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Tue, 04/22/2008

I Hope You Brought Enough For Everyone.... by Kat Richardson:

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A couple of my writer friends really hate used bookstores. Some of them even hate libraries. Because these channels allow their books to be distributed without authorization and without payment to them. The idea of those no-profit copies flapping around the marketplace like friendly birds is kind of scary when you live and die (professionally speaking) by net sales. But really, it's not as bad as that. After all, our publishers also give copies of our books away--sometimes hundreds at a single shot. They do it for publicity, to build word-of-mouth and positive feeling about the books, not because they think they are dogs, but quite the opposite: because they like the book and want it to do well. They are in business after all.

So, I'm not afraid of used bookstores, or libraries, or e-books, or P2P file sharing. I don't want people to be thoughtlessly profligate about spreading the books around on Limewire or something of that nature, but I do want people to read them--I want LOTS of people to read them. Realistically, the number of sales lost to these venues is miniscule. But the good will is huge. As a relatively new writer, the biggest challenge is building momentum with readers--getting to be known and liked enough that my publisher doesn't have to beg people to read my books.

And the very best channel for building that momentum is word-of-mouth, which you don't get if people don't have the books in their hot little fists to read. Second-hand bookstores and libraries and people who give their books away to friends are actually doing me a huge favor--they're passing my books along to others to read and (I hope) fall in love with. And talk about. To other people. Who may decide to go out and buy my books. And fall in love. And talk about them.

Books are a bit like a bag of Halloween candy. As a kid we had to share our candy. But did the candy companies go out of business? No, they didn't. They just made more candy because more people were eating it (and going out and buying the Snickers miniatures when they couldn't get enough of them in exchange for the Zagnuts and black jelly beans.) And to me, bookstores have always made me feel like a kid in a candy shop. So, while it's good to pay for your books--oh, yes, please do!--it's also good to share. And not just the black jelly beans.

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