Saturday, April 21, 2007

buried in books

i have close to 30 boxes of books. my own books, dating back 20 years. i have over a hundred new copies of a single book. i have boxes and boxes of multiple foreign copies. i can't keep hauling these around, and i've actually contemplated throwing most of them out because i simply don't know what to do with them. most are romance and romantic suspense. those never stayed in print long, so after a few books i learned to buy extra copies and also purchase the remainders when offered. years ago i tried to sell them online, but that was such a pain in the ass that i quit doing it.

23 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

A lot of libraries now have book rooms where they sell books and use the money to buy new ones. Maybe your local library has such a room?

anne frasier said...

i'll have to check, but i doubt they'd want 48 copies of the same book. :D i'd like to find somebody who wanted a whole box! i'm tempted to save five of each and strip and recycle the rest. my kids sell books on...maybe half.com, but i doubt they'd move enough of them to make a dent.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Also, if you want to do some giveaways we can use them as lead-in promo in the months prior to the release of GOD. We have lots of extra room here, so no storage issues.

Just a thought.

I was going to suggest prisons and hospitals... not sure they're right for prisons though. Some of the bloggers who write romance may also be interested - I know a few.

Jeff said...

I'll take one of each, Anne. Do you accept Visa? :)

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Oh yeah, giveaways?!? Count me in! haha. =D

Anonymous said...

"but i doubt they'd want 48 copies of the same book"

Why not make up some mini-collections, by category perhaps? Inside each cover you could put a sticker with "Donated by the Author" on it, along with the url for your website or blog.

You could give some of the bundles away as promotions in the months leading up to the release of Garden of Darkness.

Others you could drop off at local libraries, women's shelters, etc.

Also... will you be making another trip to Savannah? Donating to the same kind of charities in Savannah would seed good energy for the life you are planning to build there in the future (even if it is only part of the year.)

Bernita said...

Women's shelters particularly appreciate books.
Susam has good ideas.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, and David Terrenoire (sp?) has that relative in Iraq I've sent some books to. He has the address on his site about two months or so back.

Heather Harper said...

Ditto what Jeff said. lol.

anne frasier said...

all great ideas, but i'm afraid most people wouldn't even want to read them because they are so dated. when i look at them i realize how much things have changed. and if i could snap my fingers and get copies to everybody who wanted them i would! boxing them up and shipping is so time-consuming. i'm wondering about selling them in lots on ebay. rather than selling one book, sell an entire carton of 48.

Anonymous said...

I'll buy a few off of you. Screw Ebay, they're rich already.

Anonymous said...

As someone whose husband insists on keeping almost forty boxes worth of every book he ever purchased is it wrong of me to laugh evilly at your predicament?

anne frasier said...

jason, maybe i should just start giving them out as christmas gifts. the same books every year. :D

norby, yes, it is evil!! but we like that here. :D actually knowing that you have 40 boxes makes me feel much better. that's evil of me!

cindy said...

i started to enter my books on that 'library thing' site...i haven't even made a dent in my books yet, so i may be in the same predicament someday, with 40 boxes of books and nowhere to put them! congratulations on finding an apartment!

Anonymous said...

I have my books entered on Library Thing. I very hesitantly asked hubby if he wanted me to put his on there too. Thankfully he said no. He keeps mentioning a "purge" of his books. Someday, when he least suspects it, I might actually do it. Bad thing is, I think I might have a few books in there somewhere-don't want to throw those out by mistake!

Hulles said...

If you have some that need a good home....

Michele Hauf said...

Anne, congrats! I haven't crusied blogs for a while, so was thrilled to see you sold your house.

Now, I'll just have to make sure I wrangle you into a lunch one day BEFORE you leave.

And if you can't get rid of your cases of books (the ones of multiple copies) you know MFW can give them away at UMBA this fall. I'd even store them for you, if you want me to.

We'll talk!
Michele

anne frasier said...

cinderelly, thanks so much, and good luck with your own giant stash. :D

norby, the mass purge is exactly what keeps me from progressing -- this could apply to all my crap, not just books. and i don't think they make a shredder big enough for some of the stuff i need to get purge.

hulles, play dead has been riding around in the backseat. now and then it pops up and gives the beauty queen wave.

michele, oh, UMBA!!! that would be FANTASTIC!!! i didn't know i could do that since i'm no longer in RWA/MFW, but that would be great. if I could unload at least a case of cool shade and a case of bad karma that would help a lot.

oh, and i'm not really leaving unless moving 3 miles counts. this has worked out perfectly, because this should make it so i can go to savannah for at least part of the winter. but i'd still like to do lunch even if i'm only moving 3 miles. :D

anne frasier said...

i just listed some of the books on amazon. it might not be too much of a hassle since they handle all the money. if it ends up being too time-consuming, i'll take them down.

i'm deadflowers

:D

Anne McAllister said...

Anne,

If you haven't figured out what to do with the foreign editions, there are a lot of libraries that love them. And even though you aren't in RWA anymore, I think you can check their website for the addresses of libraries that will take them. If not, let me know and maybe I can find out.

Anne

anne frasier said...

thanks, anne. i'll look into that!

i did just dump a box of foreign titles off at goodwill.

flip said...

You should have a contest to promote your next book. I love to win books. It is a chance to get an autographed book by a favorite author.

In fact, my newest bad habit came from my love for free books. In search of book giveaways, I discovered the world of sweeping. There are people who routinely enter sweepstake. Now I am a sweeper too. Hey I won a trip to te baseball hall of fame and played baseball with Nolan Ryan. How cool is that.

I digress. Some readers would love to win foreign editions. My daughter has a japanese verion of a romance novel. She is learning japanese.

Lastly, do book giveaways work as a promotional tool? I think so. I have discovered a lot of new authors looking for giveaways. Even when I don't win, I'm always on the look out for a good book.

Anonymous said...

flip, that's so cool about sweeping! i've seen reports about people who do that and win all kinds of things. good for you!!

i might try giving away some titles when i have a new book coming out. wonder if anybody would want to win an entire box of the same book. haha!