Priorities

I am a book lover, an author, a blogger and a massive hypocrite.

I read more than my fair share of books, but I am slightly embarrassed to say that I predominately buy second hand books, mostly from charity shops. Why does this make me a hypocrite? As an author I predictably prefer it when my readers buy new, as then I benefit from the royalties of sale. So why am I so cheap when it comes to books I want to read?

That also got me thinking about what we will spend money on with our favourite authors much needed commission money.

I was in the newsagent the other day giving serious thought to the purchase of a science fiction magazine when I looked at the price, at £4.99 I had to stop and think about it. Then afterwards I went for a Tea and slice of cake at high street café and spent £5.20. I struggle with the notion of spending £5-£7 on a new paperback book, a story that has been thought up, crafted, edited, marketed and distributed to get it to the shelf in front of me and I will then look around to buy it from a charity shop for around £1 or off of Amazon marketplace for £2.31. A book which if good can stick with you for years to come, a story that can enrich your life or give you a new fandom and I would rather spend next to nothing for it in comparison to a magazine or afternoon snack which will undoubtedly give me some fleeting pleasure.

The worst part about this is that I am not alone, there is many a person suffers from the same cheapness as me, so why do we do it? Where are our priorities?

Now don't get me wrong, for a book to have landed in a second hand retail environment someone must have bought it first, which means that the author has already enjoyed royalties for that book and the fact that it is now on it's second and third reader means that the fan base for that person is growing. The hope for any author is that someone will find them through this medium and then become a full on new book buying customer of theirs.

I have only two issues with this;

1. with the ease with which used books can be found (aka Amazon) will a discovering reader ever need to buy a book new. I set out to read all of the Dirk Pitt books by Clive Cussler of which there are currently 24, I have the first 23 of them in my collection of which I have read 16. With the exception of the 23rd book, which was a Christmas present from my mother in law, I have bought every book used. Sorry Clive that's 1 from 23.

2. with so much choice around of used books, is that stopping people from buying new books by new authors. Working with the scenario that every time you pick up a book by a new author you are taking a risk, spending money in the hope that you will enjoy what you see. Why spend £6.99 on something untested when you can spend £1.50 on an established writers wears. I understand the same argument could be used for buying a film you have never seen, but I would say that the difference is that the commitment of time to a book is substantially more to that of a film and I am still angry about the two hours I lost watching the Hulk film

If you came to this post looking for answers, I have none, other than to say that as readers and authors we do need to take some time and work out whether or not we are helping the process of discovering new stories and supporting those who provide them. We also need to look at whether or not a fleeting pleasure is more worthy of our hard earned cash than something that could inspire us.

As always I look forward to your thoughts in the comments below.