am i being unreasonable to wonder why people buy new books

[LucyEllensmummy]

I buy all my books from charity shops. Occasionally i will buy new but i have been stung a few times when i spend out on something and end up not liking it.

Now i buy second hand, it means i dont have to be so choosey and often find some surprises.

[bran]

I buy lots of new books, sometimes on a whim but sometimes because I want a particular book and can't find it on ReadItSwapIt. Even in a full price book shop it's still only just over twice the price of a decent magazine, so much better value IMO if you are buying something to read at the airport for instance.

Recently I've been buying more new books than normal because my parents gave me an e-reader for my birthday so I load it up with a couple of books before we go away anywhere and it saves having to pack books into the suitcase.

I can't stand library books (although the love the principle of libraries), they are often hard-backed or larger than normal which makes them uncomfortable to hold and heavy to carry. I tend to buy books for DS as well rather than go to the library because I get really anxious about losing library books. He has about 200 books (I have a bit of a book problem, I admit) and it's easy for a library book to just sink to the bottom of a pile and temporarily disappear.

[MoominMymbleandMy]

So authors can eat is a pretty good reason, I think.

[BoffinMum]

I spent five years doing some research and writing the associated book, to find people cheaply flogging via Amazon the review copies they had been sent for free (we could tell by the timing).

That seemed a pretty underhand thing to do to me. Many of us make very little out of our writing and this doesn't do a lot to support the industry.

[dilemma456]

Message withdrawn

[2Eliza2]

'now I know about PLR I feel even better'

It's always a bit of nice surprise for me. We get the money in February and this year I earned enough from PLR to buy the laptop I am writing my current novel (and this message) on. So, for me, it's not a life-changing amount of money but it really helps.

[Pogleswood]

I'm another that does the''get books from any possible source'' thing.I browse all the libraries that I have access to and order online(and I'm another whose books are often overdue - but our librarians are lovely! They take the mickey a bit but I figure that I am boosting the library figures,the fines hopefully go into their budget,and now I know about PLR I feel even better!)
I buy new if its something I've no chance of finding elsewhere,or if I can't wait,or if I love the author and know I'll want to re-read.And I trawl the charity shops for anything else - and for out of print books I'd love to own.I am trying to cut back but I'd hate never buying new!

[LtEveDallas]

Being away from UK I use Amazon mostly to buy books as new english language books are horribly overpriced over here.

I find I get into an author/series (hence my name) and end up buying everything they've ever written - luckily Amazon do quite a lot of Buy 2 get 1 free type offers.

I remember being VERY annoyed with Dean Koontz putting back and back the final book of his Chris Snow trilogy. I very nearly emailed his publisher to complain(thought it would make me sound too geeky ) .....AND he STILL hasn't finished it (God, like 5 years now)

I take all my old books to charity shops, but cannot face buying from them unless they look really new - something about old dirt/dust on my hands makes me cringe. Although if it is a series I have been reading, I dont take them to the shop until I have the whole set, just in case (of what I dont know, I just cant get rid of them till I've read them all)

[chuckeyegg]

I use the library as I haven't the money or the room to buy them. I do buy DS books as they want to read them over and over.

[glammam]

CoteDazur, can't believe you didn't like 1000 splendid suns! Why not? I'm not into 'best sellers' either but that is a fantastic book. Also, half of a yellow sun, have you read that?

[francagoestohollywood]

I mostly buy new books because for me there's nothing better than browsing in a bookshop and succumb to the urge of owning a book that looks promising (or that I already intended to read) there and then.

[2Eliza2]

I'm an author and if nobody bought my books new, I'd stop writing. I'd have to because my publisher would stop publishing me and I have to earn money somehow.

If this happened to most new or new-ish writers, eventually there'd be no new books published. When the current literary stars died out, that would be that.

Some of the messages here from people who say they support authors are really heart-warming.

And just to reiterate what MargaretMoulsford said above: you can support an author simply by asking your library to buy the book (a sale)if they don't have it in stock, and then borrowing it (we get royalties). You don't have to spend. You can support an author by telling your friends you enjoyed their book and that it's available from the library--for free!

[Jeffa]

For me, it depends where I am. If I am walking past a charity shop I may well wander in and look. The same as if I am wandering past a Waterstones.

[Bumperlicioso]

Well, that's a nice little treat for you anyway

[MargaretMountford]

here
I didn't know about it until a few years ago when an editor pointed it out - she said it was hat and handbag money,I get about enough to indulge in some cakes and a few fancy treats !

