July 2, 2006 | reading
Yesterday went well. It was a hot day in Birmingham and I have to admit that the venues were not ideal–one was a very dark night club and one was a very hot meeting room. But the people were all very friendly and everyone who attended my talk was the best–fun, intelligent, considerate people.
I’m glad I went–I enjoyed the talk, I met some lovely articulate people who love reading and discussing books, and I got to see Rosie. And they gave me ice cream. I have to say I’m still undecided about BookCrossing. This isn’t meant to be something inflammatory–I think the people at the convention were fantastic, and I believe they are idealistic and kind. I also believe that the reasons behind the group are, on balance, well meant. It’s fun to find a book “in the wild” and to set it free for someone else to read. I could see first-hand that the convention allowed all the participants to share the joy of reading with each other, and that’s got to be a great thing.
But there is that tricky issue of authors making a living, and publishers staying in business. A BookCrossing book has many readers, and the author only makes his or her very small profit on it once. A book traded is a book not bought. It’s also not a book taken out of a public library, which pay authors PLR and which need everyone’s support.
On the other hand, I’ve borrowed many books, enjoyed them, and then gone out and bought the author’s other books. If this is what BookCrossers do, then that can benefit authors. Is it?
Let me make it clear again–I’m not in any way questioning the validity or benefits of the organisation to its members. I saw that yesterday. And personally, the convention was an opportunity for me to get my work more well known, which will benefit me. But how about authors in general?
What do you think?
Kate Hardy says:
Although I’ve heard of Bookcrossing I haven’t actually seen any books in the wild. I tend to borrow books either from libraries or from friends – and if I like the book that much I’ll buy my own copy (and, if I like the author enough, copies of the backlist too). If a book I buy doesn’t grab me, I donate it to my best friend, who runs a charity booksale in her office every six months. I know that’s not benefiting authors per se, but it’s still getting the author’s name out, the purchaser might love the book enough to buy more by the same author, and it’s also raising money that goes directly to the nominated charity.
I think at the moment publishing’s in a real state of flux and probably on the brink of a real revolution, with POD and e-books and then books downloadable onto phones etc. It could be that royalties are eventually phased out in favour of flat-rate licensing agreements. It’s the old Chinese curse right now: we’re living in interesting times.
Sharon J says:
I’ve bought many a book in charity shops and then gone out and bought everything else I’ve found by the author so I’d imagine it’s pretty much the same with Book Crossing. Those who are members can’t possibly only ever read books they’ve found in the wild – they’d run out books in no time, I’m sure.
My first ever Liz Fielding book was a charity shop buy. Now I throw myself over everything with her name on it. Had I not bought that original book, I’d possibly never have bought any of her work.
April says:
I’ve definately borrowed and checked out or even bought books second hand and then gone out and purchased the authors back list and new releases new. I’m not too familiar with bookcrossing. But it sounds like it’s a good way to get exposure if nothing else…
Julie says:
Yes, Kate and Sharon and April, I agree with you–that’s my pattern too, to borrow or get a book second hand and then go on to buy more of that author’s books new. My addiction to Val MacDiarmid began that way, with a borrowed book. I was wondering if that’s also the pattern for active BookCrossers.
Maybe if some of them drop by they’ll tell us!
Liz Fielding says:
I’ve found authors at charity shops and then devoured their backlist and put them on my must-buy, too. But our local charity are tiny affairs with a very small range of books. The move by charities into “book shops”, opening them in the same areas as real Book Shops, does bother me, as does the fact that you can buy “used” online often before the new book is in the shops.
Book Crossing is something else, though, and although it’s big, I don’t think it’s threatening in the same way as the now huge market in “used” books where you don’t go to a local shop selling “used”, a bit of a pot luck job, where you buy what’s there, rather than buy whatever you want. Now you can just click on the internet and buy whatever you want “used” and it’s hurting publishers and authors.
