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#1 |
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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Proper way to retire old ARC copies of books
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?
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#2 |
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Meow.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 51,996
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eBay?
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#3 |
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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They say 'not for retail sale' on them all and I don't think authors get any sort of sales credit to begin with so I didn't think eBay would be ethical.
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#4 |
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Meow.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 51,996
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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.
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#5 |
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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True. On Twitter I've seen authors get mad about seeing their ARCs on eBay, that's why I'd be very hesitant doing that.
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#6 |
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Meow.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 51,996
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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.
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#7 |
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brat
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Transcending Canines
Posts: 17,833
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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/Boo...pies/510325343
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#8 |
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Meow.
AW Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 51,996
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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.
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#9 |
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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That's good to know! Thanks guys
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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#10 |
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practical experience, GTFO
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 354
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Don't you have used book stores in the US? Or won't they be allowed to take them?
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#11 |
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They've been very bad, Mr Flibble
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: We couldn't possibly do that. Who'd clear up the mess?
Posts: 15,924
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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!
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![]() The Rojan Dizon books, books one and two out now from Orbit "Fade to Black is a dynamic and original introduction to a world and character that promise further exciting stories". British Fantasy Society Website |
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#12 |
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Horror Man
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: uk
Posts: 9,279
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Charity shops?
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The Red Girl and 'Set from Musa Publishing. Mirror Of The Nameless published Sep 2013 ![]() My site My twitter Latest short story Incy Wincy. |
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#13 |
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Possibly not a real squirrel
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Coldest corner of the living room, United Kingdom
Posts: 4,699
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Hospital waiting rooms?
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Writing from a female point of view seems to be generally regarded as something more like writing from the perspective of a deer: you might get points for novelty, but it'd be impossible to get right, and who really wants to hear a deer narrate a story, anyway? Jennifer duBois Damn the prologue, full speed ahead! Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary |
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#14 |
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Writer is as Writer does
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 3,925
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If any are appropriate for teen readers, your local middle or high school library?
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Changing Gears (available now) -- Winning the race doesn’t equal winning at life. The DragonSpawn Cycle: AutumnQuest | WinterMaejic | SpringFire | SummerDanse available for Kindle Author website | Author blog |
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#15 | |
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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Thanks for the ideas, everyone!
Quote:
I think this idea is going to be the winner! Such a fun concept.
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#16 | |
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dreaming, drowning
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Devon girl living in Oxford, England
Posts: 1,486
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Quote:
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Amy x Y, M & ECG - YA Contemp (62k) WHAT I DIDN'T TELL Y0U - YA Thriller (querying!) THE LIGHTH0USE B0YS - (19k/50k) twitter tumblr "I wished with all my heart that she could understand how it felt to be us that night - how it felt to be eighteen and unbeaten, eighteen and alive.” Eva Rice, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets |
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#17 |
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In the end, it's just you and the manuscript
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 3,052
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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.
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JoB Black Hawk, Forbidden Rose, Spymaster's Lady, Lord and Spymaster, Her Ladyship's Companion, Mischief and Mistletoe. My blog |
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#18 |
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Angel Wing Fetish
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Southern US
Posts: 1,150
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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.
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#19 |
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Gentleman. Scholar. Bastard.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Semi-sunny Victoria BC
Posts: 3,598
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Recycling.
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http://robertjwiersema.com/ Black Feathers -- 2013 Walk Like A Man -- 2011 Bedtime Story -- 2010 The World More Full of Weeping -- 2009 Before I Wake -- 2006 |
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#20 |
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Queen of the Upmarket Bagladies
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Posts: 1,182
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I waste my time on Twitter now. |
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#21 |
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Kissin' frogs!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Middle TN
Posts: 3,298
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Contest giveaways. Everyone loves a free read.
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Elaine Golden www.elainegolden.com FORTNEY FOLLIES, a Regency romance series from Harlequin Historical Undone!
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#22 |
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 21,869
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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....
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A collection of fantasy stories by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald Multiple electronic formats |
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#23 | ||
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Proud Geek Owner
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Fargo, ND
Posts: 6,249
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Quote:
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Thanks for all your help and ideas, you guys are awesome! <3 |
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