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GKP Writing News

Hoarding Books

I’ll admit I’ve been hoarding books most of my life. I love books. I love reading them and writing them.

Used book sales were the highlights of my year. Every sale sacks of new books came home to fill my bookshelves.

How many bookshelves? Eight four foot by eight foot, two three foot by eight feet and a few smaller bookcases lined my front room walls, sat in side rooms and tempted me with their titles. That doesn’t count the stacks on the tops or on the floor.

Meeting Reality

Some of those bookcases held reference books. Teaching science requires a science library for lesson ideas. Researching plants requires guide books. Raising livestock requires veterinary and care books.

But the other bookcases held hundreds of books waiting to be read. I claim a thousand now, although I’ve never really counted them. Since I read about fifty of them a year, the last will be read about twenty years from now.

I am a senior citizen, an older senior citizen. Those books waiting for me to read them will probably end up going for fifty cents a box or tossed into a dumpster.

My solution was to stop going to the used book sales. I’m reading and giving away many of my books to people or book sales so others can enjoy reading them. I hope they will be read, not sit gathering decades of dust as they have on my shelves.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
This book was downloaded for free several times during holiday giveaways. And disappeared. So many people won’t look at a book unless it has lots of reviews, yet they won’t take the time to review a book themselves, even if they have gotten the book, a product of months of work, for free.

Book Reviews

As an author, I want other people to read my books. It’s hard work to write a book, rewrite it, edit it, create a cover and publish it.

The book market has changed. When I choose a book, I look at the dust jacket to find out something about the book. Reviews are nice, but they do not persuade me to read a book.

Why? Because there are books I enjoy reading and books I don’t enjoy reading. Take Stephen King. Many people love reading his books. I tried one, well two. The novel was enough for me. The one on writing was interesting and helpful.

The book market emphasizes book reviews. It’s vital to get reviews of your books.

Gift Giving Time

Now there are opportunities for me to give digital copies of my books away over the holidays. I’ve done this thinking people will read my books and do reviews of them.

Instead people download hundreds of free books just like the sacks I used to lug home in my hoarding books days.

The books sit on their phones or tablets or ereaders unread as so many of mine on my shelves. And then they are erased. Hoarding books is now guilt free as the books don’t sit there in front of you.

No one read them. No one reviewed them.

I don’t think I will participate. My digital books are $2.99 each. Maybe, if someone purchases one, they will actually read it and maybe do a review of it.

By Karen GoatKeeper

Karen GoatKeeper loves to write. Her books include picture books, novels and nonfiction for science activity books and nature books. A recent inclusion are science teaching units.
The coming year has goals for two new novels, a picture book and some books of personal essays. This is ambitious and ignores time constraints.
She lives in the Missouri Ozarks with her small herd of Nubian dairy goats. The Ozarks provides the inspiration and setting for most of her books.