Wednesday, 12 January 2011

I bet J K Rowling gets this all the time

 

Well, it's a landmark of sorts! We were shopping for second hand books in the many charity shops in town last week, when I found one of mine. First time ever! It was Wildwood, in fact. I felt it was sort of a pity that whoever originally bought it had not treasured it close to her heart for the rest of her life ... but every real author ends up in Oxfam sooner or later, lol.

And yes, I bought it. Always good to have a spare.

Then we moved on to the next charity shop and I randomly picked up a volume called Howl. "Loose Id?" I thought. "I know that imprint. It's on my online resources list."  Flicking through, I found a werewolf threesome. I turned to the elderly volunteer assistant. "This book should so NOT be in the children's section," said I.

"But it's for teenagers, isn't it?"

"Er, no. No it's not. It's all about sex."

"Oh!"

"I'll buy it though."

"Oh thank you! I wouldn't know what to do with it!" At that point the assistant went off on a flustered rant about how she didn't know how some people dared drop off the books they did - seemingly oblivious to the fact that I dared buy it and she was really grateful that I was taking it off her hands.

People, eh?
at

12 comments:

  1. Chris12 January 2011 at 12:21

    Yeah, they should be banned.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Danielle12 January 2011 at 12:38

    ahhrg!!

    thats teh moment i m fearing for since ages..to finde my own work on the "grabbeltisch"..never happened so far...but once there was a big bookshop sale and there was a book..which isnt mine but which has a dedication to me inside...which was equal horrible..like..i was on sale..you know...

    i m also alover for second hand books hops..but tend to buy every book i really love..even though i already have them..i dont know how often i already bought fear of flying..at least ten times ormore...always a good present though

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jo12 January 2011 at 14:09

    Heh.

    Reminds me of when I saw Bad Santa in the Children's section. And when I told the clerk he just shrugged it off. The horror!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Janine Ashbless12 January 2011 at 15:44

    Ah Danielle, I'm philosophical about seeing my book in a charity shop. that means there is at least one stranger in town who buys my books! (It wasn't a signed copy - I did check!)

    Lol, Jo. Would it make it worse if I told you that the charity shop was "Save the Children"?
    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jeremy Edwards12 January 2011 at 16:34

    I'm philosophical about seeing my book in a charity shop. that means there is at least one stranger in town who buys my books!

    And, seriously, just because it was resold by the original reader doesn't mean it wasn't thoroughly enjoyed. Many people habitually pass books along, even those they've liked a lot, and never read anything twice.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jo12 January 2011 at 18:24

    Lol. Won't somebody please think of the children!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fulani12 January 2011 at 20:38

    Not sure whether I should congratulate or commiserate! I guess it's proof people actually buy and read your stuff, though presumably the royalty payments do that perfectly well. But as you say, the fact your stuff turns up in charity shops does have a certain sense of 'having arrived' or 'being known'...

    Didn't know much about Loose ID - seen them listed on Duotrope, I think, and that's about it. Will go and check now!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Janine Ashbless13 January 2011 at 10:08

    Many people habitually pass books along, even those they've liked a lot

    You know, Jeremy, that hadn't actually occured to me! We keep just about every book we even vaguely like or which may provide useful reference material of any sort whatsoever at any future point. Which is why the Ashbless house is one giant firetrap ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Janine Ashbless13 January 2011 at 10:14

    Having now read Howl, Fulani, my impression is that Loose Id has a heavy emphasis on romance. I did enjoy the shifter threesome tho!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jo13 January 2011 at 10:34

    I know lots of people who don't keep books, even ones they like. It doesn't compute with me, but they do have neater houses than mine, it's true.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Madeline Moore14 January 2011 at 07:49

    Janine, Felix and I have downsized twice now, each time giving masses of books to Wilkie, the second hand man who actually comes over with his trolley to pick them up. It's painful to the extreme but I've completely changed my attitude about books.
    They simply must come and go. Of course we keep the hard covers we love and the signed copies we own, but the rest have no guarantee of making it onto the bookshelf. In fact we are trying to figure out some way to make a few $$$ selling our massive erotica collection - but my copy of your book will definitely NOT be included in that event. It stays with 'The Story of O' in the secret spot.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Janine Ashbless14 January 2011 at 09:16

    Heh - I'm in the Secret Spot! Thank you! :-)

    ReplyDelete