Give it away, please...

maestrowork · Feb 10, 2008

When someone's read your book and gives it to someone else, is it a good or bad thing? In my mind, I've always thought if someone really loves your book, they will likely want to keep it. Then again, if some people like your book enough to give it to someone else to read (even though they don't buy another copy, darnit!) it must be a good thing, right?

I always appreciate it when my readers told me they liked my book and they gave it to their local libraries. I think it's really neat. Now more people can read it. But the insecure writer in me begins to think, "gosh, maybe they really don't like it. Why don't they just keep it?" A couple of days ago, someone told me she loved my book and she gave it to a good friend to read. Again, I really appreciated the word of mouth but at the same time, I wondered why she didn't keep the book.

I guess I'm just projecting. I don't usually give away my books, unless I really don't care for it anymore. I like to keep the books I like just so I can re-read them again. So I always wonder: if people give away or sell my book, what does it mean?

JoNightshade · Feb 10, 2008

I think it's different for different people. My husband, for example, will not actually buy a book unless he's read it and liked it first (usually from the library or borrowed from someone else). I on the other hand keep only my very favorites, and I'll buy a book after reading the first page or two.

I also LOVE to lend my favorite books out. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to share my favorite experiences with others, and I hope they will in turn pass it along.

So don't read too much into this.

dreamsofnever · Feb 10, 2008

I have a friend who, no matter how much he loves a book, will only read it once. When he's done reading, he's done reading. He will discuss the book and will read sequels if they're there, but he never re-reads.

He is the type of person who would give away a book after reading it and loving it. I think the people who give your book are people like my friend. Most people wouldn't give a book to others if they didn't think it was so great that they want to share it.

So consider it a compliment. And bill them for the royalties you're missing out on

kristie911 · Feb 10, 2008

I love books so I rarely give them away. If I love it, I will loan it to a friend but I WANT IT BACK! And I make it pretty clear when I want them back.

If I give a book away, I didn't like it.

(Yes, Ray...I still have your book!

)

Horseshoes · Feb 10, 2008

It is A Good Thing when someone gives away your book because you're getting read.

Yes, another sale would have been nice, too. But it's not as nice as getting read. In the situation of x books sold with everyone keeping the book v. x books sold with everyone passing the copy along, you make the same money, garner twice the readership in the latter situation. Yes, I know the numbers/situation wouldn't play exactly like that, but if we're opposed to giving/loaning books, we're opposed to used books stores and libraries. And we're not.
I know, it's a lil squicky to feel like it was a lost sale, but it's a compliment that your reader loved it so.

And everyone's bibliophilia has a different timbre. I put myslef on a 12-step program of moving most books out (I probably have less than 1,000 right now) after too many moves, one of over 2,600 miles.
Hey, they're heavy. And don't store well if you live where there's actual weather.

I do keep in mind that buying the book is the onl y compliment that pays the writer, so I buy books I know I'll pass along, just to support writers.

maestrowork · Feb 10, 2008

Oh, yes, I love to have new readers, whether they actually bought the book or not. It's just the fact that someone is giving my book away makes me nervous, because if I love a book, I won't part with it. I guess everyone is different?

Cassiopeia · Feb 10, 2008

maestrowork said:
When someone's read your book and gives it to someone else, is it a good or bad thing? In my mind, I've always thought if someone really loves your book, they will likely want to keep it. Then again, if some people like your book enough to give it to someone else to read (even though they don't buy another copy, darnit!) it must be a good thing, right?

I always appreciate it when my readers told me they liked my book and they gave it to their local libraries. I think it's really neat. Now more people can read it. But the insecure writer in me begins to think, "gosh, maybe they really don't like it. Why don't they just keep it?" A couple of days ago, someone told me she loved my book and she gave it to a good friend to read. Again, I really appreciated the word of mouth but at the same time, I wondered why she didn't keep the book.

I guess I'm just projecting. I don't usually give away my books, unless I really don't care for it anymore. I like to keep the books I like just so I can re-read them again. So I always wonder: if people give away or sell my book, what does it mean?

oh yeah like Dude, I am so not giving your book away.

But, I would give it to someone to read if they were interested but I'd ask for it back. I know we want sales but sometimes friends swap books and then they tell someone else about it and the OTHER person buys it.

maestrowork · Feb 11, 2008

I'm actually hoping this person would tell all her friends about it.

