Comments | anghara: Am I really such a Bad Person?

anghara

Am I really such a Bad Person?

Jun 29, 2006 10:11

I've been having an argument over on rasfc about the merits and the morality of wandering into your lcoal bookstore and, if you find your book shelved spine-out, turning it face-out for a potential buyer to see. As I pointed out somewhere in the thread, in my specific case it was my books shelved spine out next to a veritable avalanche of " ( Read more... )

writing, writing rant, writing life

Comments 56

cicadabug June 29 2006, 18:22:11 UTC

Thinking further on this ( ... )

lizziebelle June 29 2006, 18:22:47 UTC

I don't see anything at all wrong with doing that. And the next time I'm in a bookstore, I will do it *for* you. :)

Sounds like that dweeb was just looking for a fight.

swan_tower June 29 2006, 18:24:30 UTC

What puzzles me about these debates is that, when I worked at a Barnes and Noble, I never once received instructions about which authors I should face out. In fact, the only advice I got about it was that I should do whatever managed space best -- face out a book with a lot of copies, so it took up less room, or pick something with fewer copies to face out if a shelf was getting empty. So this notion that you're somehow messing up the employees' work, or that they're going to undo what you did because you're supposed to be spine-out, is odd to me. Do most stores have specific policies on who gets faced out, and mine was just an exception?

orlacarey June 29 2006, 18:35:17 UTC

You beat me to it. I've worked for both Walden Books and B Dalton. During that time I was NEVER told to face a specific book out. It was determined by how much space was on the shelf and how much space a book took up. I will still face out books when I go to book stores if I notice the shelf is too crowded, or change what book is faced out based on the space on the shelf.

swan_tower June 29 2006, 18:51:55 UTC

Exactly. I think the store is only going to care if you've truly made a mess of the shelf.

You're missing the point still. seawasp June 29 2006, 18:53:02 UTC

The point is very simple ( ... )

Re: You're missing the point still. anghara June 29 2006, 19:16:00 UTC

As far as points are concerned, I think you just made mine for me:

Which means that FOR THE BOOKSTORE, a faceout of Stephen King, Dave Weber, Eric Flint, etc., is worth 10 or 20 books' worth of profit in the same timeframe that a faceout of Less Known Author is worth 1 or 2 books.

Sure, FOR YOU it's a really great deal. For Dave Weber, another 10 or 20 books sold isn't a major issue. But FOR THE BOOKSTORE it's a direct, clear impact on the bottom line.
...My point being, that King, Weber, Flint et al. will have sold a certain number of books ANYWAY during a certain time period. My books, or books by any other midlist author you care to name, may not have done ( ... )

Re: You're missing the point still. seawasp June 29 2006, 20:45:13 UTC

NO ONE was arguing that FOR YOU it was a potentially moneymaking tactic.

But for the BOOKSTORE -- whose property you are fiddling -- the numbers above show it's a money LOSING proposition; they could face out Mr. Weber, and make $10x profit, or face out you, and make x profit.

The objection comes from you putting yourself in the position of choosing how the bookstore chooses to make its money, and to some extent how much it actually makes.

Re: You're missing the point still. anghara June 29 2006, 20:53:20 UTC

Okay, so riddle me this, then ( ... )

Thread 14

mmerriam June 29 2006, 18:53:58 UTC

This a common practice. I've had other writers tell me they do it, and I've watched a couple of my writer buddies do it in stores. I do it for my wirter friends, when I can. When I do sell my novel and I see it on the self, I fully plan to turn it face-out.