UK Book Club discussion

Just found this Word Book Night which looks interesting. I shall be signing up.

I too signed up for One Day which I read recently as a book club read.

I signed up for Beloved. Sounds like a good idea.

Lynne wrote: "I too signed up for One Day which I read recently as a book club read."

That's the one I signed up for too!

I also signed up for Sarah Waters' Fingersmith.
http://mgakuwentongbuhayatnobela.blog...

The application is extended until Monday, 24 Jan. However, my understanding from the email, it is first come first serve basis after receiving more than 20,000 applicants. Most likely, those early applicants have the greater chance to be selected! Good luck!

By the way, the World Book Night is also organising a massive staged event on the 4th of March (Friday) in Trafalgar Square. This will be televised and 5000 tickets will be allocated to successful givers/applicants on a first some first serve basis. Unfortunately, this information is not available in the official website.

fyi - i went for life of pi.

If anyone gets picked then let us know.

I have applied as well

Me too :)

I got my confirmation as well just few minutes ago with my first book of choice: http://mgakuwentongbuhayatnobela.blog...

Digitalenviromentalist wrote: "I got my confirmation as well just few minutes ago with my first book of choice: http://mgakuwentongbuhayatnobela.blog..."

I did too! First book choice as well!

Lynne wrote: ..." Congrats!

I got my first choice as well :)

Me too, my first choice. Exciting!

I just got selected, not my first choice but i get to take part :)

I got The Blind Assassin - , i've not read it so will have to give one to myself :)

Has anyone read it?

Anyone interested to swap copies?

Andy wrote: "I got The Blind Assassin - , i've not read it so will have to give one to myself :)

Has anyone read it?"

Yes, I have - I really enjoyed it. It's one of the few novels I kept, when I had to do the big clear-out, before moving to Singapore.

I have got a copy of it, will read it one day :)!

I have just picked up my boxes of books for World Book Night. Can't wait to deliver them now.

which have you got? I've got Margaret Atwood's Blind Assassin to giveaway

I have One Day by David Nicholls to give away. All stored in my garage now ready to go out.

How did you manage on the bus? I have two boxes of books! And struggling to the car was bad enough!

I did not check this week but Im not carrying it coz the Waterstones store where I have to pick-up the two boxes is where I will distribute some of the books on Saturday afternoon-onwards. I intend to ask for the launching day's free-tickets in Trafalgar Square, London and hopefully my friends will be able to attend the event.

Lynne wrote: "I have just picked up my boxes of books for World Book Night. Can't wait to deliver them now."
Im wondering if there is a reference tracking document from WorldBookNight that somehow confirm that we received the books,consequently distributed it.

I printed my own bookmark card (postcard size) for the event that will go along with the 48 books! If you are interested to get one as a souvenir, Im happy to share and send it by post...

Very clever! I thought I would do a small information sheet to go in mine but a postcard is even better. It's a pity World Book Night organisers didn't think of something like that.

This is a bit personalised bookmark card with the link to my personal blogsite.

Hi,
I don't suppose for one second this is going to win me a single fan, but it has to be said.
This is the second one million book give away, the other is nearly finished with certain chocolate products. Instead of getting all excited about this latest attack of madness, just stop and think for a moment. Alright, I accept you all love reading, I do too. I am also very aware of the economic climate at the moment, money is tight to say the least, especially for 'normal people' like us.
The total of 2million books GIVEN away in the past couple of months represents about 10% of annual UK book sales, 10%!! what is going to be the effect of taking so much money out of the book world in the UK
In 2009 for every book sold in the UK 5 or 6 were pulped. These sales figures included 'remainders' the books in the pound shops and W,H Smiths except their 'celebrity' titles all bought for about 5p each!!
This is all brought about by Waterstones demanding 'sale or return' on any title they stock. and the stupid mainstream publishers agree to this.
What happens is Waterstones deliberately over order, massively, to get the books cheaper per copy then simply tell gardeners, the wholesalers, a couple of weeks after release, we don't want any more of...... They only pay for those they have sold, eventually.
What you have to remember is the author is at the end of this chain, and gets less and less in royalties. The quality of mainstream books is also going down hill, cheaper paper, less, sometimes no editing. As long as readers look for cheaper and cheaper books the quality will continue to drop. With the mainstream it is now standard practice to pay an author, [other than the best sellers] a fixed price for a manuscript. This is getting lower all the time, all those books everyone is giving away, the authors have no say in it as the publishers own all the rights, the authors having signed them away in return for may be a couple of grand, I know of one case were it was One thousand pounds. There are 40,000 of each of 25 titles in this 'give away' be being part of it, in my opinion you are merely supporting crooks and con artists, certainly not the writers. Frankly the sooner the entire corrupt, crumbling edifice of the 'established book world' both big publishers and the high street retailers collapse the better. Until that happens the quality of books both in substance and content will continue to decline. How often do we see comments on here, 'Oh, such and such a book was so similar to the one before last!' this will only get worse as mainstream publishers put more and more pressure on their contracted writers to get the next book out before the perceived success of the previous title.
If you all want to read what someone on GR called regurgitated verbiage, then carry on as things are.
You only have to look at the posts on here to see my point, how many of them are reading 'oldbooks' simply because they are good books, What will the next generation be reading as 'classics, very little from the past ten years, that's for sure! There have been a lot of over hyped books around for sure. Take out 'potter' and most of Terry Pratchett's work and you are left with precious little worth the recycled paper it is printed on.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

