Are libraries tacky?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Authors make a living by selling their books for money.

You told an author you would read the fruit of their labors for free without giving them money.

That was terribly rude of you. Authors know that people use libraries all the time, or borrow from their friends, but you do not TELL THE AUTHOR THAT!

I mean, even my socially-challenged autistic teen knows not to step in it like this. This goes beyond a metal health disorder.

I hope you're a troll.

PS: libraries are not tacky.

I have tried to check out books that have 200+ holds. I imagine the author would have liked to have those 200 book sales.

Libraries pay for the books. They pay more, and often order more copies if holds reach a certain point. Ebooks and audio books are even more expensive, and thus most libraries will go from 10 copies to 1 or none after a certain point.

You are acting like OP was reading a pirated copy. Calm down, and stop over reacting.

[Anonymous]

Every author I know (which is several) would be thrilled to hear someone was waiting for their book from the library.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Libraries are absolutely not tacky!
I can see how the author wants to get their $$ though. I love my local library.

Another person who thinks libraries get books for free.

I never said that? Whats with the attitude?
But a library with 1 copy and 1000 people reading it is not making the author as much money as if those 1000 people bought their own copy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Libraries are absolutely not tacky!
I can see how the author wants to get their $$ though. I love my local library.

Another person who thinks libraries get books for free.

I never said that? Whats with the attitude?
But a library with 1 copy and 1000 people reading it is not making the author as much money as if those 1000 people bought their own copy.

You really think those 1000 people are going to buy it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Libraries are absolutely not tacky!
I can see how the author wants to get their $$ though. I love my local library.

Another person who thinks libraries get books for free.

I never said that? Whats with the attitude?
But a library with 1 copy and 1000 people reading it is not making the author as much money as if those 1000 people bought their own copy.

I can't remember the last book with a 1:1000 ratio. I remember 2000+ waiting for Michelle Obama's memoir but the library had over 100 electronic copies, let alone nearly as many paper and audio copies. Basically demand at the library causes the library to either buy or license more copies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every author I know (which is several) would be thrilled to hear someone was waiting for their book from the library.

me too. and i think most would genuinely mean it. no author with any good sense is going to throw shade on anyone who reads a library copy of their book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Libraries are absolutely not tacky!
I can see how the author wants to get their $$ though. I love my local library.

Another person who thinks libraries get books for free.

I never said that? Whats with the attitude?
But a library with 1 copy and 1000 people reading it is not making the author as much money as if those 1000 people bought their own copy.

Nope. If those people didn’t read the book from the library the majority of them wouldn’t read it at all. Having an audience want your books in libraries means other people who haven’t heard of you yet will read your book. People continuing to read your book in libraries means your book stays in the library and yet more people find it/you. I have literally never heard an author feel anything other than delighted about their library readership.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Authors usually love libraries the most.

It's tacky to not like libraries.

Well said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Libraries are absolutely not tacky!
I can see how the author wants to get their $$ though. I love my local library.

Another person who thinks libraries get books for free.

I never said that? Whats with the attitude?
But a library with 1 copy and 1000 people reading it is not making the author as much money as if those 1000 people bought their own copy.

I’m willing to read their book, but I’m not willing to buy it. So the author can have 1000 people read it and zero of them buy it (but maybe the library bought a few copies) or they can have zero people read it, zero people buy it, and zero library copies.

[Anonymous]

This thread has gone off the rails and I always think that Book People are above the narrow minded, only see a limited viewpoint vs the overall picture, mindset of many DCUM posters.
TLDR.
Libraries are a great asset to readers and the community.
Just don't blare it out that you don't think highly enough of the author to actually buy the author's book on social media.
Why is this so hard, people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I commented on an author's social media that I couldn't wait for my library hold of her new book to come through. I was jumped on by people who said it was tacky not to buy.

It's not the library that is tacky, it's you. You know she makes money when people buy the book, right? It's a little rude to follow her on social media but then admit that you don't think it's worth it to pay for her product.

[Anonymous]

To add to the two above posts: library sales are great and appreciated BUT library sales do not make a growing author's career work. Retail sales make them work, first week sales make them work, bookscan numbers, NYT, etc, make them work.

People are conflating two separate issues. Simply, don't post that you don't love the author enough to BUY their book. For a growing author, library sales really only help the publisher. Retail sales means READERS are willing to shell out their hard earned money to buy the author's book. THAT helps growing authors.

And again, libraries are great. This is all about announcing on social media that you're waiting for a library hold because you don't want to buy the book yourself. That you can't afford to buy the book is for another thread. NOT this one.

[Anonymous]

I am curious how much libraries pay for books? So a book that is $15 retail would cost how much for a library?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I commented on an author's social media that I couldn't wait for my library hold of her new book to come through. I was jumped on by people who said it was tacky not to buy.

It's not the library that is tacky, it's you. You know she makes money when people buy the book, right? It's a little rude to follow her on social media but then admit that you don't think it's worth it to pay for her product.

Libraries purchase books via property taxes.

Do you just hate poor people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To add to the two above posts: library sales are great and appreciated BUT library sales do not make a growing author's career work. Retail sales make them work, first week sales make them work, bookscan numbers, NYT, etc, make them work.

People are conflating two separate issues. Simply, don't post that you don't love the author enough to BUY their book. For a growing author, library sales really only help the publisher. Retail sales means READERS are willing to shell out their hard earned money to buy the author's book. THAT helps growing authors.

And again, libraries are great. This is all about announcing on social media that you're waiting for a library hold because you don't want to buy the book yourself. That you can't afford to buy the book is for another thread. NOT this one.

Not. Everyone. Can. Afford. It.