Used Books?

Miss gazed at the books at the library book sale. She published the year before, and since putting what she had into marketing and feeling left behind. A famous author's book sat on the shelf. Fifty cents. Is that what it boils down to? she thought. Your books end up at a book sale for fifty cents to help the library raise funds.

Years before she actually wrote a book, she dreamed of being in book stores. In the eighties, book stores sold first run books. Being raised by her mother from the Great Depression, she looked at the sales table. She always gravitated there, even when she could afford an item at full price. She would come home with sale books, a biography of an author, she felt she should know and something else.

The display tables welcomed the customer into the book store. The black and white publicity photo on the back or the back flap beckoned Miss to a world she wanted. A full time writer at a desk in New England or maybe the city, like Boston, New York or her beloved Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Mystic, Connecticut, took her away from the hospital floor in dim light, night shift. Old fashioned typewriters scared and encouraged her. She wanted to peck away, because peck it would be with ribbon and ink, the novel that would be the great love story or something like that. A best seller was her dream with interviews on The Today Show and Good Morning America. She started reading her sale book on the way to their apartment.

Walking into Barnes and Noble later, doubt creeped into her soul. Her "dream"
book could never be here. There are way too many books for her book, not written yet, to be noticed. Bargain book table called to her and she found something interesting. They always held her interest, Mom never dying in her to shop for the lower price.

So Miss gets it when the book shops started having more than one table for discount prices. The book store owner she knew traveled to New York City, showing pictures of her next pallets of semi used books, rejects from the printers. And Miss bought a lot of them at five ninety nine. She also wandered to the back of the store where local authors placed their dreams for sale. She always bought one of those as well. She encouraged all, "With the money you save buying one of these books on the table in front, buy one from a local author. The owner offered them at ten percent discount." Oh, please support authors you may pass on the street or knew growing up, i.e. ME!

Book stores found it harder and harder to make a go selling just new releases. Miss gets it. The dream of owning your business belongs to many. Selling her own books is a bit of a small business. These people are her soul mates and she understands the struggles, of meeting rent, property management and buying product that may not sell. Small business owners must expand.

More and more started selling used books. Maybe first clearing out their own bookshelves. Miss' problem is most of her newer books are signed by local authors, so this wouldn't be a business plan for her. These small book store owners depend, also on donations. Exchange days bolster some foot traffic.

Miss' dream would be to have a local book store with only local authors, of course they could go as far away as she wanted. In cities she visited , she always checks out the local author shelf. It does seem to be growing. As part of her establishment, she would love to have retreats for writers. A pottery dome business was for sale ten years ago at four hundred thousand dollars with lots of acreage. Near a growing business area, she felt maybe it could have made a go at it. With writing retreats offered for writers all over the world- hey, going to dream, dream big, as they say.

Today on X, a writer asked how other writers felt about book stores selling used books. Many responded, mostly positive. They want their books read. They understand wanting more books on their shelves at home. Reading is important. How much does a writer get if someone buys their Kindle at ninety nine cents? (Miss would get seventy five cents, which is more than she usually gets) She guesses that is more than the fifty cents of profit to the library for a used book at the library book sale, twice a year.

Visited your local book stores. They seem to be popping up all the time. Give them and an author a chance. Miss plans on a book store tour, maybe.