Earlier this spring at a library book sale I bought books to take along on camping trips. They were to remain in this camper for the summer. Because of the rainy days we've had over the past two weeks, I've been polishing off a book almost every day. Until today.
I bought three books of a mystery series about a woman who creates crossword puzzles and solves murders, thinking it would be light reading. Light was right, in was banal drivel. I got as far as page 100 on the first book and threw it down. The question is whether I take the books to another library for another book sale or put them into recycling to be shredded. The books were an awful waste of trees.
Today as I walked around the forest, I considered my leafy friends.
How many books aren't worth reading? And these days, how many of them are self-published? As a self-published author, I count myself in that category. How good are my books?
In the old vanity press days, self-published authors were required to order large numbers of five hundred books or more. These usually wound up stored in garages until the author died. The heirs finally took them to the dump. The good news about self-published books these days is that they can be printed as needed. I never order more than ten at a time. They aren't selling that fast but at least they go to people that appreciate them...I hope. Electronic books are even better, requiring no paper.
For the rest of this camping trip, I am sticking to e-books and leaving the trees alone.
I bought three books of a mystery series about a woman who creates crossword puzzles and solves murders, thinking it would be light reading. Light was right, in was banal drivel. I got as far as page 100 on the first book and threw it down. The question is whether I take the books to another library for another book sale or put them into recycling to be shredded. The books were an awful waste of trees.
Today as I walked around the forest, I considered my leafy friends.
In the old vanity press days, self-published authors were required to order large numbers of five hundred books or more. These usually wound up stored in garages until the author died. The heirs finally took them to the dump. The good news about self-published books these days is that they can be printed as needed. I never order more than ten at a time. They aren't selling that fast but at least they go to people that appreciate them...I hope. Electronic books are even better, requiring no paper.
For the rest of this camping trip, I am sticking to e-books and leaving the trees alone.
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