I think most authors will tell you “Buy it if you can afford it, get from your library if you can’t “and don’t be afraid to keep it a little too long and rack up a dollar late fee the library can use the money. Also go to book sales that are for the local library and schools most communities do this once or twice a year.

It will be a grim day when only the rich can afford the written word.

There are quite a few publishers that actually donate a small amount of books to the librarys, but they do sell them to them also. The authors greatest fears are pirated storys- somebody else gets all the money or they charge absolutey nothing. Both resulting in the same thing no author money or acknowledgment of the amount of sales that allow the author to establish a better contract for more contral of there books and more money tthat actually makes it to there pocket.

Jason (Jayguana)

Festina Lente

I use  the library for professional research all the time. I appreciate seeing this topic here, because I have been at the library meetings where the staff are discussing their financial cuts. It's not a pretty sight. every agency is clamoring for money. The terrible thing is that the cuts ussually affect the folks that need it the most. in San Francisco, the mission district houses a large portion of our low-income population. I work at a school in this district and see the kids that could benefit from the library in their neighborhood. the hours are conitnually cut, while the more wealthy neighborhoods don't see much of a change. I hear this going on in other cities as well.  

regarding purchasing books. I too have a spouse that hounds me about my book collection and no room to store them.

If I don't know an author, I will borrow a book from a friend (if they are suggesting the author) or go to the library and borrow it there.  the obvious here is low risk. If I don't like the book then I return it, the library shows circulation and I am out no $$. if I like the book I enough that I know I will read it again, I will purchase a copy and then buy the next book by the author. thus the author benefits as well. 

so I guess my standard is: If I am going to read it again, I will buy it and keep it in my personal library. if it is signed then it goes on a special shelf and NO ONE can borrow it. I do lend my books out, so often I have 2 copies of very specail books. (ie: the rookie) 

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MC, CA, UNdead Jester and Love Slave of the UNdead Grave Mother

I'm fond of reading books. Everytime I have my vacant time,I usually go on the libraries that is available. I don't get used on buying new books because I think its too expensive to buy everytime I love to read. It is not wrong to buy for new books, but for today's situation in the economy,its pretty much better to save money rather than buying things that is not really necessary. My other alternative on this is just to borrow from libraries. Or if I have already some books, I would rather make an exchange from the other readers.

help with anxiety

....but feel compelled to add a bit. I make no secret of the fact that I'm a huge supporter of Podiobooks.com. Getting more of Scott's work up there quicker is actually how we wound up working together. I love what Evo's attempting to do by turning the publishing model on it's head. 

If you're not familiar with it, here's the quick run down:

1. Download a book, or a chapter. However much you want. Totally free
2. Decide if you like it.
3. If you do, make a donation to the author. They get 75%. That's way more than they will from any traditional publishing house
4. If you thought it was crap, delete whatever it was you downloaded.

Simple and elegant. You get to listen to the book and then decide what it's worth. There's over 300 titles to choose from now. Sure, some of it's crap. But there's a lot of really good authors over there. I would have never found Scott if it hadn't been for PB.com. 

Scott actually prefers we purchase his books rather than donate to him. That's the primary reason I buy the hardcover novels. It also gives me something to get signed. Unless I know the author and/or have already listened to the book and am trying to support their career (eg Mur Lafferty, Matthew Wayne Selznick, Phillipa Ballantine, etc.) I always buy used mass market paperbacks. 

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It'll be a sad day if they stop being printed!

I hate lending mine out just in case someone gets a sweaty mark on them or god forbid they fold the corner of a page GRRRRRRR

Guestford_junkie

what kind of compensation contract the author has with the publisher. Did the author get a lump-sum for the work - in which case it doesn't matter it you borrow or buy used, the author got paid anyway - or are they getting royalties based onunits sold? Of course, you'll never know which way that goes short of asking the author, who probably won't be able to tell you because of some legal mumbo-jumbo, which leads me to my next point.

Who wants sammiches? (I kinda realized halfway into this that I wasn't making much of a point, so I'm trying to distract everyone with delicous sammiches)

**Just direct-a your feetza to Daddy Greene's Pizza!**

is a corner folder and she's already hinting that she wants to borrow my new copy of Ancestor!! 

Well, I promise you this....  It's not gonna happen!!!!!!!!  Is it so hard to get a book mark???  Anything'll do!!!

Hopefully, she'll be coming with me to the tour stop and she can buy her own copy.  If she wants to fold corners so damn bad, she can do it to her own book!!!
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Dead Sexy Dealer, The Juicer & Co-Founder of the Gutter Sistren
MESS WITH THE BEST, DIE LIKE THE REST
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for my dad to read while he is recovering from his op just in case he folder a corner of got cumbs etc in the pages.. I decided the money was worth the reduced stress! Cost vs benefit etc!  That's how anal I am..

Oooh I said anal - cue the comments!

I am a struggling student, working hard and barely making rent/groceries each month. My family also does not come from a whole lot of money. So, without Libraries, I never would have developed my love of Science Fiction. Without Library book sales, I wouldn't have a book to my name. And without Scott's revolutionary business model, I never would have been introduced to him either. Even though I haven't been able to afford any of his books yet, I can tell his business model is working. By giving me all his books for free, I can grow to love them, and as soon as my Student Loans go through, I'll be going on a huge buying spree, I tel u wut.

But if you have the means to pay for these things, then there is no reason not to. Go out to your book store and pick up whatever looks interesting. If you don't like it after a chapter, there's no shame in returning it. If you love it, and you're a collector type, go ahead and hang on to it. But best case scenario: read it through once, twice, 17 times, and then donate it to your local library. Or share it around with your friends. Or pass it off to some kid on the street.

Because as Scott knows, the Entertainment industry is shifting. It's evident in sites like Podiobooks, and also in the ever increasing number of free Podcasts put on by Comedians. The New Industry is no longer about how much money we can fleece the customer for RIGHT NOW; it's about growing a dedicated fan base. 10,000 Loyal fans is so much greater than 1,000,000 casual observers, and in the long run will net you so much more. If some big Author, or TV or Movie star comes to my town, I don't care. I've already paid them enough. But if Scott comes, or for that matter Chris Hardwick or Marc Maron or any of these other amazing "free" entertainers, damnit I'm going to find a way to see them. See them, and buy a shirt, and buy a shirt for my friend, and buy a hoodie for my cousin, and buy books and CDs and tell every single one of my friends to come with me. Because in The New Industry, we're no longer just consumers: we're FOLLOWERS.

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"My presence will only be made known by the icy chill of the North Wind you feel an instant before your death."

   -Anonymous (Me)

Re. the library vs books:

I think a mixture of both is the key: you have to support your local library as it not only provides a means for research but also benefits those who either cannot afford to buy a book or merely wish to 'try out' different authors for free; and by purchasing books you are showing support for the author whose books you read as well as providing them with an incentive to write more content.

I almost always purchase books, either new or used. I am a big fan of charity shops and their book shelves - admittedly, there is a lot of dross on those shelves but it wouldn't do if they were all the same (Stepford Wives!), now wouldn't it?

But if I love an authors work, I always purchase their books (I try to get them in HB but if they are PB, then that's okay) and they are not loaned out from my personal library. 

Regarding the works of the FDO - I became a junkie about 18 months ago, therefore I have paperback editions of Infected and Contagious. I do have 'The Rookie' in hardback, and am waiting for the new 'Ancestor' to arrive, along with 'The Starter'.

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Mr Fast Fingers