Off the Rails Again

Yes, yes, yes, I've ranted over and over about what I think the biggest single problem in publishing is today: the books cost too much, and most of them aren't very good anyway. I am down to buying at least 80 (maybe 90) percent used books; it would be very difficult for me to "find" a new author because I'm not going to drop the money for a new book on a wild guess.

I hear theories that publishing is hurting because people are reading less (books cost too much), the blockbuster mentality caters to known sellers and hurts the nurturing of new writers (whose books cost too much), and today I read one from author Dave Zetlserman that postulates the flood of manuscripts by people using computers has bogged down the industry (regardless, books still cost too much).

I just saw on Amazon what may be the ultimate example of this absurdity. Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir's Executioner series, started in 1971 and running to something over 130 books, are being reprinted in trade paperback editions for $14.95. Each. (Their books cost too much.)

These were paperback originals that originally sold for somewhere in the neighborhood of a dollar (these books didn't cost too much, even back then). Who is the market for these books? Millionaire retirees? Who do the publishers think can afford these? And they want to tell me used books are bad for business?

I'm telling you, Mr. Publisher, if it weren't for used books, I really would be reading less. There's a difference between how much people read and how much people are willing to spend. Maybe you all should get into the video game business and give publishing back to people who actually care about books. Given all the layoffs, restructurings, and acquisition freezes that have been reported lately, what you're doing now isn't working. And it's not going to (a lot of it is because your books cost too much).