Comments on: Spinner Racks

By: madeleine robins

madeleine robins — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:19:59 +0000

So I stick to the classics. Iâ€™ll go off and buy only the kinds of books that I will read over and over againâ€¦

See, that’s part of (from my perspective as a writer) the problem. If I only get read by people who’ve read my stuff, or who are reassured by some factor that this is a book that’s safe (in the sense of being something they’ll read over and over again) for them to read, it’s likely that my sales will dwindle. As a writer, I want my readership to grow, and that’s where spur of the moment, gee-didn’t-I-read-something-about-this book choice comes in.

(My parents too had a huge library (at least by the standards of the town I spent my adolescence in), and I read much of it–classics, mysteries, historicals, potboilers. And I went to the library religiously. I wasn’t in want of something to read, but when I wanted something they didn’t have, I found it at the drugstore.)

I think one of the things that has changed in my reading habits from age 14 to age 54 is that I no longer read an entire book if it loses me in the first 100 pages. When I was young, my time less fragmented and my brain more focused, I could read eight or nine books a week, rip through ‘em like Sherman through Atlanta, and not care if some of them were crappy and some were brilliant. It was all grist for my particular mill. Now if I pick up a book and it fails to intrigue me, I put it down, return it to the library, sell it at a garage sale. (Garage sales may be the closest I currently have to the spinner racks, but they’re unreliable.)

By: Gyp Oriens

Gyp Oriens — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:34:20 +0000

I am not part of the spinner rack generation. New sf/f books always came to me through my grandmother, who has bought/buys almost all the sf/f genre books in existence, my father, who has grown attached to certain authors, or the library. From time to time I pick up a random book from the bookstore that looks good and read it, but as y’all have said, it costs to much money to do that nowadays. Even in paperback.

So I stick to the classics. I’ll go off and buy only the kinds of books that I will read over and over again…

I’m really picky when it comes to what I will read, and I guess that’s just part of today’s culture where we get to control our entertainment in very detailed ways. When I do find an author I like, though, I buy all I can from ‘em.

When I grew up, I never needed a bookstore. My parents have a library all their own, all the books they’ve amassed over the years. I was never in want for something to read, unless it was something specific we didn’t have.

By: Daniel Woods

Daniel Woods — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 23:33:03 +0000

I think I’m quite lucky - my local bookshop always seems to have new authors on the shelves, as well as my old favourites. I think it’s the exception, rather than the rule - I’ve yet to find another that has such a good selection, even in much bigger stores (even ones of the same chain [Waterstones, much as I am annoyed at them for swallowing Ottakar's]).

Other than the occasional glance at my Amazon recommendations, I’ve never had to go anywhere else for a surprising new read.

Then again, my bookshop staff don’t mind when I stand at the shelves for hours on end, opening and reading books at random to get a feel for them. In my experience, that isn’t always the case.

Come to think of it, it’s also hard to keep up with what’s going on over in America, since some American authors don’t (as far as I know) get published over here. I never would’ve discovered Carol’s ‘Bridge of D’Arnath’ series, for example, if someone hadn’t said ‘oh, and the new Carol Berg’s almost out’ in a forum. I really enjoyed that series, and I suspect that there are many more books / authors out there that I would love, and may not ever discover. Hmm.

(I have, of course, just shot myself in the foot if Carol is published over here too, but you get the idea :p)

By: Christine Lorang

Christine Lorang — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:18:51 +0000

I’m 31 and theoretically old enough to be part of this golden age of spinner racks, but I’ve never bought an SF book at a grocery store or drugstore. When I was young enough to go the the store with my mother, I didn’t have any money of my own and the books were too long for me anyway. Later, I was too old to be shopping with Mom and too young to go by myself. This was a suburban environment where it was impossible to walk to the store, or even the nearest bus stop. By the time I had a driver’s license, my family had moved to Spokane, where the local tastes did not encourage sf on the spinner racks. I escaped Spokane in 1994, but I didn’t have a car. And the next year, although I didn’t know it at the time, Safeway decided to consolidate wholesalers.

So how did I find books? My mother took us on regular trips to various bookstores, where she was forced to give me strict limits lest I buy everything in the place. We went to the public library a lot, and I had a particularly good school librarian in Junior High. My surprises mostly came from the library, then I would go buy more by the same author.

Obviously there are problems with this system. A reliance on libraries, for example, could make it hard for new authors to get a toehold. But because of my personal experiences, I’m hopeful that the book industry can survive the demise of the mass market paperback.

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:08:08 +0000

The drugstore was my introduction to books and LPs. The main drugstore near our apartment when I was a kid had an entire separate section devoted to albums, comics and spinner racks of genre books.

Afterwards, when I was back in the Bronx I could hop on the bus on Jerome Ave and take it up to Cross Country Mall, go to the book store, buy an Andre Norton book and head back to the Bronx, stop and eat a slice and head home, all for under $10.00.

These days, I find books by recommendation and from periodic trips to Amazon as well as the websites of some of my favorite publishers.

I’m glad for all of the online sources. Where I currently live down south, I’m a 45 minute drive away from a mediocre book store and about an hour and a half away from a nice Borders.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:11:30 +0000

I think today’s consumer doesn’t want to be surprised. They want what they want, and only buy what they want, and use the Internet to find it. The new spinner rack is your amazon.com recommendations.
I had a lot of good luck at the library when I was young. If you squint and look at the “young adult” section it’s all fantasy and science fiction, and my local library had a decent adult scifi/fantasy section as well (it helps if Nancy Kress is a local writer.)

By: Carol Berg

Carol Berg — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:09:06 +0000

As one who bought her first books from drugstore racks, I lament with you (and Tom). Truly we are overwhelmed with easy access to entertainment media - much of it mediocre, yet undeniably good stuff buried in there, hard to find. And books are not cheap. I suppose it’s no wonder many people go for “safe” in reading as they do in chain-produced food. Time and dollars are tough to risk. But it’s a sad thing for readers, and new writers, and those of us in the murky lands of “not quite a sensation”-dom.

Carol

By: Madeleine Robins

Madeleine Robins — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:37:59 +0000

I have to apologize for the lack of paragraph breaks in this post, BTW: Safari and Word Press are having a power struggle. Will attempt to rectify.

later: Aha! Got it!

By: Brendan Podger

Brendan Podger — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:36:43 +0000

One of the places I pick up new authors these days is the remainders bin out the front of news agents and book stores. There is always a risk with these since there is often a reason the books are selling 3 for $15, but I have picked up works that have treasured places in my shelves.

By: Lois Tilton

Lois Tilton — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:30:46 +0000

Between my first published novel and my second, all the racks disappeared from the drugstore.

As did I