[MargaretMountford]

Public Lending Rights - there's a website where authors and illustrators can register and then everytime your books is borrowed you get a little amount of money -I have no idea where it comes from -the Library Fairies probably !!

[Bumperlicioso]

Interesting Margret, I'm sure DH mentioned something about that. What are PLR payments and where does the money come from?

[MargaretMountford]

If you borrow books from the library, people like me get PLR payments each time you take one of ours out -it can add up to a nice bit of pocket money !! (especially as an illustrator I don't get royalties usually)
All the books I usually recycle to charity shops are book group ones which I'd never read again (bar one or two good ones) but I do love the smell and feel of lovely new books and buying them is a real treat and pleasure for me.

[Bumperlicioso]

Just reading a few posts and wanted to say WRT library books, at least if you take them back late the library is getting some money at least that's how I see it and my books are always late! Of course I've solved that now DH works in the library I never have to pay late fees again!

[Callipygia]

I am late to this but wanted to say: charity shops are fine if you read a certain type of book. The TIme Traveller's Wife sort of level of book. If you want anything more challenging or classic, you can't count on finding it in a charity shop. Sometimes you find a real gem, and that's great, but more often I see the same books over and over again; sadly they're not the ones I always want to read.
The Oxfam bookshops are better, but overpriced now, more of a lifestyle shop than a charity shop.

[nooka]

I always buy new except if something is out of print. I don't consider books a luxury but a necessity, and I really don't begrudge paying a few pounds more for a pristine copy of something I really want to read, and will almost always read several times. I think books are incredibly good value. Besides which I love bookshops, and most of the authors I enjoy I am waiting for their next novel on tenter hooks. Sometimes they are disappointing, but that's a risk I am prepared to take. In the meantime I get lots of books out from the library, but if they are good I usually end up buying them anyway. I've also had the fines thing, but now we go regularly every fortnight for the children that's ceased to be a major problem. I've very rarely seen anything I would like to read in a charity shop or at Tescos, and prefer to buy direct than use Amazon (I like to start reading in the bookshop) except when I am doing an order at Christmas or a birthday or for something I know I won't be able to buy in a bookshop.

[Simplysally]

I'm also a great one for snapping up books in airport lounges even though I've probably got 3 or 4 in my case already. One of my daughter's favourite books is the one I bought her about aeroplanes the first time she went on a plane. I sat and read it to her and was applauded by the pilot and first officer as they walked past .

[Simplysally]

I buy new books that I'll want to keep or would take months to get from the library (ie the Harry Potter series). I have quite an ecletic taste although it tends to veer towards magic realism which are hard to source in charity shops/jumble sales. I've found the odd gem in hotel libraries abroad but there it's a case of grab the English versions, regardless of quality or genre .

I was overjoyed when I found an ancient copy of an out-of-print childen's story in a musty old bookshop in the UK. Even thougn the cover was literally spotted with mould, I bought it for the princely sum of 50p and cleaned it up. It's now proudly on my shelf.

[elkiedee]

All the reasons Thumbwitch said, and others as well, I'm an addict when it comes to book buying.

I love buying books, both new and secondhand. Some books I want aren't available secondhand in this country, eg US crime novels by authors who aren't published in the UK. The price difference between new and secondhand isn't always so great - the most expensive charity shops charge £2-£3 a book anyway, and sometimes new bestsellers can be picked up for £3-£4.

I also buy from places like TheBookPeople - currently I'm reading a series of 10 Swedish crime novels which I was able to buy complete for £14 from there - all coordinated and with introductions from some of my favourite crime writers - I've seen them new in a bookshop and coveted them for a while.

And I go to book events, particularly crime fiction, and like to try and support newer and less well known writers by buying some of their books, although if you can't afford to do that reserving any of the books you can that are available in the library is a great way to do that too. If a book is popular a library service with 12 branches might buy more copies of that author's next book, some in hardback too!

[thumbwitch]

I buy brand new books when
a) they are specialist books that I wouldn't find in a charity shop in a month of sundays
b) I need them to complete a set (Terry Pratchett's, the last few Georgette Heyer's as they were impossible to find in charity shops)
c) someone gives me a book token
d) I get a FANTASTIC offer to join a book club (like the whole Beatrix Potter set for £4.99 + P&P) and then have to buy 4 more books to fulfil membership criteria
e) I REALLY WANT a book that has just come out and I can't wait for it to appear in a charity shop.

I love browsing in charity shops, and second-hand book shops too - I have huge numbers of books - drives DH insane.