What a stupid rant, what has this got to do with world book night (you honestly think giving away some books is taking out 10% of this years book sales – it is there to encourage people to read, sales will not be affected). As for nothing good in the last 10 years, you must be deluded - i have read many great modern books and some crap 'old' classics (yes and some crap modern books and great classics), a lot of the good modern stuff being by new authors. Here’s the crunch - if a book is good it will be read. ok so the industry is unfair, welcome to the real world - its the same in all walks of life (music, movies, sport, retail etc etc). I see the introduction of ebooks (along with the internet) as a new market place favouring the little man - the ability to reach a larger audience and promote themselves, even sites like Goodreads are forums for authors. We are seeing this self promotion happening in music and it will in books. I think the future is rosy for reading and new authors. It is a shame that bookshops are closing, but this has more to do with on-line retail and, guess what it is happening in all areas of the high street. We should see any promotions of reading as good and not knock it with personnel gripes. I for one will join in and use it to try to get some new people reading.

This is my personal opinion: This event allows us to encourage people to read more paperbooks despite the technological competition (ebook trend) which is also bring joy to the writers (both old and new), publishers and to the printing/publication as a whole! By the way, I just bought the other day 3 Penguin Modern Classics books...written by an author who died before I was born!

The discussion is thought-provoking and while reading the responses, Im in a deep contemplation on "what next" after 5th March 2011. Im hoping that whatever WBN main objective for bringing these 25 books to the British public will generate more positive outcomes. Unfortunately, I will not be in the UK in few months time (to embark a new life elsewhere), but Im hoping that this kind of undertaking will inspire other countries (especially in developing countries) to bring books closer to people!

