Blogger: Rachel Zurakowski
Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.
After yesterday’s fun discussion of endorsements and “book-buddies,” I got to thinking about where I get my books. I’d say that I purchase two-thirds of the books I read. The other third I borrow–from my two good friends or from the office bookshelves. I hardly ever go to the library, but I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it’s because I used to always go to the library for researching last-minute school projects so the library feels like a place of panic and hopelessness for me. 🙂
I now know that many of you also like to share books with your friends or borrow from the library, but when you buy a book, where do you go?
As I thought back over the book purchases I’ve made this year, I realized that I am a bookstore book buyer. I LOVE looking at Amazon.com and scrolling through the books there, especially the recommendations page, but if I find a book on Amazon, I usually go to my local bookstore(s) to see if they have it. Just hanging out in a bookstore is fun for me, so the trip isn’t inconvenient if the store doesn’t have the book I want. I almost always walk out with a book or two, even if I didn’t find the one I originally went looking for.
Most often, I just go to a bookstore to browse and read the backcover blurbs until I find something I want to buy. I like this method the best is because when I’m in the mood to read, I want to have a new book right away. I don’t want to wait for the book to ship to me. This is why the Kindle is a great tool for e-book fans. You can find a book on Amazon and send it immediately to your Kindle reader. But personally, I love the feeling of having a bound book better than reading a story on a screen, even though I love using the Kindle to read manuscripts and proposals for books not yet in print.
What’s the breakdown of how you’re getting your books? Do you mostly buy or mostly borrow?
And here’s a question to spark a little debate: Do you think sharing books is like “sharing” music? At what point does book sharing become stealing sales from the author? Every book we don’t buy does become one book that isn’t sold. I’m not sure where I stand on this, so don’t worry about judgment from me! I would love to hear your opinions.
I’d say that 90% of my books are purchased and 10% are borrowed.
Of that 90%- 2/3 is purchased at B&N,Borders or (believe it or not) Target. The remaining third comes from Amazon, used books stores and my local independent bookseller, which is, sadly, a 40 minute drive away. I use Amazon like you do Rachel, it’s much easier to navigate than the library’s online catalog.
On the borrowed side- 8.5% comes from the library and the rest from friends sharing. I still use the library regularly because I love being able to come home with two dozen books for free. DVDs too!
I happen to love the being in the physical presence of books. I want to see them everywhere, touch them at will and take comfort knowing that they’re near.
On the question of sharing. Hmm… you could easily branch the discussion out to discuss used book stores, because I don’t think authors are making money off those sales either, right?
For my official answer to your question- no I don’t think book sharing becomes stealing a sale from the author. When we share books, we introduce friends to new authors and vice versa. I’m going to assume that both parties are avid readers here. I feel pretty confident that for every book shared, a future sale will come. Someone might love the shared book and then decide to buy early works of the author or the next new release. For those who aren’t avid readers, I’d like to think of book sharing a necessary community service. When I worked at our public library for a while (dream job!) I got to put books in the hands of children and adults every day. That is an amazing feeling.
I usually check books out from the library first of all, but that’s because when I was younger my parents stopped letting me buy books because I’d go through them so fast *chuckles slightly* But when I DO buy a book, I usually get them right from the bookstore. Borders is right in our mall, so I’ll go there, or sometimes I’ll get adventurous and go for a drive to the town 30 mins away and go to the big Barnes and Noble or the big Borders. I just love prowling through the shelves and breathing in the new book smell. And a lot of the time I’ll find a good clearance book too, those poor forgotten souls.
I don’t ever really order online. For me it’s just not quite as fun. If I buy at all it’s got to be right there in the bookstore where I can pick it up, turn the pages and say “yup, this is going to be a good read.”
I think that at a point though if you love anything a lot, like a book OR music, you should make the effort to tell the author that by buying it. With a book it’s ok to borrow to see if you like it. But if you do, instead of say ‘reborrowing’, buy it for yourself. It tells the author how much you liked it, and the sales help keep them afloat.
I’ve been known to be a stingy lender of books. If everybody borrowed books instead of buying them, books would stop being published. I’m okay with letting family members borrow books, and I don’t hesitate to let a “non-reader” borrow a book I think they would like. But if it is somebody who loves to read, and has money, I’ll tell them to go out and buy the book, support the author. For crying out loud, it take time and hard work to write these things!
