author was misquoted or was quoted out of context. That *never* happens in the media ;-)
jason
How many books have I found for free "in the wild" as a result of this site??? 2.
How many books have I bought that were posted in the wild (were left at second hand bookstores)? 3
What percentage of the books that I buy do I actually buy at a retailers like (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Walmart, etc)? Being very generous here 15% of the books on my bookshelf.
Where do the other 83% of the rest of my book I own come from? Second Hand bookstores, paperback exchanges, and annual library booksales.
What percentage of the rest of my books come from FREE exchanges as a result of bookcrossing.com? Again I am being generous here... maybe 2% of the books on my list.
What traditionally have I done with the books that I own before I discovered bookcrossing.com? I gave them for free to: paperback exchanges (supporting local businesses), gave them to the local library for their booksale, to the church for their annual rummage sale, or Goodwill.
Since bookcrossing.com, I have released some books to the wild realizing there is a good chance they just might end up in the trash at some remote location.
What have I learned and received from Bookcrossing.com (since joining)? That there are a lot really wonderful people out there who enjoy books as much as I do! I am reading authors I might never have been interested in before. I am trying these new authors and spreading the word to coworkers and friends.
The books I have exchanged for are ones that I never would of bought for full price anyway ( I merely would have gone without reading them).
So, to those who think I (as a bookcrosser) am ripping off the authors I say.... I am promoting good books, different authors (Dana Stabnow, Rita Mae Brown, Ellen Hart, Bentley Little, etc.) that other people might have read. Most of all I am creating some goodwill with other booklovers who are looking for that next great read!
Anyway, this has been a really interesting discussion. All the best!
Plus, the vast majority of the books I've released were purchased a long time ago, many at used book stores, and had been sitting on my shelves or in boxes forever. It's difficult to imagine how any author could feel cheated because I dusted off a book and passed it on to someone new, particularly if, in the process, thousands of people get a chance to hear about the book!
I think BookCrossing is actually an excellent development for readers and authors--it gets the world excited about books.
Thanks for the chance to vent!
genevalove