February 22nd: Where Do Books Go?
In which Hank discusses where he keeps his books, and the economy of authorship.
posted by John Green @ Thursday, February 22, 2007
11 Comments
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11 Comments:
Downloaded books will be the downfall of society! Maybe not that bad. But to me, a book on a screen will never compare to a book in your hand. (Although I do recognize the advantages of downloaded books for schools in third world countries and everything. In that case, I'm all for them!)
Oh, so many contradictions..
About the authors not getting money for their books thing, well, I'm not an author. But it's an interesting point I've never thought of before. I know some books I checked out of the library at least 5 times. A small number more than 10. Eventually I BUY those books, though.. I do want to know what the authors say!
This reminds me of the documentary about "Stones of Summer" by Dow Mossman that came out a few years ago, called "Stone Reader". It's very good, and at one point the documentarian, Mark Moskowitz, is taking his camera around his home, and shows that there are favorite books, and sometimes, 'the book becomes the place, and the place, the book.' I find that very evocative.
I can't imagine my life without books.
A few years ago they built a new library in our town, Fayetteville. And there was an absolute hew and cry from some people about the ENORMOUS taxes to fund such a boondogle. Idiots. Civilized societies have libraries. Get used to it.
A bunch of teachers came into the bookstore yesterday, and spent $5000, mostly on young adult stuff. I got to handsell a copy of Looking for Alaska. That was cool.
When I was a kid (and beyond), I relied very heavily on used bookstores and libraries to get my books, because there was no way I could afford to buy all I wanted to read.
When I got in to graduate school, I got a list of books that I was supposed to buy that was estimated to cost $2000 . . . money I obviously needed for food, rent, and the many shiny things I like to adorn myself with. No one at BN minded when I took piles of books from the shelves then sat in the cafe for hours and hours reading them, never purchasing them.
So, I am very much pro-used bookstores and other places where I'm not seeing any royalty. I do like it when people buy the books. That's nice. That means more food, shelter, and shiny baubles. But passing books along, borrowing, sharing, and reading by whatever means possible . . . these are fine traditions.
also . . . (sorry, hank's video was extremely thought-provoking to me, and since I am often dead from the neck up I really have to ride the wave) . . .
I was reading about Joe Strummer from the Clash (we miss you, Joe), and how he set up a company or label before he died, ensuring that whatever impact the production of his albums had on the environment, he would make up for in terms of the ecological footprint.
(I mention this because the used bookstore is a good way of recycling books.)
It would be nice if we authors could do something similar. Any thoughts from the ecogeek camp?
I'm certainly not an author, but I hope to become one some day. I've pondered these same questions before and always come to the same conclusion: that I wouldn't mind. This may sound cheesy, but as long as I have something published that people are reading in anyway, I'd be happy. I'd hope that salary-comfortable, diligent readers would have it in their hearts to support the author and buy their books new (as I try), but not everyone is like that. Then again I don't realistically expect to live off the royalties of my future "books" so maybe that's part of my reasoning.
So actually that doesn't quite answer your question. Oh well.
Thanks for the thought provoking vlog, Hank.
I recently created a meme about books and organization just for fun and posted it at Bildungsroman.
I challenge you two to answer it!
How do you organize your books? By genre, by last name, by title, by publication date?
Do you have a shelf reserved for your favorite books and/or authors?
What is the first title and author on your bookshelf?
What is the last title and author on your bookshelf?
What genre dominates your collection?
Which author is the most represented? (You own the most number of books by . . . )
You own all of the books written by . . .
You own the entire series of . . .
My answers:
How do you organize your books?
I split my books into fiction and non-fiction, then arrange them alphabetically by author. Books by the same author are organized by publication date, with the first release on the left and the newest on the right, with trilogies and series in number order.
Do you have a shelf reserved for your favorite books and/or authors?
Yes. I have a shelf specifically for the works of Lewis Carroll and other Alice-related titles. I have multiple shelves for the works of Christopher Golden, the last shelf shared his frequent collaborator, Thomas E. Sniegoski. However, my other favorites are mixed in on the main shelves, alphabetically by author. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is sandwiched between So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane and Stay With Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr.
What is the first title and author on your bookshelf?
The Pursuit of Happiness by Tara Altebrando
What is the last title and author on your bookshelf?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
What genre dominates your collection?
I have more fiction than non-fiction. My non-fiction collection mostly consists of Ancient Egyptian history, then books about cats, otters, and the Salem Witchcraft Trials. My fiction section in my home is mostly made up of contemporary adult and teen fiction that I've acquired over the past few years, because most of my juvenile fiction library is in storage.
