26 November
Yesterday I did a bit of catch-up with reading the
blogs I try to read regularly. This is one that I really like … (http://lynnehackles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/10-reasons-to-visit-bookshop.html?showComment=1416919904037#c7511532699888484640) The idea of book sniffing is not new to me, I’ve
always done it. There’s a distinct difference in the smell of inks and bindings
used by various publishers. And of course the smell of second hand books is
entirely different.
That link is an attempt to encourage us to visit our
local bookshop. Sadly, here in Dorktown we don’t have any independents, but do
have a small Waterstones, which is always busy. As for second hands books, we
do have a stall on the market on Wednesdays. A few miles outside town we have
the Astley Book Farm, http://www.astleybookfarm.com/.
However, Jan and I don’t go there very often, simply because I could spend a
fortune in there, and we can’t really afford for us to do that. But looking at
that website again, it has changed a heck of a lot since we last went there. I
may suggest that we call in tomorrow on our way back from Brum.
There is another source of buying books at very good
prices, and that is charity shops. Seeing that we have around 14 of them here
in Dorktown, we are well served in cheap second hand books. But does this
actually help us writers in any way I wonder? Well, I think it does. I bought
such books by a new writers to me in charity shops. Writers named Peter James,
Ian Irvine, Peter Robinson, Michael Connelly, to name just a few, were first
found in charity shops. Now I but their books new from Waterstones or the
occasional indi-shop I come across. I very much doubt I would bought their
books by visiting Waterstones for a look around.
Amazon of course is now the real big player in this
game. So for today’s photo here’s the cover for me novel Web of Hate …
I should warn you though, don’t try to buy this
right now cos you won’t get it, or any of my others. That is because Amazon
have taken off sale because I haven’t given them the details of my USA tax
account. That is a bit hard to do when you don’t have one. Oh yes, the siper web photo is one my own.
Anyway, here’s another URL for a blog I read, http://jakonrath.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/a-novel-approach-to-box-sets.html Some of you may have come across Joe before.
He claims to have sold over 1,000,000 books through self-publishing. But how he
has managed that through Amazon I have no idea. Nor can I make out from reading
his blog how he does it. So my next move I suppose is to look at not using Amazon’s
Create Space and change to a UK based operation. If anyone knows of one, please
to get in touch me know.
And so for a funny for today …
It was at
a miniature golf course on a brutally hot day when I saw a father with 3 kids.
“Who’s winning?” I asked cheerfully. “I am” said one “no, I am” said another.
“No,” the father said “their mother is!”
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