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.

[Bumperlicioso]

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

[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 !!

[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 !

[Bumperlicioso]

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

[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.

[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!

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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)

[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!

[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.

[dilemma456]

Message withdrawn

[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.

[MoominMymbleandMy]

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

[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.