Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Humble Pie

Some people think authors make money and are respected. Such people watch too many movies.

I recently noticed that several copies of Your Erotic Personality were for sale by independent sellers at Amazon.com for rock-bottom, bargain-basement prices of $3 and $4. This mystified me. How could anyone afford to sell the book at such a price and make any money? (Oh, and let me be honest, as well. I was pissed as hell that some asshole was offering the book at a price that would clearly dissuade anyone from buying it new and at full price. Call me greedy, but I would like my $1.46 per copy and that windfall can only happen when people pay retail.)

So, being the inquiring mind that I am, I wrote to one of the sellers and asked how they were able to offer the book at such a low price. Because the book is so new, I couldn't imagine that the seller would be anything other than a bookstore. But no. The seller was a person who had received the book as a joke from friend who knew it would not be her "cup of tea." So she couldn't think of anything else to do with it but sell it immediately at a price that would guarantee she'd be rid of it quickly.

I hadn't thought to market Your Erotic Personality as a joke or gag gift, but what the hell -- if it'll sell more copies, maybe I oughta think about it.

I bought the book from her. It seemed the only sensible thing to do. But how sad is that?

2 comments:

Lucy Felthouse said...

You crazy lady! Buying your own book. But yeah, I agree with you. Think of yourself, you worked hard to write that book so you should reap your reward, no matter what the marketing technique!!

Veronica Arch said...

I love that you bought the book!

As much as I love buying used books, I was thinking today how it is not profitable for the author and how in some ways, the buying and selling of used books could be seen in the same light as file sharing - especially with a place like Paperbookswap. As a buyer, of course, I am all for it but as an author I can see not loving it.