Sharon J says:
I used to be a Book Crosser. I did it because I thought it was fun leaving the books ‘in the wild’ and then hanging around to see if anybody came along and picked them up. I never, ever found one, though, although I did look. Lost count of the number of trolleys I searched at Morrisons! I carried on with it for about a year before I gave up (this must have been about 3 years ago, at least) and during all that time I bought far more books than I found (obviously!!) and those I chatted with all said the same. If you’re an avid reader, you just don’t find enough to keep you going.
Hope that helps although it doesn’t say anything about the current situation but I’m pretty sure (as I said in my first comment) that they still run out of books if they depend solely on those they find.
Nell Dixon says:
Happy 4th of July, Julie. I buy new to me authors secondhand but then I tend to buy up all the backlists. I’ve never found a bookcrossing book but I live a bit in the sticks.
Loopy1/lin says:
Hi Julie, I was one of those bookcrossers at your workshop – the one who usually fades to black!
You’re right about how bookcrossing works – in my experience it’s a way of encouraging reading generally, because many books found in the wild are found by people who wouldn’t normally pick up a book.
It’s also a great way of getting to know new authors, either by getting a book from someone else, finding one (which happens rarely) or by hearing all the talk online and on the mailing list.
There are so many times when we’ve come across a book, really liked it, and gone out and bought other stuff by the author, or told other people about the book, or bought presents for friends. I think anything that encourages people to read and to try new types of books has to be good – and if I buy a book now, I’m not too desperately worried about getting my money’s worth by buying something familiar, because I know that if I don’t enjoy a new type of book, I can at least enjoy passing it on.
I would say that for every book that an author misses out on royalties for because it’s passed on through bookcrossing, there are far more books that have been bought especially because of the talk that has been generated about the book through bookcrossing. So authors have got to be benefiting at the end of the day!
There are some authors who feel uneasy at the thought of bookcrossing, but others are very supportive (Neil Gaiman is the first to come to mind in that category). We’ve also had new authors or self-published authors who’ve generated interest in their book by sending it around bookcrossers. I’ve been involved in several of those projects (not my written work though!) involving sending books as far afield as Australia, where normal publicity would struggle to get it that far.
And I’m sure you soon figured out we love to talk about books!
laura0141 says:
Hi Julie
I was at your workshop and thoroughly enjoyed it – so much so that I picked up my own writing project when I had some time on Sunday.
I can appreciate your points about authors not receiving payment from books which have been ‘Crossed – we all need to make a living – but I wanted to tell you a little about myself and my book-buying habits.
All through school I was a reading fanatic and pocket money was spent on books. When I went to University and later to work, I continued reading and buying books. Then I became ill (I have Bipolar Disorder). My concentration was completely shot and I spent far too much time watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer videos as, intellectually, that was just my level.
After a few years, I realised that all my books were gathering dust as I was unable to concentrate sufficiently to read them and so I decided to BookCross them with the intention of getting rid of the lot and the bookcases they lived in to boot.
And so I encountered BookCrossers for the very first time. They insisted on sending me books. And it would have been rude not to at least try to read them. And I found that I *could* read again and that much of my concentration had returned.
Because I was reading again I returned to the bookshops and started restocking my shelves. Sunday afternoon is no longer the Eastenders Omnibus and a big bar of chocolate – I’d far rather spend it in Waterstone’s and then go for coffee with friends.
I often buy two copies of books – one for me and one to BookCross – and have discovered so many new authors whose books I now have on the bookcases (fortunately I didn’t get rid of them!)
My point, obviously, is that pre-BookCrossing I wasn’t buying any books and now I buy far too many (and love every minute!)
This is just my experience but I have heard other, similar stories.
With best wishes and thanks for a wonderful workshop.
Laura
Cyzaki says:
I think the majority of bookcrossers would say they buy more books now than they did before bookcrossing. The list of authors whose books I have encountered through bookcrossing, but never would have considered otherwise, is huge. In fact, I’d never heard of you before, but would be more inclined to buy one of your books now after having heard how good your talk at the Unconvention was. So I don’t see how bookcrossing harms authors in any way.
