Quote:
Originally Posted by TimW
Those are salient points. I recently visited Joseph-Beth Booksellers and browsed for a bit. It's over an hours drive from home so I don't visit often. While my sciatic nerve screams at me, I'm flipping through a book with an interesting cover. I'm not sure if I want it. I'm wishing for some reviews to pop in my head. I check the blurb on the back cover: "It's great! S'wunderful! Changed my life!" Okay, not helpful. Rather than chancing the $20, I erred on the side of caution. For me, the bookstore can no longer be the primary source for "trying new genres and new authors." Twenty years ago (when I was younger!), it certainly was.
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This, so much. (There's a trending SpooniesHateOutsideBecause on Twitter dealing with disabilities acting up when away from the house.)
Let's say I want to go to a nice, pretty B&N. The nearest one is about a 45 minute drive away, which is a *lot* of gentle bumpy roads get my pseudoarthrosis good and inflamed.
Then when I get there, I get to walk all over the gigantic store, carrying more and more heavy books, and standing the whole time because my B&N thinks chairs are for free-loaders and communists.
Then I get to try to stand in line with my heavy books, carry them out to the car, and drive home the 45 minute drive, while aching profusely and trying not to let my back pain interfere with my safe driving.
And all that has to be done on a Saturday, because there's no way I can make time or spoons in my schedule to do that on a work day. But what I *can* do on a work day is browse over to B&N.com and buy a dozen indie books without breaking a seat.
I'm not the majority of people in America. But the minority of people with pain issues like mine isn't a particularly SMALL minority. There's a reason why back pain commercials on TV constitute like, every 4th commercial.
But why should the TradPubs have to think about people with disabilities? Screw them; we don't want their money. The money probably smells like BenGay anyway.