Hi me again!
I do wish people would read what is written in these posts before throwing words like 'stupid' around. Yes it was a rant, but a reasoned one. What I said was a fact. there are two one million book give aways out there right now, and that is equal to 10%.[roughly] of annual sales. I am well aware of the stated aims of the world book night campaign, and I genuinely wish it would succeed. However I have grave doubts, I will be pleasantly surprised if it makes a quantifiable difference to book sales.
I am very well aware of the 'Indie' book world, ebooks, print on demand,etc. I am also aware that a lot of the 'Indie' stuff is not as good as it could be, but then the same applies to 'mainstream' of late. An exception to the latter being a book called 'Dry Season' by Dan Smith, It's a darned sight better than a lot of the over hyped 'best sellers' cluttering up the bookshelves at the moment.
I too mourn the demise of the little independent book shops. This is not brought about by ebooks as is often claimed, of course it has some affect, but the real problem, as I previously stated is the massive 'remainders' market,and of course the rise of the charity shops.
One little point on charity shops. If you have bought a book, and it is a real cracker, the one thing you are not likely to do is give it away. This is another indication of the lowering standards in general, of course economics come into it. I don't blame people for buying books as cheaply as they can, but this has now swung too far in that direction, to the extent many of the best new writers have trouble selling their books. Check out David Elliot, Sue Rule and Carrie King, the list is very long!
Clearly 'Digitalenviromentalist' has thought about this in some depth, we would all like to know what comes next. One thing is for certain, the current system which actively excludes 'Indies' from the high street, and to a great extent from the mass media has had it, and the sooner the collapse comes the better. It will be better for authors, and better for readers who will then be able to choose what they read instead of being told by vested interests what is 'brilliant!'
I really hope WBN succeeds, the other one million book give away was all over some of the tele channels about three months back, it is due to end this weekend. It was with some galaxy chocolate products, I have only seen one poster up in one garage about it, so it seems to have fizzled out, if it ever got going!
The way forward is ebooks and Print on Demand, things simply cannot carry on as they are, it is daft to suggest this, but if things keep on their present course all that will be left will be 'celebrity' books, and the second hand stores full of books that were given away in the first place!
I know it's not going to be like that, but it is the logical conclusion of the way things are headed.
If you take the top twenty best SELLING books of the past fifteen years there are two of Jamie Oliver's cook books, Peter Kay's 'biog' and all the rest are J.K s Harry Potters and Terry Pratchett books. Incidentally, I'm an Author, I write a good story, judging from comments from people who have read my stuff. I'll never be a great Author, I know that, but from the numbers of people who get in touch saying when is your next one out, I can't be too bad. I WANT people to read books, it would be nice if they are mine, but if they are not good enough to buy them fair enough, I see ebooks as a possible way to get at least some people to buy the 'real thing' rather than a threat, of course it is an alternative, but a kindle, nook what ever doesn't look as good on the shelf.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Hi Fiona,
I don't think you and I disagree as much as you think, I am in total agreement about the 'celebs' and the 'bricks' which do tend to be a bit on the dry side, not all but the bigger the book more often than not the harder going I find it, generally.
As for the give aways to charity shops/friends etc fair comment.
Yes, there is a personal element involved with Waterstones, more the policy of their head office [hmv] than many of their staff.
An example, I had the launch of my first published book in what was then Ottakars, we sold 62, which isn't bad in a market town, Waterstones bought them out and when I went to the same shop with my new one, also print on demand I was told 'to go away', in no uncertain terms. Why? because although we agreed to sale or return there is no way we would talk in terms of a minimum 50,000 print run with a margin of less than ten pence per book after printing costs. In addition the company demanded considerable sums to have the book 'front of house' they were talking five figure sums for two weeks front of house!
As for indies, let me know your genres and I'll give you some titles, then you can judge, as a rough guide the average digitally printed book comes out about a pound dearer than a mass market paper back with a similar word count, but are manufactured to a much higher speck, not least paper quality.
Getting back on topic, if I thought for a moment wbn would make a lasting impact I would support it as vigorously as anyone, but I fear it will be very transient, I honestly hope I am wrong.
Incidentally, do you know what won the Brit writers award last year for the best book of the year? it was at the O2 back in june. Terry Pratchett won the best general fiction prize but that was all the media reported, Why? ALL the rest were won by 'Indies'.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Hi Fiona,
another point you made, about the rents, You are not kidding!!A friend of mine enquired about a small shop in a local town, about the size of the average living room. Just over 50 grand a year. plus business rates another eighteen grand plus heaven knows what else. His comment was 'I wanted to rent it, not buy it!!' and it wasn't even on the main shopping streets. Taking this into account, may be I've been a bit hard on Waterstones and their 'sharp' practices and fiddles. It seems the only alternative to selling 'proscibed substances'! I don't know of anything legal you can sell to cover the costs if you are a small independent shop.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Hi Fiona,
Streuth! I didn't notice the time!!!!
It's been nice chatting to you, nite nite!!
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Thank you for these insightful exchanges of facts and opinions. Being an ordinary book fan, Im just hoping that the writers (like Paul R) will still write and tell their stories despite the current market situation. We just hope and wishing that WBN will move forward for the benefit of the many... On the personal note, Im interested what Paul R has published. Happy weekend everyone!

Timothy wrote: "Hi me again!
I do wish people would read what is written in these posts before throwing words like 'stupid' around. Yes it was a rant, but a reasoned one. What I said was a fact. there..."

Apologies for using the word ‘stupid’ and the tone of the response, it was in fact stupid. Everyone is entitled to their say; it is the whole point of forums. The worst part is that it detracted from my response which I feel is valid.

Digitalenviromentalist wrote: "Thank you for these insightful exchanges of facts and opinions. Being an ordinary book fan, Im just hoping that the writers (like Paul R) will still write and tell their stories despite the current..."

The Day The Ravens Died by Timothy Pilgrim this is one of Paul's books which is a great read!

Can I just put in a good word for my local Waterstone's in Yeovil? They are only small but the staff are book lovers and couldn't be more helpful, have they have a great Sci Fi and Fantasy Bookclub run by Stuart.

I would like to say the same about my waterstones in Lowestoft the staff are really help full. Even if there is a cue behind me the staff all ways tells me not to rush, then they start chatting. After a bit I can feel eye's burning in the back of my neck so I just turn my head and grin lol!

