Subject: Re: [lace] out of print books
I sympathize
at your difficulty, but to say you are being ripped off, isn't fair. You had a contract for the original publication, you were compensated for that. An antique dealer gets his price as having maintained his stock and selling it. A used book store does the same. It is no different. Cindy Comeyne
I was not suggesting that I as the author was being 'ripped off', but that a lacemaker wanting to buy a second hand copy of an out of print book was being 'ripped off' by having to pay an extortionate price mark-up for a copy. These books are not antique books and most of the authors are still living, not long deceased. This means that there are literally hundreds of these books still in existence and are not a rare 'one off ' copy that has survived a century or so!
Authors receive pennies per copy by way of royalties for their books and they only receive them on a percentage of the sale price, so if a publisher sells for example 500 copies to a book club, which will be at a considerably reduced price, the author receives a percentage of the reduced bulk sale price and not on the full retail price of the book. Lace suppliers are also given a discount (I think Batsford used to give 30%).
My frustration is that I would like to see an end to this situation and give both the author who has spent sometimes several years in drafting out lace patterns, working the lace, drawing the diagrams, writing the text, photographing the work etc. only to see someone else selling her book at an outrageously inflated price to someone new to lacemaking. My book originally cost £17.99 ($27.22 USD) and I am now seeing it priced at £132.80 ($200 USD) and even as high as £646.33p ($978USD)!
It is the person new to lacemaking who is being 'ripped off'! Any established lacemaker already has a copy of these books, purchased at the original retail price, some even lucky enough to have bought their copy through a book club at a considerably reduced price. However, the lace world at large needs new blood from the younger generation to keep this beautiful craft alive and flourishing for future generations, but they have no chance if they want to purchase a mere four different lace titles at these obscene prices - they simply cannot afford them and as I have already pointed out, they are not 'one off ' rare museum pieces!
Believe me, lace tutors and authors are not in it for the money but for the love of lace, and to pass on their skills learnt over many years of dedication to the craft and for the benefit of future generations. Why do so many lacemakers want these books I wonder, because if it were so easy they would design their own patterns and 'get rich quick' too!
Catherine Barley www.catherinebarley.com - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
