Trendsetter or merely head of the herd?

[madbaker]

A new book I’d ordered from the local bookstore came in yesterday. When I walked in to buy it, one of the old-timer employees commented that when he sees me placing an order, he stocks up a bit on the book – that the SF and fantasy books I order tend to sell well.

I already knew that I’m one of their best customers. After all, I buy a new book roughly every two months! (Which is kind of scary when you think about it. What, does the average American buy less than one new book a year? ...)

It just left me feeling slightly odd.

Comments

Re: More like, "Leading the Rear Guard"

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I buy from my local 5-store chain. The last science fiction-only store on this side of the Bay went under a few years ago - which is why I have to order books ahead of time, because I can't ensure that the bookstore will carry it otherwise.

I read a huge amount. I have library cards at three libraries, and I use ILL or Link+ extensively to supplement their collections. If I like a book enough to read it more than two or three times, though, I'll often buy it.

I don't buy all my books from the local store. I've ordered from more than one insert-name-here.com, especially if it's an obscure title that the local store doesn't have on hand right now. Most of the onlines are quick, reliable, and fairly cheap. So why pay full price at the local store? ...first, I get 10% back, which helps me justify it fiscally. More, anyway. Mostly, I think it's the satisfaction of "It must be MINE! NOW! Not when they ship it in a month."

And if I go to an author signing, as I am this Friday, I buy the book there.

Do I feel guilt over ordering online? Sort of. On the other hand, I've ordered a ton of used books online. Including one from Brazil or Venezuela (I can't remember which), and many from the U.K. These guys are all independent. I couldn't have done that pre-Net.