Waterstones in Lowestoft is brilliant, the staff are really helpful, couple of times I have wanted a book and not been able to find it and they have ordered it in for me. The staff do like to chat don't they Nick but that's whatt I like in there. Also have visited the one in York last year and they are also really helpful.

Waterstones also do good 3 for 2 offers!

Hi Andy, Digi...and all,
Andy first, no problem, it takes a big man to apologise, totally accepted. As you very rightly said, these forums are for expressing opinions, lets face it, they would be rather dull if we all had the same opinions! I too stand by my thoughts on the matter. As I said, IF it works, great, fantastic, but as you will have gathered I'm a cynical old sod and know first hand how the book world, I was going to say functions these days. The trouble is that it no longer functions, it is nothing more than a money grab, I am talking about 'the big boys' here. It is a cynical publicity stunt, pure and simply, it is cheaper for them to do this than the alternative, which is paying the warehousing and then the haulage and recycling fees.The 'remainders' problem is so vast this will not really dent it. My worry, as an author, is if this sort of general madness continues the only books available will be 'celebs' and a few titles from the 'big names'. There are provable cases where shops have returned thousands of copies of a title 'for credit' then when the same title has become available as a remainder re-ordered thousands at the remainders price. I know this isn't exactly on thread, but it is all part of the same problem.
Thanks again for the reasoned response.
And for 'Digi' thanks for the interest, you are darned right I'm going to carry on writing, it's what I do. I don't suppose you'll ever find my stuff on the shelves of a 'major', but so be it. I can't ever see me taking a cheque off one of the 'big boys' even in the unlikely event of one being offered, I'm far to stubborn and independent to put up with their haverings!
I've seen how they work and don't like it one little bit, to say they have lost their way would be to understate things, it's all about numbers these days, the quality of the writing and story has b... all to do with them publishing a title today. If you had a name which people knew and went to them with a ready edited manuscript about as dry as a piece of yesterdays discarded toast they would rip your arm off. Go with a really good story, a right 'page turner' but needing an edit and you were 'John Smith' [sorry to any John Smith's] you wouldn't have a snow ball in hells chance.! So yes I'm cynical as to their real motives. I really hope it does work and attract some more regular readers, but you can see why I have my doubts.
And since I started this missive, I see 'Auntie Lynne' has posted. Thank you for the plug Lynne.
I met Lynne at last years Frome book festival when I was doing a book signing, having travelled down from Norfolk! But yes, as a story, I dare put 'The Day the Ravens Died' beside anyone's work. A great author could no doubt have got more out of the situations in the book. My personal opinion of my work is I am a decent story teller, but from the technical writing point of view I still have a lot to learn, believe me I'm trying!
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

I think having a new book for free is really exciting, it certainly wouldn't stop me buying any.

Hi,
I did make the point earlier that my beef was with the way the company is operated rather than the majority of the staff, who as you rightly say are generally very helpful.
all the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Thanks Lynne for the links and of course to the author himself, Timothy Pilgrim. I did my little browsing few hours ago about these two books and Im quite interested to grab one! And because of WBN initiative, I found another great honest storyteller that will inspire me to read more!

I have to put in a plea for everyone out there to support their local bookshop. We have an excellent one where I live, Bookmark in Spalding; they can get pretty much anything within one or two days and their knowledge of books is incredible. I'm as guilty as anyone of browsing in bookshops and then going online to buy them, but I've stopped doing that and have made a resolution to support my local bookseller. It may be more expensive buying stuff that way but how depressing would it be if small towns didn't have a bookshop. Unthinkable!

I have to admit I am guilty of not supporting my local bookstores, and libraries will be getting less funding in the future also. So you're right we all need to spend the extra bit so we don't lose our local booksellers.

I suppose there's even more temptation to buy cheap books online now that the economic climate is a little more difficult. If you're like me I buy more books than I can read anyway so buying fewer, from a shop, that are a bit more expensive doesn't seem too hard. It's only my eyes that want, want, want when I see books!

I got my books today and I found out at the back of the books that we encourage to register them. I couldnt find any link from the official site to do the registration and get the WBN Identifying Number. If this identifying number is not available before Saturday, Im registering them thru my BookCrossing account as an alternative to track these books. I will only register one book and the rest will have unique identifiers to check who read/share them.

Waterstone's shop in Belfast (Northern Ireland) is organising a small event as part of this WBN on Saturday. Talk and book signing from 6-7pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.