Used Books Dying Anyway? Dept.: ChrisW brings up an interesting point in the WOYP discussion forum about used bookstores. He points out that pirate ebooks might not be lost sales directly to the publisher, but could be lost sales to the used book market. He states that this is also damaging to the book market overall because the “resale potential” of the used book market allows publishers to price books higher for first sale, making more money for themselves and the authors. I completely agree that used books are important to new book authors, but I disagree about why, and if the practice will be allowed to continue.
Notice what the RIAA is doing in regards to used CD stores. They’ve been pressing Congress to enact legislation that would require the original music company to be paid a royalty on the sale of every used CD. Their argument is that people are listening to music they paid to create without paying them in return. First Sale Doctrine doesn’t seem to hold water with them. Most big content providers hate the First Sale Doctrine. They believe they should be paid for every item consumed, not every item manufactured.
If the RIAA gets their way, it will spell the end of used music stores. Given that the used CD stores will have to tack a music royalty onto the price of their disks, the prices start to approach new CD prices. Consumers, given similar prices, will opt for new CDs with complete liner notes and disks presumably unmarred by scratches or blemishes. Retail store space is expensive, and used CD stores won’t be able to make enough to stay in business.
Used bookstores will be next. I can guarantee that if the RIAA succeeds, the AAP will use that as a precedent to attack used bookstores. Look how much flak Amazon.com has taken over their policy of offering used books on the same page as new copies.
But the fact of the matter is that this is another tragic example of why the big content companies don’t Get It. Used bookstores are a boon for authors– and publishers– but not for the financial reason ChrisW states.
Used bookstores provide an important service for authors. They allow consumers to “try out” an author with whom they’re unfamiliar without risking much money. Although the author doesn’t make a penny on that sale, if the reader is sufficiently impressed they’ll be more likely to buy the author’s next book, or even start collecting the author’s backlist. The used market is way to built future customers, if not present customers. And publishers are hell-bent to kill this golden-egg-laying goose, as they have so many before.
Interestingly, the pirate market serves the same purpose as the used market, and probably does an even better job at it. Pirate newsgroups and peer to peer networks allow readers to download books at no cost at all, from the privacy of their own homes. And again, if they like the pirate edition, they’ll be more likely to buy your next ebook.
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