Kate,

I can understand what you are saying to the list here, but as a
writer I can point out another downside to buying discounted books
from the Amazons and Costcos and Barnes and Nobles of the book
selling world. Sales of cut rate books also result in cut rates that
the authors are being paid for their hard work on the book in
question. And the lower that the royalties go, the less likely that
the author will go on to write other books.

I totally understand the call for convenience, and I wouldn't want
anyone feeling bad about buying a cut rate book if that is all that
they can afford, but the situation is not all that cut and dried. The
consumer pays less, the author gets paid less and fewer books are
written on some of these less mainstream topics that appeal to a
smaller group of interested readers. And, if you choose to buy a book
from one of the big chain booksellers such as Barnes and Noble or
Borders, keep in mind that although they often offer a wide array of
books, you are still not likely to find multiple copies of less
mainstream books on their shelves. Many book store chains charge the
book publishers a shelving fee to keep a title on the shelves, so
lower demand books don't even make it onto the shelves in many
chains. This means that the actual variety of books available at
these stores is dictated by who has the deepest pockets.

Back to birding...

Rob

>tweeters and Allyn,
>
>I have to respectfully disagree with Allyn. I have always found
>small book stores to be just that. Small. I found that they didn't
>have what I was looking for, or they ordered only 5 copies and "you
>just missed the last copy they had in stock". Or my favorite- you
>call, they say they have it and will "put it under the counter", you
>drive 10 miles through Seattle traffic (wasting god knows how much
>time) and they have "no idea" where your book is. Now of course they
>can order it for you- if you want to wait WEEKS for your book.
>Or you can go online and choose from a host of book sellers- big and
>little, specialty or general, local or across the oceans. They have
>a far greater selection, excellent prices, reasonable shipping(if
>you shop around) and the wait(usually 3 to 7 days) is far less than
>if you have a "local" book store order it for you.
>
>Now I only rant because I think it is great to shop a local small
>book seller IF THAT IS WHAT YOU PREFER. But PLEASE don't try to make
>the rest of us feel guilty for trying to save a few bucks on an
>expensive book. But I think you'll find that like myself most people
>shop online and with the big chains because of selection and
>convenience, not price.
>Ok, now I'm done.
>(and No, I don't own stock in Amazon) :-)
>
>
>kate hammill
>katehammill75 at hotmail.com
>seattle, wa.98103
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


--
Rob McNair-Huff ---------- mailto:rob at whiterabbits.com
White Rabbit Publishing -- http://www.whiterabbits.com
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