Book prices

[Sir Taliesin]

<font color=orange>I have to agree with Virgil. I won't look at a book thats less than 400 pages anymore. But that's npt necessarily because they are expensive. I like books that last a while. I don't like to read books that are so short, they can't set up a proper story line in such a short span.</font>

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Sir Taliesin



If they take my gun can I still use my Axe?

[Fljotsdale]

Originally posted by Virgil: I agree that books are way to expensive. I remember getting four books for a twenty, and getting some change too. It makes me reluctant to buy any book shorter than 400 pages. Paying $8 for a 200 page book really leaves me feeling cheated. Buying a 1000 page book for that same price doesn't feel as bad.

Aw, c'mon, Virgil and all you other guys! If you were writing the books yourself you'd be complaining that the customer got 'em too cheap! It takes some writers years to finish a novel - just think how long it took Tolkien to complete LOTR! For all the profit HE got out of it he probably earned less than a cent a day! Be fair! MOST writers have to have a second job...

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[dominions]

Originally posted by Sir Taliesin: <font color=orange>The cheapest I can ever remember buying books was in the early seventies. ...

I've found a book called The Ghost of Thomas Kemp written in 1973 (I think) which cost a grand 45 pence. Good book, too.

Originally posted by Fljotsdale: Aw, c'mon, Virgil and all you other guys! If you were writing the books yourself you'd be complaining that the customer got 'em too cheap! It takes some writers years to finish a novel - just think how long it took Tolkien to complete LOTR! For all the profit HE got out of it he probably earned less than a cent a day! Be fair! MOST writers have to have a second job...

You're quite right, Fljotsdale. I'd like to know how much the publishers get, though.

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[This message has been edited by dominions (edited 07-25-2001).]

[WOLFGIR]

OHHH you whine!! Come over here and buy some books I say. They are expeansive here cause they add some special "tax" to it.. Every time someone is going abroad I send them a list of books I want.

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Yawning lazywolf dreaming about nice little fairies...zzzzz
Wolfgirs lair
once-upon-a-paper

[dominions]

What sort of prices do they charge in Sweden?

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Hey! Like RPGs? See the DungeonCraft - RPG Game Maker on the Ironworks Gaming Forum

[Axterix]

To me, the main thing that is surprising is the cost of paperbacks. Hardcovers have stayed pretty stable in price (used to be about $25, now about $28ish), while the paperbacks have gone from $5 to about $8. All this being in the NW of the USA, of course. Now, I've always been a pretty selective reader/buyer (hey, I'm born Dutch and we've got our national reputation for a reason), but higher prices make me much less inclined to pick up a paperback. Who wants to gamble on an unknown for a higher price? Especially at the rate I read (about a page a minute).

As for the higher prices means more money for authors, I don't buy it. As an example, CD's. In Holland, the price for a CD was around 45 to 50 guilders when the exchange rate was 2 guilders to the dollar. In the US, the price for a CD was around 13-15 at that time. My cousins in Holland owned very few CD's. But tons of copies of CD's (either on tape or CD) from their friends. They'd own the CD's from their favorite bands. But that was it. Even though they had much more disposable income than me, their CD collection was much smaller than mine.

Higher prices put people off. Many of us that buy books would spend more money overall on books if prices were lower. And for the unknown author... those with that second (well, first job, in all likelyhood), they need people to take a gamble on one of their books. A gamble that, at $8 for a 240 page book, I won't take. After all, there are so many books out there by authors that do rock that I don't own. Why gamble when I can buy Shogun by Clavell instead? Why gamble on some unknown when I can buy another book by Weber, Cook, or Moorcock, authors of whom I know pretty much what to expect?

Ah well, enough ramblin'.

[WOLFGIR]

Well I´m lucky I have work, though the rent I have now is really awful..

Well a paperback book cost abot 75-150 Skr, depends on the label and how new the book id. Hardback cocts aroun 250-450 for novels.

Industrail paperback costs 100-275 skr.

These are roughly estimated since it depends greatly . The internet bookshops cn make you cut alot of the price even though the transport fee is high. So well, thank you internet!

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Yawning lazywolf dreaming about nice little fairies...zzzzz
Wolfgirs lair
once-upon-a-paper

Well I live in the UK Just 2 miles outside of Birmingham (not for from you I guess FLJotsdale) and I don't find books particularly expensive at least not fantasy paperbacks. You can get them from Amazon.co.uk for £5.99 offten £3.99 for older books and from a nice little place in Birmingham City Center Called Andromeda that speacialises in fantasy books (you have never seen so many in your life in one place...it's great!) for between £4.99 and £5.99. hard back books tend to range from £15.99 to about £20 for most fantasy books.
Maybe it's just me because I admit I do have quite a high income but I don't think the prices asked are too unreasonable.

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"The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The start of every end,
And the end of every place."

[This message has been edited by Hesperex (edited 08-20-2001).]

[trux]

Books are far more expensive than they should be. I thought we were supposed to encourage people to read.

Used book stores are good, but I don't have too many in my area that carry exactly what I want. Glad there's libraries. I'm lucky I'm at a university. Our library is a sprawling (and I do mean sprawling, I've gotten very lost on more than one occassions in the stacks,) book haven.

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a bunch of long hairs.
trux

Lol sounds good Trux
What are you studying?

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"The beginning of eternity.
The end of time and space.
The start of every end,
And the end of every place."

[This message has been edited by Hesperex (edited 08-21-2001).]