Anna / Tiggsybabes says:
Hi, I’m an active bookcrosser & I spend more on books than I did before bookcrossing as I buy multiple copies of my favourite books & authors to share with friends. I also come across authors I may not have read otherwise by taking a book at a bookcrossing meeting & then I’ll buy / read all their other books if I’ve enjoyed it.
Anything that makes it cool to enjoy books is also good as I was always the geeky book reader at school & now I feel trendy for reading so many books
Nic says:
I’m also an active Bookcrosser (beebarf) and was at the Unconvention, although not at your workshop – shame on me!
)
I’ve been introduced to so many new-to-me authors through Bookcrossing – Jasper Fforde and Beryl Bainbridge are two that spring to mind. I’ve been on a tight budget for a few years, and I’m generally reluctant to “take a risk” on an author I may not like (I’m very opinionated on books and will give up on ones I dislike) but Bookcrossing means I can try and break out of my normal sphere. If I like an author, then I generally set out to buy their back list. I also buy duplicate copies of books I’ve loved for friends.
Bookcrossing is a great excuse to talk books to everyone and anyone – and anything that raises the profile of reading in this multimedia age has to be good for the market in general. I’ve spent years feeling like an outcast because I’m addicted to books and don’t have a TV, so finding like minded souls has upped my book intake even further … 100+ read this year so far, and counting
)
Nic says:
PS I wondered how much PLR income authors get anyway? I thought it was fairly minimal – although I guess it’s better than nothing!
katisha50 says:
Hi, Julie. Having heard your talk on Saturday I agree with cyzaki – I’ll be buying you now whereas I don’t think I would have otherwise.
Everybody is quite right in saying that we buy more books now than we did pre-bookcrossing. It’s a very social thing and we are always buying books as gifts for each other. I understand why authors would think as you do, but I don’t think you need worry.
Julie says:
Well, this is great. Thank you so much Liz, Sharon, and Nell–all with author as well as reader perspectives.
Lin, Laura, Cyzaki, and Anna, thank you for stopping by and giving me your experience of the whole thing. As I said I could really see the positive attitude and love of reading at the conference–as a reader I appreciated it–and as an author it’s good too to hear what you say, that sharing books encourages you to buy books too. That’s exactly what I was curious to hear.
Lin and Laura, I’m really glad you enjoyed my workshop and that it encouraged you to write, Laura.
Several people have told me how the organisation has changed their lives along with their attitude toward reading and those stories are great to hear too.
I was a little bit nervous about posting this question online, for fear that people would be offended at my questioning the effect of the organisation, but your responses, with your experiences, were just what I was looking for. Thanks.
Julie says:
Whoops, and as I posted, Nic and Katisha50 posted, too.
100+ books read, Nic. I am totally jealous. One thing about writing and working full time is that my reading time is very limited. I used to devour books like crazy. I’m looking forward to the summer holiday when I can finally read for pleasure again.
PLR isn’t a whole lot, but it is something, and apparently it’s quite steady if you have a backlist.
Katisha I’m glad my workshop encouraged you to look out for my books!
Rosie says:
Ah, now Julie, with my writer’s hat on I can say I’ve thought through the idea of Bookcrossing and royalties, and I came to the conclusion that I’d be absolutely delighted if my books were circulating freely in this way and getting a positive response as well as an audience that wouldn’t normally read me.
A book is a strange commodity too – it’s not like a box of chocolates, which is gone when it’s gone, nor a CD which will be enjoyed over and over again. A book, once read, stays there and although there are always a few books that are so loved that they will be read over and over again, most will languish on the bookshelf. There are so many books about, after all, and so little life in which to read them.
So rather than sit idly on the shelf, gathering dust, they can be passed on to be enjoyed by somebody else who may well be introduced to an author whose other books they will go on to buy. Whether this happens by personal giving, through a second-hand bookshop or a charity shop, or by being left to be found at random, is neither here not there.
