This novel will self-destruct…
Yahoo! News has a story about the publishing industry picking up on an issue a little over a decade later than the recording industry hit it.
More than 111 million used books were purchased last year, representing about one out of every 12 overall book purchases. By the end of the decade, the percentage is expected to rise to one out of 11, a troubling trend when sales for new works are essentially flat; authors and publishers receive no royalties from used buys.
“Obviously, these are not statistics to warm the heart of publishers,” says Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg.
The BISG, a nonprofit organization supported by publishers, booksellers and others in the industry, reports that price is the greatest appeal for choosing used books over new ones. While hardcovers often cost $25 and higher, used books purchased in 2004 averaged $8.12 — except for text books, which averaged $42.31.
Yes, it’s the return of the Mother of All No-Starters, an attack on the sale of used [fill in the appropriate media].
I won’t deny that the publishing industry has its issues. There are some severe stumbling blocks on the way to profitability when it comes to publishing – high overhead for a printed product, a dwindling market, and a business model that’s stuck firmly in the Dark Ages and can’t be budged even with a long enough lever and a vantage point on the moon, for starters. But telling people that they can’t re-sell something that they bought is a cause that you just can’t find support for.
In part because it goes against our grain. What? I paid $8.99 for this paperback book and now you’re going to tell me that I can’t re-sell it for a fraction of its original cover price? That’s just un-American! I bought it, I own it – even if I don’t own the rights to the material inside it, I own the physical object and should be permitted to sell that physical object when I am through with it. That’s just the way the American consumer is used to conducting business.
And also, we as consumers have a certain irrational fear (well, maybe not so irrational, now that I think about it) that if we allow this to happen in one area, it will quickly spread to others. If we allow the publishing industry to stop the sale of used books, then we wake up tomorrow to find that we can’t re-sell our old computer – not even with all software and copyrighted material wiped from the hard drive – because the sale of used computers is driving down the business of low-end computer manufacturers. Suddenly, I can’t trade in my used Buick on a used Volvo because the sale and exchange of used cars is hurting the car industry – and the next thing you know, you have to bulldoze your house and sell the plot because – while they’re not making any new dirt – the construction industry is being hurt by the sale of used buildings.
This, of course, is a ridiculous inflation of the issue. But it’s not without precedent, and it occurs to everybody at one point or another in connection with this issue.
Between Google Print and the new rumblings over used books, however, it appears that the print industry is finally catching up to the RIAA and MPAA.