Ten Things From Other Writer's Blogs
1. Michael Allan is aghast over the sale pricing of the latest Harry Potter novel. I'm simply puzzled; why would you discount the most wanted novel on the planet?
2. For you promo-toy lovers, Douglas Clegg has a whole post on some really wild widgets he's done for The Priest of Blood (scroll down to July 26th.) Great rubber ducky.
3. Lee Goldberg has been blog renovating and also has some new web sites about to go live. I like the blue, very cool header.
4. Donna Hill has gone and taken the big leap of faith and quit the day job.
5. The most unusual pet story I've ever read award goes to Douglas Hoffman, to whom I am going to be very nice forever.
6. The Knight Agency blog is running a pitch contest for regular blog visitors (not sure if they mean commenters or anyone who drops in to read); details can be found here.
7. Jo Leigh tied the knot on July 30th (I wasn't sure when it was going to happen, but Alison posted a nice announcement.) Congrats to the happy couple.
8. Holly Lisle's son just graduated Air Force basic training, plus she got a slamming new cover for Talyn.
9. M.J. Rose has more of the skinny on authors and Amazon.com sales ranking numbers.
10. Stephanie Tyler also got a new blog look -- more Ande's candy green to torment me....
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In my small town, the latest Harry Potter is going for $34.99. If we want the even the retail price, we have to drive 40-odd miles.
ReplyDeleteHeather
Thanks for the link! That cheered me up.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about my wife's tarantulas. She loves them too much to sic 'em on anyone. (But that would make an interesting movie. I see Stephen King in the starring role, playing -- what else? -- an unsuccessful writer who revenges himself on publishers, editors, and rival authors by sending out his army of tarantulas . . . Feh. I think it's been done ;o)
Thanks for linking over to my toys at the blog. I play with some of them all day long. The neighborhood kids love 'em, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm simply puzzled; why would you discount the most wanted novel on the planet?
ReplyDeleteFrom the bookseller's point of view, I believe it goes something like this:
Everyone and their grandmother will be buying this book. For every two people who come to buy it, one will buy another book. Thus if everyone and their grandmother comes to MY store, even if we sell the book at cost, we'll have a good day. Now how can I get them to come to me and not the other guy...
For the big chain stores (who can afford to take the hit), and Amazon (who's never really been big into profit anyway), selling the book at cost (which is usually 40% off the cover price, give or take, depending on the quantity ordered) is the way to go. They ensure that they'll get people into the store, probably buying more books while they're at it, and establishing themselves as "that place you go to for books". And if one store does it, everyone else who can will do it too, to make sure that they remain a viable alternative.
For small indie stores like ours, we just can't take a hit like that and stay in business. We're currently offering a "20% off the book, with 10% off your next purchase" at the store, which is about as far as we can afford to go.