"Today’s musing is a sort of “read and respond”…
A blog I frequent suggested I check out several articles of interest… one of them which happened to be this one: “Trendspotting: Readers’ Spending On Books“. So — being the avid reader & book junkie that I am — I couldn’t help but click over and read the short piece about readers’ current spending habits.
My questions for today are ones that are asked at the end of this particular article: What are your responses to this report? Does it match with what you –as a reader– have observed? With your own buying habits? When was the last time you bought a book? What did you buy and why?"
Of course, the bigger question raised by the post MizB, our always gracious host from Should Be Reading is..what is the future of books. Small bookstores...will they survive? Will Amazon take over the world? Will e-books be the future??
Ya know? I am not sure and I am not sure I really care. Because, in whatever form, there will be books and I will be buying them and I will be reading them. And I suspect many of you will be too.
Bottom line, the book industry is a business and like every business, to succeed it must provide a product that people want and it was do so at a price they will pay. The cost to them involves all sorts of things that they must consider. Payment to authors, the cost of editors and staff and the buildings they work in, promotion, printing, shipping, storage, profit....
They put that all together and decide on a price.
A little book store down the street has higher costs and less volume and charges more and Amazon has less and charges less and I, the customer decides which is worth it to me. Many small bookstores, like MANY small business of all sorts, will fail. They are not offering what the customer wants at a price they will pay. Others do..whatever it my be...great service, knowledgeable staff, good atmosphere, whatever..and will last.
The market will decide.
But...here is the thing about books. The demand for them will continue. Book readers love to read books. Not the person, who granted are many, who reads a book or two a year. Maybe the BIG book everyone is talking about. Or the people who never read. No, I mean you and me, people who read 50 or 100 or 200 books a year. We need our books and I for one will be buying them and reading them to the day I kick the bucket and someone will find a successful, profitable business plan to fill our need. I like 'real' books but if e-books take over, I will read them or have them beamed to my brain or whatever the technology may be in the future.
Because I am a reader!
BTW, to actually answer the question, the last book I bought was Called:The Story of a Mountain Midwife by Phyllis Stump. Why did I buy it? Well, it is based on a true story and I had just seen the cabin where the woman lived, on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Then I stopped and the author was in a store, selling and signing the books and I am a sucker for a signed book.
Besides, it sounded like a great story and it is all about a great story!
I loved your answer about avid readers, "having it beamed to my brain", funny but true.
ReplyDeleteGreat answer! I agree, I'll continue to buy books regardless of how they evolve. I always enjoy receiving great customer service but if the price isn't right, I'm not going to buy. You can check out my complete answer here.
ReplyDeleteI guess beamed to my brain would be fun. ; )
ReplyDeleteI doubt I will ever get an e-reader, I have to many books waiting on my shelves to be read. However I can see how they would be helpful, no more stacks on the night table, and bookshelves running into the floor. But I like being surrounded by my books, call me crazy Gigi Ann...
I try to support my small, local indie because it helps my community - it creates jobs and brings in authors. Amazon does nothing for my community - it doesn't even collect taxes for it. I think the last book I bought was Condaleezza Rice's memoir and I bought it from the aforementioned indie.
ReplyDeleteExcellent answer!
ReplyDeleteIn one form or another, we all will be able to access the books we love whether it's through an online store or a regular bookstore. Where I live, we have the major stores but we also have a smaller independent that has survived for many years. Unusual, but nice to see.
Most likely the e-reader will dominate in the future, after all us paper book lovers are gone. Oh, there will always be physical books same as there are still some vinyl record albums produced each year. But the most economical business model will be to stream text to an e-reader, if not directly to our brains! ;)
ReplyDeleteleslie, I am not totally convinced. Sure, the companies may want it, but I think the market for 'real' books will stay strong for a long time.
ReplyDeleteok, maybe it is wishful thinking...lol
I hope to have "kicked the bucket" long before reading is by being brain beamed!
ReplyDeleteSo you, who professes to hate e-readers, will be willing to have a book beamed into your brain if needed? Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is hard to justify spending so much more for a book in a small bookstore when you can get it cheaper on Amazon (with free shipping). I feel guilty but I have to watch my dollars too. And, like you, I will read until my time here is up.
not many fans of book brain beaming it seems...lol
ReplyDelete