Does an unavailable ebook represent, to you, a lost book sale? - Page 3

mediax · 09-16-2009, 08:21 AM

Personally, I won't now buy fiction as anything other than e-books.

I acknowledge that (for the present at least) a lot of non-fiction books aren't going to be available as e-books, so I'll still buy those in physical form, but since 95% or more of my book purchases are fiction that means I buy very few physical books.

Format C: · 09-16-2009, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M0zza

3rd Option. It has to be something I really want right now. Otherwise I'll wait (If I can). Last pbook bought was the last Harry Potter. I wanted to read it immediately as I didn't want it spoiled by all the press it would get. Possible next pBook is the new Wheel of Time, I know that it will eventually be an ebook, but I've just reread the previous 11 books and I'll be damned if I'm waiting whilst forgetting what I've read.

Interesting...
Usually I don't start a series until I have the last volume of it...
One day I'll read the WoT series, when I'll be able tu buy and download it all as awhole package (with a significative discount, of course!).

Sweetpea · 09-16-2009, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Format C:

Interesting...
Usually I don't start a series until I have the last volume of it...
One day I'll read the WoT series, when I'll be able tu buy and download it all as awhole package (with a significative discount, of course!).

Problem is, there are some series that take a whole lifetime to write. IN case of the WoT series, several life times!

Juliette · 09-16-2009, 08:38 AM

There's one huge physical reason before my choice of buying readers: my room is flooded (alongside a storage room in my grandparents' old house) by books, of the paper kind; and when I say flooded, it means shelves in the 3/4 of the walls of the room I sleep, write and so on into. My gran was right: there's a point where there are too many books.

Now, I need to buy books for my job, and they won't be available easily in electronic formats (although that might change...), but fiction, if I can help, is from now on going to be mostly bought/acquired as epubs, lits, ltrs, bbebs, pdfs, hell, txt and rtfs if I can help it. So: yes. Won't buy them.

I know it means that most of fiction in my language will be left behind, but since a lot of it was originally written in English or French or has been decently translated in one of those languages, and I have grown a terrible hate for the careless translators Italian publishers apparently handpick just like that, it won't be a terrible loss. Plenty of other fiction out there to read, anyway

(Plus, true, ebooks shops are a terrible tentation, but they're less tempting that shops that will take not just PP or a credit card and are located in most cities I visit... my luggage ends up far ligher!)

FlorenceArt · 09-16-2009, 08:51 AM

I voted three, but in truth the right answer for me would be:

"If I REALLY want to read the book, AND I can't get it at my local library, then I might buy it."

Tattncat · 09-16-2009, 09:26 AM

You need to have another option for us optimists. I have no urge to buy paper. What I do is add the book to an ongoing list of books I am waiting to see become available in digital format; like the Wheel of Time series; the Harry Potter series, and until just recently Ayn Rand's books.
IMHO eventually they will all have to come out as eBooks, it's just a matter of time and patience.

igorsk · 09-16-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juliette

There's one huge physical reason before my choice of buying readers: my room is flooded (alongside a storage room in my grandparents' old house) by books, of the paper kind; and when I say flooded, it means shelves in the 3/4 of the walls of the room I sleep, write and so on into. My gran was right: there's a point where there are too many books.

Anything close to this?

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Juliette · 09-16-2009, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

Anything close to this?
Attachment 35951 Attachment 35952 Attachment 35953

Pretty close, yes! Right now I'm just glad I got the hold of that spare room, but it's filled with cardboard boxes with, surprise, books. 95% of my fiction ended up there last year

(I keep track of them in a DB)

Sweetpea · 09-16-2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juliette

There's one huge physical reason before my choice of buying readers: my room is flooded (alongside a storage room in my grandparents' old house) by books, of the paper kind; and when I say flooded, it means shelves in the 3/4 of the walls of the room I sleep, write and so on into. My gran was right: there's a point where there are too many books.

Buy a new house. Which was my solution

FlorenceArt · 09-16-2009, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Buy a new house. Which was my solution

My solution is to sell them or give them away

Juliette · 09-16-2009, 10:38 AM

I'll probably stick to Sweetpea's solution XD can't live without them, anyway!

Sweetpea · 09-16-2009, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juliette

I'll probably stick to Sweetpea's solution XD can't live without them, anyway!

Me neither!

boadiccea · 09-16-2009, 10:48 AM

In my life right now I am loathe to buy any more paper books. I already have too many collecting dust.

If a book is not available as an ebook, then it is almost always going to be a lost sale for me, period. I would rather try to find it from my local library or borrow it from a friend than buy it. As a matter of fact, even before I got a Sony reader, I had stopped buying books as a general rule. I think in the past 2-3 years I had bought maybe 4 books. *Maybe* 5. And I handed those on to friends when I was done. Every other book I had read in those 2-3 years was acquired from the library.

I know many people value books as treasures to keep for a lifetime. I certainly have some of those, mostly gifts from my parents throughout various stages of my life, that I have good memories of, but otherwise, paper books add to my clutter and dust levels and I do not want any more of them.

YMMV of course.

bill_mchale · 09-16-2009, 10:50 AM

I chose the third answer, but I think I really wanted a fourth answer... Yes, it is a lost ebook sale unless I really wanted the book.

There are some books I am glad I have in paper form... some books are not just great to read, they are nice decorations (I think a book shelf about half filled with hard backs, and then the balanced of the shelf space covered with photos and other nick nacks is a great accent to a room). I can think of a few series where I have been tempted to buy the books in hard back form even after the cheaper paperbacks are available. For example, there is a part of me that has to resist buying the entire Aubery-Maturin series in Hardback.. just because I think they would look so cool sitting on the shelf together.

