Holding Out

I was hoping those mass market paperbacks with the extra inch in height and extra three dollars in price would have faded away by now. If what I see in the bookstores is accurate (and it may not be, given where we live), they're more prevalent than ever. Americans are reading less? They can't afford to read more with the "cheapies" going for ten bucks.

On the Rara Avis list, there was a discussion about pricing (join and read the archives if you'd like - it's a worthwhile list) but the consensus seemed to be that seven bucks as a paperback price point was reasonable. Yeah, maybe (I'd argue it, I think), but it's ten bucks now, you wankers. Where's the outrage? Or is it just me?

So far I've managed to not buy a one. Since I picked up a remaindered John Dunning, right now that makes John Sandford the big sufferer. His books are tough to buy used in hardcover because there are so many book club editions out there and so many Amazon Marketplace sellers that can't tell the difference. My real hope is that publishers are giving the holiday season for these macguffins to prove themselves but that may only be a notion in my own small mind. They seemed to pop up, then fade a bit, and now have come on strong.

No one listens to me, though. And to hedge, I've accounted for the extra height in the bookshelves I've been building. Not that that's an expectation of surrender, but you never know. The other thing I've been doing is yes, buying used books. The publishers have driven me to it and neither they nor the author will reap the direct benefit.

Boycott the new mass markets, I say. It's not a sign of less reading, it's one of being able to afford to read more.