[From the Archive] The Greatest Backhanded Compliment to Authors

No matter what your opinion is of used bookstores (and there are good arguments for and against them) their existence can be a great backhanded compliment to writers. What weird backhanded compliment would that be? When you can’t find them in the stores.

Okay, here’s what I mean by that. A lot of us in this economy – or career choices – don’t have a lot of money. The only way we can buy books are used – regardless of your opinion of them in terms of being an author. They serve a purpose. But why would not being able to find your favorite author be considered a Good Thing?

• Good Thing Reason #1 – Selling out – and not in the “I’d write anything for money” way. Not finding an author in any bookstore is a good thing when you sell so many books they’re not staying on the shelf. This applies to regular retail outlets as well as used bookstores.
• Good Thing Reason #2 – For used bookstores not having an author – or specific books/series – means that when people buy them new, they keep them. They don’t turn around and sell them again.
• Good Thing Reason #3 – No Remainders. For many publishers one way of getting rid of returns without having to destroy books and maybe making a wee bit of money is to sell them to used bookstores. If you don’t see an author’s new books in a used bookstore, then they’re not being remaindered. This is, indeed, a good thing.

Does this really happen? Oh, yeah. Example – at least in the Dallas/Fort Worth area – is Rachel Caine. Granted she’s local – and an all around lovely person – I like her, and I like her work. It’s almost impossible to find some of her work in any bookstore. You can find some of the Weather Warden books – generally not the one you go looking for but those you can find. The Morganville Vampire series? Not so much. The people who buy her Young Adult series don’t give them up. They buy them and keep them. Which is a huge compliment to any author.