That being said, I got the ebook reader to be a space saver. I am trying to reduce the clutter in my life and few things clutter up a room as much as hundreds of books.

--
Bill

Sweetpea · 09-16-2009, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

I chose the third answer, but I think I really wanted a fourth answer... Yes, it is a lost ebook sale unless I really wanted the book.

In those cases, I'll most likely get both. The pbook for the show and keep, the ebook for the quick and easy read.

View Poll Results: Does an unavailable ebook represent, to you, a lost book sale?
Yes, if it isn't available as an ebook I'm not buying it	86	48.86%
No, if it isn't available as an ebook I'll buy the paper version	10	5.68%
No, but I'd have to REALLY want the book to buy a paper version	80	45.45%
Voters: 176. You may not vote on this poll

09-16-2009, 10:48 AM	#43
boadiccea Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: Sony PRS-505 (Silver)	Why I chose the first option In my life right now I am loathe to buy any more paper books. I already have too many collecting dust. If a book is not available as an ebook, then it is almost always going to be a lost sale for me, period. I would rather try to find it from my local library or borrow it from a friend than buy it. As a matter of fact, even before I got a Sony reader, I had stopped buying books as a general rule. I think in the past 2-3 years I had bought maybe 4 books. Maybe 5. And I handed those on to friends when I was done. Every other book I had read in those 2-3 years was acquired from the library. I know many people value books as treasures to keep for a lifetime. I certainly have some of those, mostly gifts from my parents throughout various stages of my life, that I have good memories of, but otherwise, paper books add to my clutter and dust levels and I do not want any more of them. YMMV of course.

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09-16-2009, 08:21 AM	#31
mediax Readaholic Posts: 255 Karma: 1058454 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Swindon, UK Device: Sony PRS-T2 (previously 505 and 650)	Personally, I won't now buy fiction as anything other than e-books. I acknowledge that (for the present at least) a lot of non-fiction books aren't going to be available as e-books, so I'll still buy those in physical form, but since 95% or more of my book purchases are fiction that means I buy very few physical books.

09-16-2009, 08:38 AM	#34
Juliette I eat books Posts: 601 Karma: 5124 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Milan, Italy Device: Gen3 PRS-505 PRS-600 PB360 PB302 K2 Opus BebookMini OnyxBoox K3 KDXG	There's one huge physical reason before my choice of buying readers: my room is flooded (alongside a storage room in my grandparents' old house) by books, of the paper kind; and when I say flooded, it means shelves in the 3/4 of the walls of the room I sleep, write and so on into. My gran was right: there's a point where there are too many books. Now, I need to buy books for my job, and they won't be available easily in electronic formats (although that might change...), but fiction, if I can help, is from now on going to be mostly bought/acquired as epubs, lits, ltrs, bbebs, pdfs, hell, txt and rtfs if I can help it. So: yes. Won't buy them. I know it means that most of fiction in my language will be left behind, but since a lot of it was originally written in English or French or has been decently translated in one of those languages, and I have grown a terrible hate for the careless translators Italian publishers apparently handpick just like that, it won't be a terrible loss. Plenty of other fiction out there to read, anyway (Plus, true, ebooks shops are a terrible tentation, but they're less tempting that shops that will take not just PP or a credit card and are located in most cities I visit... my luggage ends up far ligher!)

09-16-2009, 08:51 AM	#35
FlorenceArt High Priestess Posts: 5,761 Karma: 5042529 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Montreuil sous bois, France Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus	I voted three, but in truth the right answer for me would be: "If I REALLY want to read the book, AND I can't get it at my local library, then I might buy it."

09-16-2009, 09:26 AM	#36
Tattncat Bookworm Posts: 673 Karma: 1029391 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Device: Nook Tablet, Samsung Galaxy Tab3, Sony PRS700, Sony PRS505	You need to have another option for us optimists. I have no urge to buy paper. What I do is add the book to an ongoing list of books I am waiting to see become available in digital format; like the Wheel of Time series; the Harry Potter series, and until just recently Ayn Rand's books. IMHO eventually they will all have to come out as eBooks, it's just a matter of time and patience.

09-16-2009, 10:38 AM	#41
Juliette I eat books Posts: 601 Karma: 5124 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Milan, Italy Device: Gen3 PRS-505 PRS-600 PB360 PB302 K2 Opus BebookMini OnyxBoox K3 KDXG	I'll probably stick to Sweetpea's solution XD can't live without them, anyway!

09-16-2009, 10:50 AM	#44
bill_mchale Wizard Posts: 1,451 Karma: 1550000 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch, HPC Evo 4G LTE	I chose the third answer, but I think I really wanted a fourth answer... Yes, it is a lost ebook sale unless I really wanted the book. There are some books I am glad I have in paper form... some books are not just great to read, they are nice decorations (I think a book shelf about half filled with hard backs, and then the balanced of the shelf space covered with photos and other nick nacks is a great accent to a room). I can think of a few series where I have been tempted to buy the books in hard back form even after the cheaper paperbacks are available. For example, there is a part of me that has to resist buying the entire Aubery-Maturin series in Hardback.. just because I think they would look so cool sitting on the shelf together. That being said, I got the ebook reader to be a space saver. I am trying to reduce the clutter in my life and few things clutter up a room as much as hundreds of books. -- Bill

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