She runs a book club.

blacbird · Feb 11, 2008

maestrowork said:
I always wonder: if people give away or sell my book, what does it mean?

It means you got your book published, Ray.

caw

L M Ashton · Feb 11, 2008

I love books, so I keep them. When I love the book, I'll reread it half a dozen or a dozen times over the next decade or so. I have a few other friends who are like that, too.

But I also have friends who assume that, when I lend them a book to read because I love it so much, I'm giving it to them to keep, and then they'll pass it on to their friends. Because those people never keep books, but rather, consider books as transitive things that aren't really owned by anyone...

brokenfingers · Feb 11, 2008

maestrowork said:
When someone's read your book and gives it to someone else, is it a good or bad thing? In my mind, I've always thought if someone really loves your book, they will likely want to keep it. Then again, if some people like your book enough to give it to someone else to read (even though they don't buy another copy, darnit!) it must be a good thing, right?

I always appreciate it when my readers told me they liked my book and they gave it to their local libraries. I think it's really neat. Now more people can read it. But the insecure writer in me begins to think, "gosh, maybe they really don't like it. Why don't they just keep it?" A couple of days ago, someone told me she loved my book and she gave it to a good friend to read. Again, I really appreciated the word of mouth but at the same time, I wondered why she didn't keep the book.

I guess I'm just projecting. I don't usually give away my books, unless I really don't care for it anymore. I like to keep the books I like just so I can re-read them again. So I always wonder: if people give away or sell my book, what does it mean?

I give away books all the time. And what kind of friend gives away a book that sucks?

If I give a friend a book, it's cuz I enjoyed it so much that I insist they read it also.

If I thought it sucked, I'd give it to a library.

JimmyB27 · Feb 11, 2008

You could look at it this way. They've given away one book, and you can see that as one lost sale. But what about your next book? And the next one? If the recipient of said free book loves it enough, you've gained a new reader, one who will (hopefully) be buying the rest of your books.

lucky8 · Feb 11, 2008

I give away all my books, even the ones I really love but I guess I don't even consider that someone else will enjoy it. I do it because I don't have the space to keep hundreds of books at home and I know that the local Oxfam will make some money out of selling them on. Or I borrow them from the library. I do re-read though so will often buy a book, give it away and then when I fancy reading it again buy another copy. The added expense is more than compensated for by the extra space.

I don't think that someone giving your book away has any bearing on what they thought of it. I think the fact that they spoke to you in the first place is more important. If I met the author of a book I didn't like I would probably just ignore them, unless I knew them personally.

DaddyCat · Feb 11, 2008

My wife and I volunteer at our local library's used bookstore, so our own book collections are in a constant state of flux. She and her friends keep their favorite books circulating between them, once everyone is done it goes to the used bookstore. Naturally, we still buy retail books if we have enough interest. For myself, I only retain books I consider useful for long term reference, and with few exceptions the only fiction that meets that criterion are books by my favorite authors or anything I consider classic in its own right. I don't personally lend unless I don't care if I get it back.

Haggis · Feb 11, 2008

I tend to give away fiction, but hold on to my non fiction (although I will loan something out to selected people). I have no idea why. It's just something I've always done.

For what it's worth, some of the books I've gotten in return have introduced me to new authors, whose books I have then gone out and bought.

Sarita · Feb 11, 2008

I have 2 different aspects of my opinion.

1. I don't lend my books. I keep all of them, the ones I love, and even the ones I don't. I cherish them, I laugh with them, I cry over them... I digress.

2. My older sister and I have an exchange going. Every time we see each other, we trade books with the intention that when we're done with them we'll give them back. We don't do this with our old favorites since we share tastes in classics, but contemporary novels that we love are flung back and forth between us. Sometimes, I hang onto ones that she's given me longer than I should so that I can get an extra read (I'm lying. I'm actually hoping she'll forget I have it and I can keep it forever bwahahaha...) Some times she keeps them a little longer, too. Most of the time, they find their way back to the original owner.

Ray, I hate to tell you this: I gave her my copy of Pacific Between last year. She read it and loved it, but I haven't seen it since. I think I'm going to have to ask for it back.

