Proper way to retire old ARC copies of books

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AbielleRose

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I have about 30 copies of advance reader copies of various books that I just don't want/need anymore but I can't figure out the best way to respectably get rid of them. My friends have already raided them and taken what they wanted. Does anyone know the best way to get rid of them?
 

alleycat

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It wouldn't really be retail sales.

Someone buying an ARC is really buying a collector's item.

Or just take them to your local library, ask them if you could leave them on the counter, put a sign on them saying "Free". I find that people will take anything if it's free. I got rid of a bunch of old fencing one time by putting it at the end of the driveway with a "Free" sign on it. It was taken within an hour.
 

alleycat

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If they're old it probably wouldn't matter to anyone. If they are new releases then it's somewhat bad form to sell them and take away from the writer's sales at that point. It's kind of like selling a used copy of any book.

Or, give them to Goodwill, or some other charity.
 

benbradley

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The "Not for resale" thing is mainly to prevent people who are given advanced copies from selling them before the book is published. After the trade version is for sale, and especially after its sales have peaked and waned, there should be no problem selling an ARC, as it won't replace a trade copy sale.

But I recall ebay and Amazon prohibiting ARC completely, just to prevent the above happening, but this also unfairly prevents using them to sell a 20-year-old ARC of an out-of-print book which very obviously is not going to replace a trade sale. This was a few years ago, so it's possible things have changed.

ETA: It looks like you can sell them on ebay:
http://forums.ebay.com/db1/topic/Booksellers/Advance-Reading-Copies/510325343
 
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alleycat

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Or you could put them in a box in your attic where they will someday be found by your great-great-grandson who will take them to Antiques Roadshow 2100 and find out they're worth seventy-two million dollars! Of course, by that time a cup of coffee at Starbucks will be forty million dollars.
 

AbielleRose

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That's good to know! Thanks guys :D

I'm moving soon and won't have room in my new apartment (a small 400 sq ft studio) for everything so I'm trying to get rid of non-essentials. :)
 

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Don't you have used book stores in the US? Or won't they be allowed to take them?
 

AbielleRose

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Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

There's always bookcrossing. You leave a book somewhere (airport. bus station, coffee shop etc) with an ID in it. If someone picks it up, they can read it and log where it's travelled. Then they leave it somewhere and....

Set the books free!

I'd completely forgotten about Book Crossing! Thank you, Idiots! :D I think this idea is going to be the winner! :D Such a fun concept.
 

job

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Are these ARCs of books by popular or important writers? If so, give them to a local bookstore to sell as interesting author stuff.

If the ARCs are for nothing-special 'books', toss 'em in the trash. The author doesn't really want uncorrected page proofs floating around.
 

VoireyLinger

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Freecycle (books get snatched up quickly around here), mark them as free and put them out on the street, put them on the free table at the library, donate them to a women's shelter, see of you can leave them in a waiting room at a medical office, hair salon or garage, look for a bookcrossing drop-off, see if a used book store will take them (many won't take ARCs), if you attend a crit group or author meeting, give them away there, put them in a yard sale.

Ebay is a legal option but some authors will try to have the auctions pulled, even if it's an older release, because not everyone realizes it's legal to sell them so long as it's not a retail sale. I'd avoid a kerfluffle and use another option.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Donate them to Goodwill. If you want to nitpick, you can even take a tax credit. More important, your books will find new readers, and whatever money they bring in will help the needy.
 

James D. Macdonald

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The authors who get mad about ARCs getting sold on eBay don't understand why people buy books: The number one reason anyone buys any book is that the person read and liked another book by the same author.

Look at the way self-published authors scramble to give away their books for free in an attempt to gain sales....
 

AbielleRose

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Are these ARCs of books by popular or important writers? If so, give them to a local bookstore to sell as interesting author stuff.

If the ARCs are for nothing-special 'books', toss 'em in the trash. The author doesn't really want uncorrected page proofs floating around.

A there are a few are NYT bestsellers, a few YA and a lot of romance books. I actually got them from a bookstore as promos when I was an employee there. They'd get a handful in the mail every day and give them to us, if no one took them they threw them in the garbage. I really hate to see a book go into the garbage for any reason.


This is a really great idea! I think tomorrow I'll put a few on bookcrossing, take some to the library and whatever they don't want to the local prison. It just doesn't feel right to sell them and if one of those books were my own I'd feel very good about them going out this way. :)

Thanks for all your help and ideas, you guys are awesome! <3
 
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