The Fall of the House of Books: Why Are We Cutting Off Bookstores’ Heads?

Posted by cdetillier05 Published in Novel Writing, Reading

The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; and, after an era of darkness, new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again, and yet live on, still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men’s hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead. ~ Clarence S. Day

First it was the Kindle, now the iPad. Amazon and Apple. The Queens of Hearts of this Wonderland. Why do they insist on cutting off bookstores’ heads?

I like bookstores. I really don’t want to see them die. Yes, the iPad may be cool, probably one of the coolest devices to ever hit the market; but is it worth the $600 if you’re contributing to the fall of the brick and mortar? Wouldn’t you rather patronize a local bookstore to help keep them afloat? I learned last weekend that bookstores need to make $100 PER HOUR to be able to stay open. That means, if you took the $600 you are about to spend on an iPad and went instead and bought all the books you are going to buy anyway from your local bookstore (and I’m not talking Barnes & Nobles or Borders, although I would still prefer spending money there versus buying an iPad), you would personally be keeping that bookstore open that day. When put into perspective, doesn’t that make a difference? Shouldn’t it?

“Well, why are you insistent upon killing my pocketbook?” you may ask. “Hardcover books are much more expensive than e-books. Why should I pay twice as much just to have a physical book?” My answer to that would be this: isn’t there a feeling that you get when you smell a newly cracked open book? Doesn’t it incite excitement to be able to take in the smell of the ink and the paper, to turn the pages, and to close the book with a bookmark inside and gage how many more pages you have left to read? Do you read with a highlighter and pencil in hand to take notes and mark words or quotes that you like? Can you do any of that with an e-book? How much do you like writers? Do you think that writers are getting any more money or being supported any more with e-books versus hardcover books or even paperbacks? Additionally, e-book devices can be dropped and broken and need to be replaced more frequently, which can get expensive – MUCH more expensive than buying a $30 hardcover book, which you can drop as much as you like without damaging it. And new versions of devices are coming out all the time, which means you will need to upgrade. Are the thousands of dollars that you will spend buying an e-book device, replacing them, and upgrading them worth the extra $10 or $20 onetime cost of just buying a printed book?

I understand that some people out there may be more concerned about being “green.” “Why should you kill the environment?” they say. “E-books are saving the environment. They don’t leave a carbon footprint. They don’t kill trees. How can bookstores be more important than trees? Without trees, we wouldn’t be able to live.” Actually, the idea that e-books are greener than printed books is a myth. Most of the parts of e-book readers aren’t recyclable, they take power to use, there are more materials and batteries used to make them (versus printed books), and they need to be replaced frequently. To me, that offsets any environmental responsibility you should feel toward them.

Plus, I wouldn’t be able to live without bookstores, and neither would the owners of bookstores or book publishers (which are really mainly book distributors, and with e-books, or even just online bookstores like Amazon or Google, there isn’t really a need for them). Bookstores provide a vital service to society. They aren’t JUST bookstores, they are community centers for avid readers and writers to get together and discuss common interests. There is a certain magic in being around hundreds of thousands (or even just hundreds) of books. Bookstores allow the dissemination of amazing writing and the endorsement of amazing writers. As a writer myself, I depend on bookstores, as I’m sure other writers do as well. Without bookstores, where would we meet our readers? Online? Is that as personal as your readers being able to see you in flesh and blood, shake your hand, tell you how much they love you, and get you to sign their books? What would happen to book signings without bookstores?

As the Cheshire Scribe, I am taking a stand here and saying – DOWN WITH E-BOOKS! DOWN WITH THE iPAD! Don’t let our bookstores become a thing of the past like a run-down, dilapidated, gloomy house from an Edgar Allen Poe story. SAVE THE BOOKSTORES!! Are you taking the path of the Cheshire Scribe into the Wonderland of your imagination, or are you following Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum into a robotic, hypnotic e-world? It’s time for you to make choice.

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