Amazon has been my dealer of choice recently. I have Amazon Prime, so it is free 2-day shipping. I love going to the bookstore too, but it is a bit more of a trip now with two toddlers, and the diaper bag, and snacks, and toys, and, “No, we can’t get that book. No, we aren’t getting that one either. But you just went to the bathroom. Stop poking that kid. Not that book either. But you just went to the bathroom.”
Yeah. Amazon works well for me these days.
Even though I’m a multi-published author, the book sharing doesn’t bother me. Why? It’s no different than going to the library! Imagine all the people who read one book in a library! Plus, just getting your name out there is important. Somebody might borrow your book from a friend, or read it in the library, then tell somebody else about you, and then they can tell another friend and another…I think you understand what I’m trying to say.
I purchase most of my fiction from Amazon. I NEVER go to the library anymore. My life is so busy, and my mind is so cluttered that I doubt I’d remember to take the books back in time, therefore, I’d continuously be paying library fines.
I do visit the Family Christian Bookstore about once every month or so, but I don’t always buy books. I also visit Books A Million a few times a year and, depending on my schedule, I’ll visit some independent bookstores, too.
I’m a bookstore junky. I rarely buy anything online when it comes to books. I’d rather go to a book store and ask them to order it (plus that helps the author, I think…by getting requests for his/her books).
I almost never borrower books, but I loan mine out once in a while. I used to collect movies, before I got into reading, so now I collect books. I just love hanging around in bookstores, reading back covers, etc.
Interesting question about the sharing music comparison…I never looked at it that way, but I guess it kind of does take away from sales, huh?
But on the other hand, if I loan out one of Camy Tang’s novels….my friend likes it, she may go buy the next two in the series and then tell another person about it.
I’ll be interested to hear different persepectives.
I get my books from several sources: local Christian bookshops, Barnes & Nobles, CBD online, and Amazon. I do go the library a lot, but some books are so great, I just have to have them myself.
It seems to me that sharing a book would be wrong if you’re copying it (like making a copy of a CD), but if someone’s in my home and I put a CD on to fill the room with music, that’s not an illegal sharing of the music. I think lending a friend a book is like filling the room with music. Making a copy of the book would be illegal.
Just my two cents.
Bookstores are like shoe stores. Dangerous places.
But I love them, as I do libraries. I used to do a lot of library borrowing, but now I mostly get my books from Wal-mart or a bookstore. Occasionally online. Also a lot from book review sites that I write for.
I am a big supporter of libraries but find too often I want that book as a reference on my shelf. I like to write, underline and highlight too much.
I buy from Amazon but make an effort to support the local bookstores.
The saying on my office wall is: a room without books is like a bod wihtout a soul!
Amazon’s “Buy With One Click” button is responsible for most of the many, many books on my shelf. I love the experience, the watching for the mailman, craning my neck to see if he’s carrying a book-sized yellow envelope. It’s like sending myself a present.
I also buy from two local indie shops, one of which is a used bookstore. Once a month or so my husband and I drive to the “big city,” just to spend an hour or three in Barnes & Noble.
My problem with libraries is the inevitable fines, plus the fact that they unreasonably want their books back! (They don’t appreciate my highlighting, either.) My problem with loaning books out is that I want them back, and don’t always get them. Besides, I may well want to pick the book up again to re-read a passage, blog about it, reverse engineer it in an effort to improve my own writing. If I really love a book and want to loan it to others, I buy a second copy.
If I buy you a present, there’s a better than average chance it will be a book.
Two thoughts about people borrowing books or buying used books: 1) Folks will do what they will do; it doesn’t matter what we think, and 2) It all feeds into word of mouth advertising. You can’t talk about a book you haven’t read. And word of mouth is the golden key to book sales.
I always check the library first. Books are spendy and it would seriously limit my reading if I had to pay for every one. (Sorry!)Think of the library as marketing. If I discover a great author, the library usually won’t have all the books that they’ve written. So I end up at the bookstore for the others. And, I frequently recommend books to friends — so they end up at the bookstore, too. I think most books are sold because of word-of-mouth and libraries help with that.