CaroGirl · Feb 11, 2008

I love to buy books. I keep books that I love. I also share them. When I read a good book, I lend it around a circle of four friends until it comes back to me. What might happen, though, is that one (or more) of those four friends will tell another friend about the great book they read. But they can't lend their copy because it belongs to someone else. That other person might be so inspired to go out and buy a copy and, in turn, recommend it to someone else.

I don't think lending books to friends is a bad thing for a writer. Word of mouth is never bad.

Maryn · Feb 11, 2008

I know several people who never reread, not even something they love. "Too many books, too little time." They donate fiction once they've read it, and pass on particularly good reads to friends or family. I figure having one's book passed on means more readers, which means better sales of your next book, right?

Maryn, to whom this is all theoretical

DeleyanLee · Feb 11, 2008

I almost never keep books, honestly. I'll give books to friends I think will enjoy them or express an interest. Used bookstores and libraries love me when I do my seasonal clearing of bookshelves and bring in boxes of books for donation or exchange. It doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the books, it means I have limited shelf space for anything but my reference books, my small keeper shelf and the never-dwindling TBR stacks.

OTOH, when I borrow books and enjoy them, I will start buying that author's subsequent titles and, perhaps, backlist (new, if possible) if I really liked the borrowed book. If I didn't like the book, then I'm not irked that I spent the money on something I didn't enjoy and so don't really dislike the author as intensely, might read them again. Either which way, the author wins. LOL!

Soccer Mom · Feb 11, 2008

Books that I think are total crap go in the trash. Why inflict that on another person? Paperbacks are given away to family and friends (in exchange for their paperbacks.) Hardbacks are sometimes loaned out and sometimes given away. But if I really, really love a book, I want it back.

It's just a matter of space. I can't keep them all.

Red-Green · Feb 11, 2008

I have to give away books, even if I like them, because I buy a lot and don't have enough space to store them. That said, if I really like a book, there's a simple test for whether I keep it or give it away. Am I going to want to read it again next year?

There are good books that you only want to read once. Nothing against the book, but you don't want to read it again. For comparative purposes: I just finished Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible. I enjoyed it a great deal and I will happily recommend it to other people. I just don't think I'll ever feel compelled to read it again, so I'll give it away.

On the other hand: EM Forster's Maurice. I've owned this copy for nearly 20 years and I read it almost every year. Frequently it's described as "inferior" to most of Forster's work, and it may be less polished, but it's such a deeply personal book and its characters' struggles with pride and loneliness really speak to me.

Or take Bernard Wolfe's Limbo. Not a brilliant book, but fascinating and compelling. I won't even loan that book out, because it's out of print and would cost quite a bit to replace.

So, consider those differentials: a book you like a lot vs. a book that speaks to some integral part of your self vs. a book you like that's hard to replace.

maestrowork · Feb 11, 2008

brokenfingers said:
If I thought it sucked, I'd give it to a library.

Oh oh.

It's interesting. I guess I should start doing that (passing books out). If I love a book, I'll tell all my friends about it and I will highly recommend it, but I don't give them my copy. That may explain why I have so many books in my house, and I don't even read that much.

The Scip · Feb 11, 2008

I understand what you're saying Ray. I never give books away, even if i hated it, I'm not really sure why. But I know people who love books and then give them away for others to read. I'd much rather have more people buying my books, but I guess having more people reading my books is just as good.

HourglassMemory · Feb 11, 2008

I'm not the sort of person that hands out his books eagerly.
I have this thing of mine where the books have to be as immaculate and as straight as possible. I even use the page marker the cover my finger(I usually have the book on some surface and hold the book open with one hand) so it doesn't get the pages all dirty.
I keep all the books I buy, and I'm basically compulsive when buying them.
So every two months or so, I complain to my mother, telling her that I don't have room for books anymore.

Of course, me being all weird and everything, people aren't like me.
So when I borrow them to other people, the books come back full of markings and breadcrumbs and stains.... I can't say that I don't mind.

Triangulos · Feb 11, 2008

I've borrowed a lot of books from people over the years, and very occasionally, if I think it's exceptional, I'll buy my own copy once I've given it back. Also if I get a battered used copy of something from a second-hand shop, if I think "this one's a keeper" I'll get a new one. And I do actually think of that 10% or whatever going to the author as I do so, it's not just a case of having one with a shiny cover.

T.

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