Buy your books where you want to buy your books
Unlike many other people, that’s as close as I’m going to come to telling you where to buy your books. That link, by the way, is just one example. Lots and lots of people will tell you not to buy books at Walmart, or from Amazon, or they’ll say you must always try to buy your books at an independent bookstore first.
I suspect many of you don’t want to give in-depth thought to where you buy your books and, if so, good for you. Just buy them as, and when, and where, you please.
If you are giving thought to where you buy your books, and someone’s blog post, or a press release from an association, is telling you not to buy your books from Amazon (I’m going to use Amazon as my example, because in this pre-Christmas season, all the people I’ve seen trying to influence others, are telling them to stay away from Amazon) – then please ask yourself (1) Is the person who wrote that blog post fully informed? (2) Does the association who wrote that press release have a vested interest? (3) Why does somebody else think they have the right to tell you how to shop?
It will come as no surprise to any of you who have walked this earth for any length of time that very few issues are black and white. Very few organizations are “good” or “bad.” And things are rarely as they appear on the surface.
So, if you hear people saying:
(A) You MUST support poor, beleaguered independent bookstores - well, no, you mustn’t. You may if you want to (and if they make you want to). I’m not saying it’s easy to run a bookstore – because it’s not easy to run any business – but bookstores have some nice advantages. They have this sweet deal with publishers where they can return books that don’t sell. And guess what happens to author royalties when those books are returned? Yup, you got it – the bookstore gets their money back, and the publisher claws the author’s royalties back. I’m not going to weigh in on whether this is fair, or not, but it IS. That’s how it works. If you didn’t know that – if nobody telling you to only buy books from bookstores didn’t mention that – it might be an interesting piece of information.
(B) Amazon is evil, and crushes the small guy, and treats little people like crap, and is ruining the world. Well, from my perspective NO. At least to a lot of that. I’m the littlest of the little people, and Amazon treats me better, and pays me more for my second book, than I will ever get from my first book which was traditionally published and sold in bookstores. So, as it pertains to authors, the ones Amazon deals with directly get paid (IMHO) fairly. The others are not paid by Amazon - they’re paid by their publishers, and if they’re not getting a fair deal, that’s who they need to talk to. With regards to allegations of tax dodges and labour issues. Sure. It’s a huge company. I’m sure there are some issues. Just like there are issues with the massive companies that own the publishers that supply most of the books to bookstores. Just like there are issues with the working conditions at some of the printing companies that print those books. Some of the complaints I’ve heard about working conditions at Amazon’s US warehouses sound, quite frankly, like entitled whining from people who may not have worked some of the tough jobs I have in the past. Am I saying Amazon is perfect? No. I’m sure they have workers who need to be treated better. But before you boycott them for that, you need to look at working conditions and tax dodges for all big companies involved in making books. It’s simply not the case that dozens, and dozens are angels, and Amazon is the devil.
(C) Motherhood and apple pie. This is the kind of feeling some people have that meandering down your local main street and shopping at a local bookstore is good, while clicking online is bad. It’s a kind of lifestyle argument. I call nonsense on this one. If you like shopping, and you want to shop that way, please do. However, yesterday I was able to spend the entire afternoon volunteering at my sons’ school (for a Scholastic Book Fair, which is another post to come soon) while packages quietly piled up at home for me. To me, this is the lifestyle I want – using my time to interact with children, and raise money for their school, and shopping online lets me do this (plus, my husband works at Canada Post, so I think of all the people who are getting more money and extra hours for delivering during the Christmas season). See – I’m not saying you’re bad if you want to take your time and go shopping. But I am saying, it’s not cut and dried. Everyone has a different idea of what makes for a good lifestyle decision.
I know, in some circles, it’s cool, and trendy, and hip to bash Amazon, but like we’re always telling our twelve-year-old, it’s cooler to think for yourself!
Happy book buying – however you do it!