I prefer Amazon, since it saves me a trip. I do spend time at our Christian bookstore, but I agree with the previous poster that it’s a dangerous place for me. I spend way too much. So I try not to visit too often.
I’d say half my books come from Amazon and half from book stores, but I only buy from Amazon if I can get the free shipping. I have a friend who buys at least 6 books every time she enters a book store, which is at least once a week. Unfortunately she has different taste then me, but occasionally she’ll get one I’ll like too.
I like to go to the book store with nothing in particular in mind and just read the backs until I find something I like too. It really is entertaining to see all the stories that are out there, even if I’m not into all of them. Plus it’s a good way to find a new author I’ll like.
On borrowing books, I think it’s actually good publicity more than it hurts sales. It’s a way for people to be introduced to new authors without having to risk spending money on them to find out if they like them. And personally if I like a book I usually want to own it so I’ll buy a book after borrowing it. But if I like the author I’ll almost always buy their future or past books. So I feel borrowing generates sales rather than hindering them.
Hmm… Aside from my aunt (who gets most of her books from BooksaMillion), I get most of mine from Amazon now. If my friends recommend a book to me, I usually buy it and read it for myself.
Nowadays, if I go into a bookstore with a friend, I make sure they know my “buying limit” before I go in–usually two or three books. I’ve been known to get a little crazy!
Unfortunately, the library isn’t an option for me because the selection is so poor. I’ve literally read almost everything in there… as a kid, my mother used to put a twenty book limit on our trips and I’d still finish them before their due date two weeks later. I’ve started donating books from my own collection just to help them out a bit.
My dear husband has given me a generous gift certificate to B&N or B-A-M the last two Christmases. He knows the way to this girl’s heart! Left to my own devices, though, I tend to pinch pennies. There’s a musty, hole-in-the-wall, second-hand bookstore downtown that I just love. I lose myself in their stacks and almost always come up with a handful of treasures. If they’re half the price, I can buy twice as many, right? I may have to convert to the library, though, as I have run out of shelves…or I could just begin to find new homes for some of my favorites.
I can certainly appreciate the need to feed a starving artist, but I can also appreciate the value of free marketing when a second-hand copy of something I’ve written brings me a new customer. With teenagers in our home, “sharing” music and videos is a topic we’ve discussed. There are venues where book sharing is expected, ie. the library or swapping with a friend. After-market sales are also fine, I think. That’s not the same, to me, as pirating a copy for profit or ripping one for a friend (which is like shoplifting).
Amazon is where I buy all of my books. I have Amazon Prime so I don’t pay shipping. I turn into a maniacal impulse buyer in an actual bookstore, so it’s best I avoid them altogether. 🙂 The fact that I live in a small town with limited choices is another big reason I shop Amazon.
I also like their wish list; I can put a book on my wish list, which helps control the impulse buying. :-). If it sits so long on my list I forget about it, then I probably didn’t really want to read it anyway. 🙂
The UPS driver, however, may wish I bought at an actual store. 🙂
Such great comments! Thanks!
Teri, your insight about copying the book stood out to me. I hadn’t thought of it like that before.
The talk of used bookstores reminded me of another place I buy A LOT of books. Our local library has a book sale twice a year where they sell old library books and many people donate books to be sold. All of the proceeds go to supporting the library. You can get a shopping bag FULL of books for $10. It’s a lot of fun and a great deal.
I think readers are naturally drawn to books and we want to possess them. A place full of books is so attractive to us and we want to bring that to our home. I would LOVE to have a house with a library in it. Well…I’d actually rather have a castle with a library like the one on the Disney version of Beauty & the Beast. We can dream, right? 🙂
I’m enjoying the various responses, but here are a few things I’ve missed seeing. I get a lot of my books as *influencer* copies. I nearly always have several books in queue that way, and I enjoy blogging about the books (mentioning the blog posts on FaceBook and Twitter), interviewing the authors, etc. I get probably 80% of the books I read this way. Some of them stay on my keeper shelves, some I give away as gifts or donate to causes. Some I’ve donated to the library.
