Hello fellow unprofitable reader haha. I too, rarely buy new releases. Let alone pre order. My go to stores are secondhand shops. I never buy any book merch or special editions haha.
I feel you when you said that readers who are interested in translated fic but live outside US/Uk lack access to these books. Charco Press, Tilted Axis, Honford Star, and Fitzcarraldo (all indie presses as well) have very good titles but they’re so expensive to me. Sometimes I have to wait until a secondhand copy shows up in my country or either of the Big 5 publishers gain rights to publish because they will be a lot cheaper. almost half. As much as I would like to support the indie presses all the time, sadly, I cannot.
such a thought-provoking read! I am definitely not the most profitable reader and resonated with some of the obstacles you mentioned (lack of options in local bookstores, limited space in the house, it’s fun to swap books with family + friends, etc.). and to be honest, I haven’t considered much until now about how to make my reading interest known to the industry… but when I lived in Jerusalem I did occasionally visit a small bookshop in East Jerusalem called the Educational Bookshop, and I think they were really open to suggestions for what customers/volunteer staff wanted to see in their space (as long as it aligned with their focus on Middle Eastern culture and the Arab-Israeli conflict). I love the idea of being a patron/volunteer in a local bookshop or library, and starting there to share my reading interests!
Hello fellow unprofitable reader haha. I too, rarely buy new releases. Let alone pre order. My go to stores are secondhand shops. I never buy any book merch or special editions haha.
I feel you when you said that readers who are interested in translated fic but live outside US/Uk lack access to these books. Charco Press, Tilted Axis, Honford Star, and Fitzcarraldo (all indie presses as well) have very good titles but they’re so expensive to me. Sometimes I have to wait until a secondhand copy shows up in my country or either of the Big 5 publishers gain rights to publish because they will be a lot cheaper. almost half. As much as I would like to support the indie presses all the time, sadly, I cannot.
such a thought-provoking read! I am definitely not the most profitable reader and resonated with some of the obstacles you mentioned (lack of options in local bookstores, limited space in the house, it’s fun to swap books with family + friends, etc.). and to be honest, I haven’t considered much until now about how to make my reading interest known to the industry… but when I lived in Jerusalem I did occasionally visit a small bookshop in East Jerusalem called the Educational Bookshop, and I think they were really open to suggestions for what customers/volunteer staff wanted to see in their space (as long as it aligned with their focus on Middle Eastern culture and the Arab-Israeli conflict). I love the idea of being a patron/volunteer in a local bookshop or library, and starting there to share my reading interests!