Perhaps it’s the publishers that should really be to blame. After all, more books are published than ever before and yet it’s harder and harder to get published as the big media megacorporations and the big bookshop chains focus more and more on the bankable at the expense of new talent. When I was a student, a Penguin paperback and a packet of fags cost the same. Today, after taxes have been piled on the fags and the book remains zero-rated, the standard paperback costs about 50% more than the fags. Where’s the sense? Is it any wonder that readers try to keep their costs down?
Julie says:
I can’t argue with the high price of books, Rosie (though I believe mine cost less than a packet of fags, and are much less carcinogenic). BookCrossing aside, it does seem that so many things are eroding an author’s royalties, be it secondhand book sales, the major discounting in shops, the supermarket and high street’s refusal to stock more than a few heavily-promoted titles, or the imminent arrival of cheap book downloads. I agree that publishers seem to focus on the bankable rather than the merely talented, and that’s a real shame for all of us (except maybe Jordan).
I don’t know the answer at all, which is why I was asking for opinions and experiences.
It was great to see you this weekend, looking well and happy! Now you just have to write more!
Skyring says:
Peter from BookCrossing here. I’ve just returned to Australia after a wonderful convention in Birmingham (though my luggage is still in New York, apparently…). Your sex writing talk was a highlight, not so much for the content, but for the way you delivered it.
I bought a couple of copies of your books, and as you know I liked them. Romance writing is harder than it looks and I like romances with a bit of humour and fun, bubble and sparkle in them, which you supply in magnum loads.
I’ve been introduced to the writing of a great many authors through BookCrossing. Usually authors I would never have looked at by myself. But when a fellow BookCrosser says “You have GOT to read this!” and then thrusts the book into my hands, if I like the book I’ll generally buy more by the same author.
Lisa Wingate is one example where I’ve bought a book and sent it off on a bookring, and then gone hunting up others to buy new, most recently “Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner”, which I found in the World’s Biggest Bookstore in Toronto a couple of months back.
BookCrossing isn’t quite what it seems. Sure, we give books away, and we give the best ones to each other to read, but hey, everybody lends books to their friends, and the experience of keen BookCrossers is that they end up buying MORE books than otherwise.
My experience with my own book has been that BookCrossers buy a copy and then hand it around, but they still buy that first copy and oftentimes BookCrossers will then buy a copy for themselves.
I really don’t think that there’s any need to worry about losing sales to BookCrossers. If anything, it’s the reverse, because with word of mouth in the forums and glowing journal entries, sales are sparked from people who buy books on recommendation.
Liz Fielding says:
What great posts, Julie. Clearly you made a huge hit in Birmingham (the RNA already knows how amazing you are!) and I’m now totally a Book Crossing fan. People love books, talk about books, encourage other people to read are totally on my wavelength.
I could even live with used books online if they weren’t sold before I had a chance to sell a few “new”.
Nic, PLR is a very useful addition to the author income.
Skyring, I hope your luggage catches up with you soon.
Julie says:
I know, Liz. The kind people who have commented on this post have totally convinced me…which was what I was hoping when I posted the question.
Skyring, I’m glad you got home safely and had a good time! It was great to meet you and your kindness was a highlight of the day.
LyzzyBee says:
I just wanted to add a comment although I can see you are already convinced…
I’m a big fan of new publisher Transita. I became aware of them when I was given a copy of Christine Coleman’s “The Dangerous Sports Euthanasia Society” by the guy running the Birmingham Book Festival. After reading it and posting my review on BookCrossing and the Transita website, I then sent it on a bookring. Every time I get a new review of it from there, I post it on Transita so the author can see what people are thinking about it. And at least one reader is lobbying Canadian book chains to stock books by this publisher.
That wasn’t my point, though. I then got anothe copy as part of a lovely box of books transita sent me to say thank you for writing an article for their website. OK, I didn’t get either of these copies through BookCrossing, but the idea’s the same.
Anyway – then Christine came along to the Unconvention on the Friday, and what did I do… I BOUGHT a copy of her book.
So yup -it does happen!
Keep up the good work
Liz