Where do you buy your books?

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by blue

You should check out your library. I get kindle books through them, which then sends you through amazon to download. For Free.

Hopefully you like a lot of authors, including some obscure ones. Because there are waiting lists for really popular books. I've been "175th in line on 8 copies" more than once! Generally have 5 or 10 on hold. And yes I've gotten three on the same day with a 21 day deadline!

I usually grab ebooks from the library and I specifically don't do holds because I can never finish my current book and then get through the new one in time.

[Dru Edwards]

I've bought many used books from Goodwill stores. Some of those stores have tons of books in good condition at amazing prices.

New books are mostly from Amazon.

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by blue

You should check out your library. I get kindle books through them, which then sends you through amazon to download. For Free.

Hopefully you like a lot of authors, including some obscure ones. Because there are waiting lists for really popular books. I've been "175th in line on 8 copies" more than once! Generally have 5 or 10 on hold. And yes I've gotten three on the same day with a 21 day deadline!

Yep, been there

[DanR]

I have bought the majority of recent books from Amazon.

[Mycroft]

We are in a very literate town, with a plethora of local bookstores. The three Third Place Books stores. Secret Garden. Elliot Bay Bookstore. Twice Sold Tales. There are also several good Half Price Books in the area. Powells City of Books down in Portland. And occasionally Amazon (which is a local company)

A (by no means complete) list: https://www.seattlemet.com/arts-and-...res-in-seattle

[Gunny]

My Wife has been using a book swap site for years. Well over a million books to swap.

From paperbackbook.com:

It's easy: List books you'd like to swap with other club members. Once a book is requested, mail it to the club member. In return, you may choose from 1,155,523 available books! You pay postage for the books you send out; the books you receive come to you postage-paid.

[JonWer]

Big Fan of Powell’s Books. If you are ever in Portland, it’s worth the visit.

[The Bard Rocks]

I have a dedicated library. I like being surrounded by "my friends" relieving memories of great reading. I almost never get a book on-line (or at bookstores). and have never ever patronized Amazon (I try to avoid them - they feel too big to me). But library book sales and used book stores, I often leave with 10, even 20 at a time.

[nacluth]

I typically buy my books from alibris.com. My favorite thing is putting in an obscure book that is not available from 100 years ago and then getting an email a couple years later saying they found a copy for me.

I have purchased many great early editions of my favorites and found new stuff there too. Maybe not the best for true shelf browsing, but their connection to bookstores worldwide is undeniable.

[Skarsaune]

We’re big fans of Mr K’s used books in Johnson City and Asheville, MacKay’s in Knoxville, and the Half Price Books outlet in Bowling Green KY when we get up that way.

[fumei]

Mostly a used book store near me. I will not buy anything (books or anything else) from Amazon.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by JonWer

Big Fan of Powell’s Books. If you are ever in Portland, it’s worth the visit.

I've ordered online from Powell before. Guessing it was probably via Amazon when I was working in the US. I know they have a massive store.

[Don W]

If you have not been there...the coolest used bookstore I have ever been to is the Montague Book Mill in western Mass. Check it out.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by offkey

I do nearly all my reading on a Kindle now and so use Amazon exclusively. Thanks to R Link for the Amazon comments ....

I'm in the same boat. We can get Kindle books through the local library, but at this point in my life, I read REALLY slowly. Just a half hour here and there - it can take me more than a month to get through a book. So the library doesn't really work well for me. But my wife reads incredibly fast and she reads a LOT, so it works really well for her. I just buy stuff on Amazon. I know their record of how they treat people is mixed at best, but glad to hear they treat the authors of the books I buy well.

Rllnk - do the authors make about the same per copy sold regardless of format? Do you make more on a hardback, less on paperback, less still for Kindle? Or is it just per copy sold and the difference in cost are down to the cost of manufacturing and distribution, where Kindle is obviously the least expensive to produce and move...

-Ray

[rllink]

Originally Posted by raysachs

I'm in the same boat. We can get Kindle books through the local library, but at this point in my life, I read REALLY slowly. Just a half hour here and there - it can take me more than a month to get through a book. So the library doesn't really work well for me. But my wife reads incredibly fast and she reads a LOT, so it works really well for her. I just buy stuff on Amazon. I know their record of how they treat people is mixed at best, but glad to hear they treat the authors of the books I buy well.

Rllnk - do the authors make about the same per copy sold regardless of format? Do you make more on a hardback, less on paperback, less still for Kindle? Or is it just per copy sold and the difference in cost are down to the cost of manufacturing and distribution, where Kindle is obviously the least expensive to produce and move...

-Ray

I don't make the same per copy regardless. It is purely economics and everyone takes a cut. It just depends on the layers the book has to go through to get in the reader's hands. About the only thing I'm in control of is what distribution platforms I'll sell my books through and sometimes I feel like I don't control that. On one end is Amazon. They are pretty much directly from the printer to the reader. They take a little bite for being in the middle. The Kindle editions have no printing costs so that brings the price down but my royalty is about the same. Kindle unlimited I get paid by how many pages get read in a month and how many people subscribe to it. It averages less than paperback or Kindle but it is something.

When it goes beyond Amazon there are added layers and that cost of that comes from somewhere and I'm about the only place they can take it from. It just depends how many of those layers it goes through. I probably make the most from just buying the books from the printer myself and peddling them, which I do locally because I always have a run on hand for book signings. But that's a limited audience so it doesn't really amount to much. But I get a lot of local support from the community and when I reciprocate we all get a better deal. So I enjoy doing that. My books are not printed in hardcover. The cost of printing a hardcover drives the price up to where they aren't competitive. Maybe if I sold a million copies it would be worth it.

I'll add that I'm not getting rich writing books, but sales means readers and I'll sell a book anywhere, regardless of my cut. I just want people to read them.