Reading, ethics and costs.

[Pat "5mph"]

I do not think any of this is crystal clear for any method of reading. I do have one thing my partner said. Isn't it wrong for things to be too cheap? I mean it promotes consumerism but also you do not get anything goood for long if it is sold too cheaply. If you do not pay much for the book in any media then there is less for the author to get. What is the author's percentage on 72 pence?? How many books do you have to sell to get the minimum wage for that ebook??? Nothing cheap is completely innocent and good. Take fast fashion sold cheaply but then thrown away quickly too. It all adds up.

Charity shops sometimes sell 3 paperbacks for a pound.
Rome's very popular second hand books flea market sells books for a few pounds each.
Those and the 72p Ebook are not going to be the latest bestsellers or indeed most probably the book you are looking for.
So you buy a new book for £17.99 or an Ebook for £12.99.

 

[Time Waster]

Charity shops sometimes sell 3 paperbacks for a pound.
Rome's very popular second hand books flea market sells books for a few pounds each.
Those and the 72p Ebook are not going to be the latest bestsellers or indeed most probably the book you are looking for.
So you buy a new book for £17.99 or an Ebook for £12.99.

Ebook was 72p, Amazon fullfilled paperback £13.99 and Waterstones bookstore in Manchester was ,,£17.99 for the same paperback.

BTW I heard that in Paris flea markets they sell secondhand books by weight.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

BTW I heard that in Paris flea markets they sell secondhand books by weight.

It's possible; I have never been to Paris, can't read French anyway
On the by, I once managed to collect all the Discworld series from charity shops, took me a good couple of years and many charity shops visits!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It's possible; I have never been to Paris, can't read French anyway
On the by, I once managed to collect all the Discworld series from charity shops, took me a good couple of years and many charity shops visits!

You can find shop in the UK where you can buy nice looking books - mostly hardback - by the yard (or meter I suppose)
it is mostly used for people who want to make their room look sophisticated and have rows of books on bookshelves

apparently you can get a lot of decent books in that sort of thing

 

[wiggydiggy]

An annoyance of mine is when charity shops organise their books by colour, not author, can't find anything like that!

 

[annedonnelly]

It's possible; I have never been to Paris, can't read French anyway
On the by, I once managed to collect all the Discworld series from charity shops, took me a good couple of years and many charity shops visits!

It's a nice challenge, isn't it? I have a list of various books by various authors that I look out for in charity shops. And nice to support the various charities.

 

[All uphill]

Ebook was 72p, Amazon fullfilled paperback £13.99 and Waterstones bookstore in Manchester was ,,£17.99 for the same paperback.

BTW I heard that in Paris flea markets they sell secondhand books by weight.

I've bought books by the kilo in the Netherlands.

2.50 euro per kg. I chose two volumes of Seamus Heaney's poems.

 

[Pross]

See above on abuse of monopoly position.

Publishing on Amazon is normally the only realistic option.

The main reason it is the only realistic option is that the vast majority of 'authors' are producing cr@p, unoriginal work that would otherwise go unpublished. It's the equivalent of YouTube for wannabee film producers or Spotify for musicians. Occasionally there will be that one person who has actual talent that may have got missed by traditional publishers but then many of the top authors would have taken a lot of knock backs before they got an acceptance too. Most ebooks I buy are a lot more than 72p but the cheaper ones I've taken a chance on in the past have been cheap for a reason.

One thing I would say is that when you buy a hard copy book you should also get access to the ebook version. I tend to favour a real book but there are times where an ebook is better e.g. reading in bed alongside someone who is going to sleep as you don't need a light on and can set it to dark mode.

 

[Dadam]

The main reason it is the only realistic option is that the vast majority of 'authors' are producing cr@p, unoriginal work that would otherwise go unpublished

That may be true but what would you prefer? Go back to big publishing houses gatekeeping what can be published?
And in any case, if some people enjoy those works who are you to decide what is cr@p and unoriginal?

 

[Time Waster]

That may be true but what would you prefer? Go back to big publishing houses gatekeeping what can be published?
And in any case, if some people enjoy those works who are you to decide what is cr@p and unoriginal?

I wonder what classes as cr@p and unoriginal? The latter is a well used term but some of the most respected works in the English languages used the storylines of ancient Greek works. I cannot remember what but I think you can thing of all the greats having borrowed or used what was before them.

Also isn't that a bit elitist and judgemental. Every writer has a market and if they enjoy what another person calles cr@p well I would rather they were reading and enjoying themselves than only sticking to the great novelists of the past or whatever counts and the opposite of cr@p.

PS the 72 pence ebook was a good translation of a Roman philosopher of the Stoic school of philosophy. Is that unoriginal or cr@p? I think it might have been the narrative of his debates and discussions, as written by one of his students who was there at the time.

 

[Pross]

I wonder what classes as cr@p and unoriginal? The latter is a well used term but some of the most respected works in the English languages used the storylines of ancient Greek works. I cannot remember what but I think you can thing of all the greats having borrowed or used what was before them.

Also isn't that a bit elitist and judgemental. Every writer has a market and if they enjoy what another person calles cr@p well I would rather they were reading and enjoying themselves than only sticking to the great novelists of the past or whatever counts and the opposite of cr@p.

PS the 72 pence ebook was a good translation of a Roman philosopher of the Stoic school of philosophy. Is that unoriginal or cr@p? I think it might have been the narrative of his debates and discussions, as written by one of his students who was there at the time.

What's the issue with the ethics of paying 72p for something produced centuries ago then?

Most of the cheaper stuff I've read has been trying to find something new when I've read everything by my preferred authors. I'm certainly not a high brow reader, generally reading thrillers etc. and there is just so much out there where they've tried to copy the style or concepts of more successful authors. I found one author who was just about worth going through their whole series at around £2-£3 a book but with most others I've felt ripped off even at those prices. No coherent plot, no research, regurgitating stuff I've read in other books etc. I've certainly given up on far more cheap ebooks than I ever have on hard copy books. Whether that's because I'm more tolerant when I've spent more or because the publishing industry does a decent filtering job who knows?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

What's the issue with the ethics of paying 72p for something produced centuries ago then?

Most of the cheaper stuff I've read has been trying to find something new when I've read everything by my preferred authors. I'm certainly not a high brow reader, generally reading thrillers etc. and there is just so much out there where they've tried to copy the style or concepts of more successful authors. I found one author who was just about worth going through their whole series at around £2-£3 a book but with most others I've felt ripped off even at those prices. No coherent plot, no research, regurgitating stuff I've read in other books etc. I've certainly given up on far more cheap ebooks than I ever have on hard copy books. Whether that's because I'm more tolerant when I've spent more or because the publishing industry does a decent filtering job who knows?

I agree with most if your content in #38.

The big online platforms, whether they be music or books or video, give creators huge potential market penetration way beyond that which they would achieve by more traditional outlets.

The issue being that the lads next door with their talentless garage band or the wannabee author who cannot even be bothered to have their work proof-read, think that they are the next big thing and are being ripped off. Forgetting that they are not obliged to use the modern day big players in whatever field.

 

[Drago]

My book was proof-read by several members of CycleChat, which is probably why it isn't a runaway sales success

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

My book was proof-read by several members of CycleChat, which is probably why it isn't a runaway sales success

too many mentions of underpants??

 

[Drago]

too many mentions of underpants??

Indeed! The scene where the hero does a wet fart while fighting a knife man would make Anry McNab nod with approval.