Is There an Upcoming Fall Book You're Dying to Read? Here's My Choice

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Strether

Midst Trial and Tribulation by David Weber to be released on September 18th.

Jim

This.
Apache

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Crazy. A book published in 1966 just being sold this year for $10.

Just FYI there are already digital copies around.

Not sure what you mean by crazy. At least 40% of the books I have read in the last year and a half (208 ot of 512 since I have been keeping track in calibre) were published prior to 1997. Probaly more as the dates ae oftennot the dates first published.

A reasonably good book does not have a sell-by date. For me a Nero Wolfe novel reads as good today as the day it was published. Margerie Allingham died in 1966 and her books are timeless as well IMO.

IIRC I have never even checked the first published date before buying a book or borrowing from a library. And I am totally missing the connection between enjoyment/value and first published date. But perhaps I am misunderstanding your post?

Helen

[JSWolf]

What is being said is that $10 for an old book is just too high. I agree. A backlist book from 1966 should be no more then $4.99.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What is being said is that $10 for an old book is just too high. I agree. A backlist book from 1966 should be no more then $4.99.

I guess... Perhaps age equates to quality of writing and words fall of the page.

Sometimes new is better and sometimes it is not, like fine wine and vintage cars. With a lot of stuff value appreciates or depreciates with age. Not books IMO.

Of course there is a growing school of thought that feels that because x people have perhaps bought a book they should get it cheaper, (freeloaders perhaps) but this should have nothing to do with age as some bestsellers gross more in their first few months than most older books ever have. Inflation and peer pressure.

Still if you feel that old books are less enjoyable or less prestigious to own, then you are perfectly within your rights to set the price you will pay or not buy them at all. Stating that the are only worth a price of your choosing seems a bit arbitrary and presumptious. A bit like walking into a restaurant and paying them whatever amount you feel will break them even for the day.

Helen

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I guess... Perhaps age equates to quality of writing and words fall of the page.

Sometimes new is better and sometimes it is not, like fine wine and vintage cars. With a lot of stuff value appreciates or depreciates with age. Not books IMO.

Of course there is a growing school of thought that feels that because x people have perhaps bought a book they should get it cheaper, (freeloaders perhaps) but this should have nothing to do with age as some bestsellers gross more in their first few months than most older books ever have. Inflation and peer pressure.

Still if you feel that old books are less enjoyable or less prestigious to own, then you are perfectly within your rights to set the price you will pay or not buy them at all. Stating that the are only worth a price of your choosing seems a bit arbitrary and presumptious. A bit like walking into a restaurant and paying them whatever amount you feel will break them even for the day.

Helen

Given how eBooks are made these days, paying $10 for an eBook full of OCR/dictionary replace errors is not a good thing. A lot of backlist eBooks are made by scanning then OCRing and not properly proofreading. I just read Sharpe's Tiger and it had a number of errors that would have been caught in a proper proofread. It's a backlist book and It was either a PDF source or a scan/OCR and it showed. One of the characters had his name botched in a number of places. R for it in a few places and other stupid errors. So do you want to pay $10 for an eBook with stupid errors created by someone too lazy to do any proofing?

It's pathetic how backlist eBooks are created. They come through very poor (overall).

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Not sure what you mean by crazy. At least 40% of the books I have read in the last year and a half (208 ot of 512 since I have been keeping track in calibre) were published prior to 1997. Probaly more as the dates ae oftennot the dates first published.

A reasonably good book does not have a sell-by date. For me a Nero Wolfe novel reads as good today as the day it was published. Margerie Allingham died in 1966 and her books are timeless as well IMO.

IIRC I have never even checked the first published date before buying a book or borrowing from a library. And I am totally missing the connection between enjoyment/value and first published date. But perhaps I am misunderstanding your post?

Helen

There is lot that's crazy in this story, none of which has to do with the quality of the book, which is independent of its age.

It's crazy that a book published over half a century ago is selling for the same price as a new work, not because it's inferior, but because there are no capital costs to recover for its production.

It's crazy that the book is already available in the UK but not in North America. In the age of digital distribution, it boggles the mind that antiquated laws meant to preserve this kind of artificial scarcity still exist.

Finally, it's crazy that a book written in 1966 by an author who died seven years ago will continue to be sold for profit until 2075. You may not have a problem giving money to publishers and the grandchildren of dead men for doing no work. I do.

Thankfully, fans have already created their own eBook version of The Magus which has been circulating online for some time.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You have to bear in mind that I'm a (former) astronomer, and astronomers define seasons by the equinoxes and solstices (that way they work for any planet).

The UK Met Office, on the other hand, follow your view and start the seasons on the 1st of March, June, September, December.

Either way, it's just a convention.

And for book publishers, the Fall season would last until the start of the holiday buying season, which in the US starts the day after Thanksgiving.

[Paul Levine]

Okay, let's loosen up, people. Whether it's Fall or Winter or whenever....what books are you awaiting with Great Expectations?

Paul Levine

[kennyc]

What? There's a new release of Dickens' - Great Expectations? I'm all for that!

[Prepper]

I pre-ordered Two Graves by Preston & Child, The Racketeer by John Grisham, and Trapped & Two Ravens and One Crow by Kevin Hearne.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by Paul Levine

Okay, let's loosen up, people. Whether it's Fall or Winter or whenever....what books are you awaiting with Great Expectations?

Paul Levine

My apologies for driving the thread off topic with my responses to posts equating worth of a book to when it was published. Now I am stuck with a headful of replies and no place to put them

Helen

[sun surfer]

Has anyone mentioned the new JK Rowling book? I'm excited for that one! Hopes it's good.

[carld]

Originally Posted by Nyssa

My pick is Cold Days - The Dresden Files (Book #14) by Jim Butcher! Its due out in November & I've already pre-ordered the Kindle version.

Just posting to throw in a "Me too!"

[Yapyap]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

Has anyone mentioned the new JK Rowling book?

Yes.

I hope it's good, too! Although I'm getting it in hardback, not ebook (with the ebook being so pricey, and with it potentially being something I'll want to have in my shelf, I decided to go for the hardback), so I'll have to wait another two weeks or so after the release date to get it.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I am excited about Winter of the World by Ken Follet, Book Two of the Century Trilogy which is released in a few weeks.

I also am looking forward to Citadel by Kate Mosse, Book Three of the Languedoc Trilogy. It's out in the UK on Sept 13th but not in the US until Oct 25th.