Reality Check for Book Lovers
Reality Check for Book Lovers
By Kathy Reschini Sweeney, the Tart who is not a published author and thus can tell you the hard truth
For those with no attention span: BUY BOOKS.
It sounds so simple and so obvious, but apparently it is not sinking in. Let's infer that everyone reading this blog loves books. Let's also infer that everyone reading this blog loves at least one of the authors listed up there. Heaven knows there is a bounty to choose from, no matter what you like to read.
The purpose of today's blog is to clear up some confusion. If you already know all of this stuff, maybe you could print it out, or link it, or share it on Facebook, or otherwise pass it along to another book lover who is not similarly educated.
Thus - some great misconceptions about published authors, like our own Book Tarts, who's smiling faces greet you at the top of the blog and who's stories delight, entertain and move you.
1. They publish books for a living. Not for fun, and not just to see their names on a shelf. Many of these women have other jobs - some have full-time jobs - so they don't end up on food stamps while they pursue their career as an author. I love this analogy: If I painted houses for a living, would you ask me to paint your house for free? Of course not. So why would you view their books differently? Most of these authors are too polite to say no if you ask for a freebie. Me? Not so much. Please don't ask for free books for yourself. It's rude and frankly, it's cheating.
2. They don't make big up-front money; they don't make any money unless they sell books. Unless you are an author with enough juice to merit an initial print run that guarantees a best-seller, don't expect a big advance. Maybe it used to work that way, but no more. Plus, no matter how small the advance is, the author has to pay her agent, her expenses and the IRS. The only way these authors make any money is by selling books and earning out on royalties. These are not trust fund babies who write as an antidote to the crushing ennui of bon-bons and pool boys. These women write books in the style and form the publishers demand so they can sell them. (Side note: if you think the best-seller lists are based solely on merit, think again. But that is a subject for another blog.)
3. They work hard. No shit. I can confirm this because I did write a novel once. It was fun. Got an agent and everything. Then I got into the re-writes and editing. No fun. In fact, I wasn't even through the second chapter before I had a headache. Like I need another source of those. Since I already have a day job, and I try to avoid pain, rather than exacerbating it, that was the end of that. Writers write because they have to. Published authors edit because it's their work, not their recreation time. Some of the book tarts have re-written entire books during the editing process. Plus, if I told you how many published authors hate their books by the time they are done, you would gasp. It's like being in labor with no discernible end in sight.
4. They don't make any money from borrowed or shared books. This is a tough one, but since I have the liberty of not giving a shit whether you buy my book, I am going to tell you the unvarnished truth. When you buy one copy of a book and share it with a dozen friends, that does not help an author unless some of those friends actually buy the next book. If you buy a book at a used book store, it does not help the author. Authors are only paid on original sales. If you wait for a book to be donated to your local lending pool, it does not help the author. Think of the music business. Remember Napster and how it was shut down because it was criminal - as in theft? Why would you think books are any different? This is where people can get huffy and point out that books are expensive. Yeah. Everyone gets that you can't buy every book. But at least if you get it from a library, you encourage the library to buy more books by the author. Libraries actually buy books.
5. A special note on author events and book signings. I am just going to say it, so brace yourself. If an author and a book store go to the expense of traveling and setting up an event - at their own expense - because publishers don't pay for tours any more - it is great if you go. But you at least have to buy a paperback. I mean it.
In addition, if you do go to an event, keep in mind that the author is there to sell books. She may be kind enough to indulge you while you ask questions about how to get published, or to even critique your book pitch, but have some common courtesy and don't do it while there are others waiting to meet her and to BUY HER BOOKS. Every person that gets tired of waiting in line while you chatter is money out of the author's pocket. Seriously.
And I've seen this a hundred times - if you have the stones to ask a professional to critique your work-in-progress, or share her hard-earned wisdom, and you don't even buy her book, there is a special place in hell for you. Get a clue and some class.
I have to throw in a pet peeve here. I think it is really gauche to have an author sign a book just so you can sell it at a premium online. That hurts both the author and the book store.There may not be anything illegal about it, but come on, these are good women. Don't be greedy.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Buy Books. I mean it. If you like books, you have to buy some. The industry is in a damn mess right now, through no fault of most authors. They only way to be sure we'll continue to have good books is to make sure people buy them.
No one has an unlimited budget (Oprah, if you are reading this week, no offense, girlfriend) so ask for books as gifts. As Mary Alice says, a candle never changed anyone's life. Many men and women are tough to buy for - do your family and friends a favor and make a wish list of books. Birthdays, anniversaries, Mothers' Day, Groundhog Day (hey, if you live near Punxsy, this is big) and - oh look at the calendar - the holidays are just around the corner! Do you really want another sweater or a pair of slippers with squeaky clown noses?
Buy books as gifts. Duh. Just about everyone loves to read a good book. If you're not sure what book to buy, get a gift certificate from your local book store. Want to get something for a teacher, or hair stylist or delivery person or cleaning crew? Paper back books cost less than half the gimcrack you've probably purchased in the past. Also - just because you think some tchotchke is cute doesn't mean everyone else does. But that is also a blog for another day unless you are someone who likes to buy trolls. Those things are just plain creepy. Ditto for grown men and ponies with pastel, comb-able manes. Right, another blog. Moving on.
Buy books as donations. Want to support your local library AND your favorite author? Buy a hardcover book and donate it to your library. I would tell you it's tax deductible, but then I'd have to put a disclaimer to check with your own tax professional. Who would probably love a book, by the way.
Use your words. Talk about it. Encourage your friends to support author events and your favorite authors. Lend a favorite book to a friend in return for the promise that they will buy the next one. Support your local bookstores. And if you don't have one, you are always welcome at my favorite: Mystery Lovers Bookshop where the recommendations are priceless and the shipping is free!
I'd ask the other Book Tarts to elaborate, but I don't want anyone to be offended. So don't worry if they don't comment today.
As for the rest of the TLC community - what else can we do to help?
