Buying books ...

6 November

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Amazon is here to stay, no matter how many people they upset. There’s a major move against them however that consists of writers, publishers and high street book shops. Each group have their own reasons for opposing the giant, for example, the big six publishers are against Amazon’s pricing structure. A growing number of writers are going after the big six publishers for their royalty payment structure. Both groups are concerned about the future of high street bookshops. I liked Borders by the way, remember them?

If Amazon was just an online bookstore then there may be a chance of beating them, but now you can do buy just about anything from them. We buy a good few bits n bobs off there, all far cheaper than high street prices. Amazon’s biggest advantage though, is its e-book reader, Kindle, and the app that’s available for other devices. I have it on my Samsung S3 tab. Apparently though, from what I’ve read here and there, there’s a move back to print from e-books. Who knows how long that will last though, but it’s good to see.

Bookshops here in Dorktown are Waterstones and WH Smiths, just about opposite each other on Queens road. Smith is the larger shop, but there again, it has more products on sale with daily papers, magazines, stationary … while Waterstones is much smaller, it does have a much larger selection of books. Oh yes, there’s The Works in the Ropewalk, the place where you can at times buy 3 paperbacks for a fiver. But books are not the main product they sell, and only a side line. Apart from the books, I’ve found the quality of their other stuff varies quite a bit. If we want a larger selection of books, then we have to travel to either Coventry, Brum or Leicester.

That is where Amazon scores best of all, it’s convenience. Order it, and get it delivered to a place of your choosing. Until the competition can meet or beat them on that one issue, then Amazon will continue to grow. As it is, Dorktown doesn’t have a local bookshop, if we did, I would support it. We do have a great second hand bookshop though, Astley Book Farm … http://www.astleybookfarm.com/buy-books-online.html ... which I do support. Sadly there is a problem with buying second hand books, well two mainly; 1, writers don’t get a cut; 2, not all prior readers/owners treat their books with the respect they perhaps should, and of heck – smokers, one thing that will put me off buying any book second hand if they stick of fags!

There is a way to get loads of free or really cheap e-books, and yes, it is contrary to what I have said above. That is using a thing called BookBub. I have downloaded a few off there, usually a genre I haven’t tried before or a new writer. But beware my friends, once they have your email address, you will get one every day with the latest offers. It get tiring after a while, but you can soon build up a decent e-library using it, but will you ever get to read them all, no that is a good question.

Today’s photo …

Oxfam bookshop, Cambridge.

Today’s funny…

Doctor, doctor, I think I've gone a funny colour.
Nonsense, it's just a pigment of your imagination.