The Decision Makers

By now I’m sure you have all heard about the book price wars. I decided to leave it alone. These mass merchandisers are gaining more than enough publicity and I have no desire to help them out.

However, after a customer recently asked why she couldn’t purchase a book online and then bring it in to be signed by the author, I felt the need to speak up. I refuse to mention the names of the retailers in question, you know who they are. I refuse to mention the price they are offering; those of you who drive thirty minutes to save a nickel or pay $3.99 shipping to save a dollar have already tracked down what you believe to be the best deal.

Whatever I say you may say to yourself, “she is just saying that so she can stay in business”. Why would you believe me? So, don’t listen to me.

How about John Grisham's literary agent, David Gernert: “If readers come to believe that the value of a new book is $10, publishing as we know it is over..I think we underestimate the effect to which extremely discounted bestsellers take the consumer's attention away from emerging writers.”

Or how about Stephen King: “It’s time to give the smaller bookstores a little breathing room.”

David Young, chief executive of Hachette Book Group, publisher of James Patterson's I, Alex Cross, said that he would like the U.S. to follow France's prohibition of selling books for less than the cover price. "I do think this massive devaluation of the industry's crown jewels could very quickly be extremely harmful...And I would not be alone in thinking that."


Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson said the price wars "will prove damaging to publishers, authors, booksellers, mass retailers, and ultimately consumers." Because these online retailers are “systematically conditioning consumers to expect these lower prices,” Although consumers may appreciate lower prices in the short run, "they are not good in the long run if authors and publishers are no longer willing to assume the risk of creating and producing the kind of quality and selection consumers currently enjoy."

The American Booksellers Association sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting that it investigate practices by the retailers in question that it believes constitute illegal predatory pricing that is damaging to the book industry and harmful to consumers. “If left unchecked, these predatory pricing policies will devastate not only the book industry, but our collective ability to maintain a society where the widest range of ideas are always made available to the public, and will allow the few remaining mega booksellers to raise prices to consumers unchecked.”

Bill Petrocelli, co-owner of Book Passage in San Francisco and Corte Madera, California explains, “Predatory pricing is a means of driving other booksellers out of business. When this happens, the choice of books is one of the first things to suffer. Some readers think that if their favorite store closes they can always buy the book they want somewhere else. But that's a dangerous delusion -- the books they want may not be there at all. In fact, these types of disruptions in how books are sold or distributed have a profound effect on what publishers decide to publish in the first place.”

Now it’s time for you to make a decision. What is best for you, your reading habits, and your community? Isn’t it bad enough that these online retailers divert sales from your local businesses and wipe out the sales tax your community so desperately needs? Do you really want them deciding what you can and can not read in the future?

A Great New Year

The new year is here. Where has the time gone? In case you haven’t noticed, I seem to have misplaced a week of my life. I completely missed last week’s blog. I was so busy trying to come up with a new year’s resolution I could not find the time to write even one word. What will it be this year? Should I vow to give up smoking, eating, drinking, or swearing like 99% of the world or shall I be more creative? If I give up all of my vices I may be too perfect and become the most hated person in America. This year’s resolution should be to become more organized...hm. Maybe next year. This year I think I will try to become less of a procrastinator.

2008 will be a great year, though. How can it not when I have Steven King's latest, Duma Key, to look forward to?

John Grisham also has a new legal thriller coming out this month. The Appeal will be the first since The Broker in 2005.

Next month I look forward to diving into 7th Heaven by James Patterson. The TV series occasionally keeps me entertained on a Friday night, however, it is on hiatus until the end of the writer's strike. Nothing compares to curling up with a good book anyway.

How about you? What do you look forward to reading in 2008?

Socks Save Christmas

In storybooks, holidays are a time of peace and joy. Families come together from miles around to celebrate and the children’s excitement can hardly be contained. Reality may be a little different, however. Holidays can be a time of stress and money woes or of loneliness. For whatever reason, I have always struggled with the holiday blues, but I found some sure fire ways to make the season more bearable.

The first is by giving. No matter how bad things seem, there is always someone worse off. By giving of my money, time, or talent during the holiday season it helps me feel better about myself. This weekend is a gift wrap party at the store to wrap all the books generously donated by the community to less fortunate children. Check out what’s going on in your local area. You are sure to find organizations that desperately need your help whether to purchase or wrap gifts, cook food or deliver to the hungry, or to sing carols to the elderly. Be selfish this holiday season by making yourself feel great – GIVE!

Another great way to fight off the holiday blues is to read the satire Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. Sure, Luther and Nora Krank, a typical middle-aged American couple who are fed up with the overblown holiday traditions, are not unlike some of us. However, the problems and solutions are hysterical when they happen to someone else! You do not have to feel guilty about laughing at this fictional couple and the struggles they face. I could not help but laugh out loud and that is an unusual sound to hear from me this time of year.

When all else fails, the answer is socks. I believe the world would be a much happier place if everyone owned a pair of fuzzy purple socks or socks so thick you can barely squeeze them into your shoes. Even the worst of days can be turned around by wiggling into rainbow toe socks.

What about you? Do you have a sure fire way to beat the holiday blues?