Which author is the most represented? (You own the most number of books by . . . )
Christopher Golden
You own all of the books written by . . .
I won't list authors who have written three books or less, because it's easy to say, "I own all of the books by Lady X," when she's only written one book so far.
I have a lovely used copy of The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll, so I suppose that qualifies.
I am missing some Christopher Golden books. Perish the thought!
I have read all of Sarah Dessen's books, and I own all but two: Dreamland and Just Listen.
You see, "own" and "read" are very different. If I had the means to own every single book I wanted to own, I would. I am so grateful to the public library for keeping me in books. I would go nuts without it. There's no way I could afford to buy 30+ books a month.
You own the entire series of . . .
I don't own every single The Baby-Sitters Club book, but I'm serious when I say I want to have them all. I have some holes in that collection that I'd really like to fill.
I also read and collected the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels* faithfully in their heyday - the same with the Angel novels - but when some of my favorite authors stopped writing for the line and when the series stopped airing, I stopped reading and collecting the series.
* My favorite is The Lost Slayer by Christopher Golden.
Must. Have. Floating. Bookshelves.
Where would those little beauties be found?
Lisa
Oh yeah. I think I see a hand drum on a shelf or something behind Hank's head. If you could play that with your microphone on with that cool echo, just for a few seconds, that would be cool.
Just sayin'.
I've often thought that if people were to look around my house they would think I am some sort of illiterate. I own maybe... ten books. Maybe. Do I read? Yes. Always. But see... I work in a library. I'm surrounded by books 5 or 6 days a week. I don't need to be surrounded by them at home. It'd be like I never left the library at all. I'd be sitting there at home with all those books staring at me saying, "Why am I just sitting here? If you aren't going to read me now, then give me to someone who will!" And so I do.
On the rare occasion that I simply can not wait for a book to get into my hands via the library, I will buy it. And when I'm done, I make other people read it. And when they're done, I donate it to the library so more people can read it. Plenty of librarians buy books and stack them all around their home. I don't. That's just how I roll.
I honestly never thought about the royalty thing. I mean... what kind of author doesn't love the library? As a YA librarian, a big part of my job is promoting books. I'd like to think that it's just as satisfying for John Green or Maureen Johnson or Sarah Dessen or Scott Westerfeld to know that they're books are always checked out. To know that kids come up to me and absolutely gush about how much they loved his/her latest book and can't wait for the next. In the end it has to all equal out. And if not, maybe it will make the authors feel better to know that we buy thousands of books to give away during our summer reading programs. If you're popular, that's 50-100 copies of your book sold right there.
So...I live in a very rich city/town whatever they call it now in Kansas (i.e. Olathe, of Johnson County) and the district that I went to high school in bought personal palm pilots for the students to use instead of textbooks and all sorts of other books...and so we would have no excuse for our homework to remain in written form. After using such things, I have realized that nothing is quite as satisfying as the heft of a book, and actually turning the pages. When you turn pages you don't waste time trying to set the scroll at the right speed.
Anyway, my thing is that while I am frequent user of the library, once I read a really good book I have to own it. Many times I've finished a book and have decided that day that I will go out and buy it because I need to see it on my bookshelf for some strange reason that I still can't figure out. Perhaps its my extreme book-nerdliness.
I think that writers just enjoy having their stuff read and hearing/receiving commentary (aka praise) for the work that they did. Money is nice, of course. But whenever I write something and let other people read it, of course I don't demand pay (though I probably should) and I really just enjoy hearing what they have to say was really freakin' amazing about it. How many writers actually think that they'll earn a really huge living off of their work, unless they dream of a J.K. Rowling kind of luck?
The floating books idea is amazing. I really need to look into that...because my small bedroom is beginning to drown in my books. I just can't seem to part with any of them.(except for the ones I got as gifts and simply refuse to touch because the person didn't know me well enough to know what I actually like)
This comment is ridiculously long. I'm done now.
Like Dawn, I have a habit of buying a book after I've checked it out of the library, read it, and loved it. It makes sense to me because that way I can re-read it years later or share it with my kids and friends. It's a sure thing. (Isn't it so annoying to spend money on a book you don't like?)
Also, speaking as an author, I have to say, I'm not in this for the money. Hearing from kids across the country who have read and loved my book is worth way more than the $1.60 I earn from each book sale. Would I like to someday make a living at this? Sure. But that's not my main motivation. So libraries and used book stores are fine with me.
Brenda Ferber
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