Since I’ve read out my local library, I order in a lot of books through inter-library loan and have been known to purchase some of these myself, after the fact, if I decide the book is worth owning. If they can’t get it (or even sometimes if they can) I request they purchase it. This means there is a sale for the book AND that a wide number of people can find and read it if they’re interested. They’re just as open to ordering Christian books as general market and almost never refuse to buy a requested book. They want to know what the patrons want to read. They serve the people.
I guess you can tell I don’t have a large book-buying budget. I also live in a small town a long way from either a Christian bookstore or a regular one. When I do find something I need to own, I’ll usually order from Amazon. As our family budget has stabilized in the past few years I’m making a larger effort to actually purchase books when possible.
After all, I hope to be on the shelf some day (why does that sound so bad?!) and, in order to stay there, I’ll need folks who believe in my ability to tell a good story enough to plunk down real money for it.
On the borrowed side- 8.5% comes from the library…
🙂 There’s a serious scientific poll going on here, apparently.
So here’s my data:
I very rarely borrow–from friends or libraries.
I love bookstores but I rarely buy from them anymore.
I buy most of my books from Amazon. Free two-day shipping and good prices are great, but the clincher for me is that when I read a review on a blog I can click right over and buy the book and forget about it. Two days later it’s delivered to my door. If I don’t buy the book right when I read the review, thinking I’ll buy at the bookstore later, I usually forget the title.
According to Amazon, I’ve bought 35 books so far this year.
I also shop the library book sales and never get out with less than 100 books.
I rarely loan, but when I like a book I buy several copies to give away. I don’t think loaning books or CDs is wrong at all, I just like to give books because I don’t want people to have to return the books to me. If I love a book I want my friends to love it, too. I want them to keep it. On their top shelf.
Ohhh, your book buying trends sound dangerously like my own! I rarely go to the library… okay, I say that, but it really goes in spurts. Usually the spurt ends at the point I don’t have time to take the books back, forget to renew them online, so build up a hefty fine. (I usually check out a ridiculous number a time…*grin*)
I don’t go back until I’m ready to pay said fine. It’s been a while… (please no librarians be here!!)
I peruse Amazon.com and sometimes make a specific purchase, but there is just something about the bookstore. It’s the smell, and the ecstasy of being around so many books. I can feel the stress dripping off my shoulders when I pick up a good fiction book.
Sharing books = stealing?
I don’t think so. Now, if you took said book down to kinkos and make copies… (which would be really dumb imho) and handed them out, then YES, that would be stealing:-) I lend out my books all the time, especially those of my favorite authors. Most times the person I’m lending to hasn’t heard of them, so I feel good about marketing for said author. If the reader likes it, chances are they will buy their own book next time. 🙂
Rachel, the next book you purchase must be The Library by Sarah Stewart. It’s a children’s picture book about a woman in the early 1900’s who collects so many books the bookshelves have collasped, she can’t get out the front door, etc. You’ll have to read the book to discover her charming solution. 🙂
I’m a librarian and naturally get most of my books from the library. However, if you saw my house, you’d know I also purchase many books. I try to support my local Christian bookstore as much as possible. I collect “old” children’s books and love to find treasures in used bookstores.
I buy almost all my books. About the only ones I borrow are library books I use as research for a particular aspect of a story I’m writing. I have shelves of craft books, reference books and romances.
I interview debut authors on my blog and will give away a copy of the guest’s book to one of the visitors who leaves a comment. If I intend to keep the book, I’ll buy a second copy for the drawing. In those cases where I offer my gently used copy, my thinking is that I’m introducing another person to an author she might not have discovered otherwise and helping the author gain new readers and future customers.
For research non-fiction, I order on-line, oftentimes because I’m stealing a few minutes between other commitments. For a quiet read, most of the gems that come to mind turned up at used book sales, or from boxes of old books about to be trashed. When I part with a book, it’s because the books have so encroached on the living space that I have to either part with a book, or with some other member of the family. So if I don’t give it away, what’s the alternative? Burning it? (Big collective shudder.) Donating books to charities that do book sales is a way to bless everyone involved, and a way to pay back for the gems I have found there. And if the authors don’t make a dime from it, well, many of them–if their lives earned out–have already gone on to a better place.
