Very sad news as Borders files for bankruptcy in the US. You can read the article here.
For Borders/Whitcoulls in New Zealand, have a look at this article here. :(
My question to you is, as readers, how much of this is our responsibility? Should we be supporting our booksellers, or are books something that should be available widely and cheaply to everyone?
My personal opinion is both. We need to support our booksellers (both through buying e-books, and good ol' fashioned paper and hardbacks), and for books to get any cheaper, we all need to buy lots and drive prices down. At least, that's my theory. Regardless, supporting local businesses is always a good idea. Local bookshops provide jobs, a place to go and hide from the cold winters, or a place to forget the world and find a new one to be immersed into.
If you haven't been made aware of this already, March 5th is Buy a New Zealand Book Day. The idea is to support New Zealand authors, but there's no reason why we can't support our local bookstores instead. If you are from New Zealand, you can use this opportunity to walk into your local Whitcoulls, Borders, Paper Plus, Dymocks, Unity, or any other bookshop you have at your disposal and buy a NZ book. If you normally buy e-books, take the opportunity to get back to your book-sniffing roots and buy a bookmark while you're at it!
For Borders/Whitcoulls in New Zealand, have a look at this article here. :(
My question to you is, as readers, how much of this is our responsibility? Should we be supporting our booksellers, or are books something that should be available widely and cheaply to everyone?
My personal opinion is both. We need to support our booksellers (both through buying e-books, and good ol' fashioned paper and hardbacks), and for books to get any cheaper, we all need to buy lots and drive prices down. At least, that's my theory. Regardless, supporting local businesses is always a good idea. Local bookshops provide jobs, a place to go and hide from the cold winters, or a place to forget the world and find a new one to be immersed into.
If you haven't been made aware of this already, March 5th is Buy a New Zealand Book Day. The idea is to support New Zealand authors, but there's no reason why we can't support our local bookstores instead. If you are from New Zealand, you can use this opportunity to walk into your local Whitcoulls, Borders, Paper Plus, Dymocks, Unity, or any other bookshop you have at your disposal and buy a NZ book. If you normally buy e-books, take the opportunity to get back to your book-sniffing roots and buy a bookmark while you're at it!
In the spirit of NZ Book Month (which is March for those international readers, or those who live under a rock) $5 Books change lives vouchers are being given out to promote the sale of books during this month. So there's no excuse, even for poor, penniless writers! For more info on the vouchers go here. And for those not-so-penniless, I encourage you to buy several books! I live for the 3 for 2 book deals at Borders =D
For more info on Buy a NZ Book Day, please just ask me or go to www.kiwiwriters.org for more info.
I hope you'll all join me in supporting our booksellers. Without booksellers, where would writers be? Probably still writing (there isn't much in the world that will make us stop), but maybe without as much success!
For more info on Buy a NZ Book Day, please just ask me or go to www.kiwiwriters.org for more info.
I hope you'll all join me in supporting our booksellers. Without booksellers, where would writers be? Probably still writing (there isn't much in the world that will make us stop), but maybe without as much success!