I buy most of my books online – partly better price, partly time (don’t have to drive to the bookstore for a book they may not have in stock), partly convenience. Lately, though, I’ve been making better use of the library. Dollars have to go farther, and I have to know I love it before I buy it.
When I can, I certainly support our local Christian bookstore. They are a wonderful bunch that also work to support the authors as well as the readers. And when I’m book shopping for the sheer pleasure of it, I’m more likely to hit a second hand bookstore. Better smell 🙂
As for book sharing – no, I don’t think it’s the same as music sharing. When you share the digital/music file, you create another (illegal) copy. When you share a book, it’s still one physical copy. (Not sure how this related to e-books yet, though.) I think it links back to good word-of-mouth promotion. If someone likes it enough to share it, you build your reader base and they might be more likely to buy your next book, etc.
For the same reason, as an author I’m always happy when my books are checked out of the library. (I should point out that as a Canadian author, I do get a small royalty based on library usage so it’s all good to me.)
I adore Amazon. The reader recommendations and suggestions make it much easier to find things I’ll like. But I also try to support our local booksellers and take advantage of the savings from Half-Price Books.
I do lend and borrow books as well but have become more selective about that. My friend “B” is something of a black hole. The books go to his place and are never seen again. My friend “J” is better, we swap books on a weekly basis, returning the last borrowed item while offering up a new read at the same time. He and I have similar taste and I we often introduce each other to new authors.
I’d like to use the library more, but like many of the others, I was never adept at returning things on time. Rather than racking up the fines, I just buy and now have a fairly large library (books stacked all around the house) of my own.
Judy,
Thanks for the recommendation! I think I’ll go buy that book on Amazon right now. 🙂 My almost-4-year-old nephew and I can read it together!
He loves books like his auntie does and is already reading.
I am a book buying addict. I love the feel of the books in my hands and the knowledge that they are mine (much to DH’s dismay when moving box upon box of books). While libraries were a place of my childhood and some of my best memories, I think having to give them back turned me into a hoarder. : )
Sometimes, I will borrow a book from my Dear Daughter’s friends. Yet, I almost always purchse the book in the end–see the above disclaimer.
I don’t believe that book sharing is
“stealing” because in the end, most avid readers will either purchase the borrowed book and/or other books by the same author. If they are library lovers, they will request the author, creating a demand for future sales.
As a writer, I would never be offended that someone liked my work enough to share it. In the end, that is why I write–to have my words out there for others to enjoy.
Cat, it sounds like we are “book hoarder kindred spirits.” 🙂 I really like owning books, too. Some day I’m going to have a library in my house so the books can be out on the shelves instead of in boxes. (I can dream, right?)
I LOVE bookstores. When I have time, I love to go spend a couple hours in Barnes & Noble or an independent bookstore that has places to sit. I’ll wander the shelves, pulling off anything that looks interesting and then take my stack to a chair and leaf through them, sorting them into two piles: those I’m going to take home, and those that I’m going to leave behind. Usually the first pile is bigger. I have HUNDREDS of books at home.
Unfortunately for me I’m very busy with a law practice that’s officed 50 miles from home, and I live in a rural area, so I seldom have time to to one of those long, lovely bookstore visits. So most of the books I buy these days come from Amazon. Fiction often goes to my Kindle, but nonfiction I buy in “real” book form, in case I want to tab pages and so on.
I do occasionally lend books out, but I’m neurotic about my books and take very good care of them. Even books I’ve read multiple times look brand new. And too often book borrowers aren’t as careful as I am. 🙂
I got to second hand bookstores A LOT…or Amazon. I feel kind of bad about the second hand part. If I get published, I would hope for retail sales. Oh well.
I don’t lend books. I rarely borrow books. I buy. And buy and buy and buy. Everywhere.
And they are everywhere in my house and garage. I can’t even give most of them away. Why? Because they are my friends. They are part of me. Most of them are marked up. Underlined. Highlighted. Scribbled in. Even fiction books.
I love books.
I need an intervention.
I purchase most of my books at my local grocery store. I’m a total romance junkie! I do borrow books from the library, too. When I find a new author I really like, I tend to buy all of her future books, so I think libraries help authors’ careers. Book-swapping would probably work the same way.