Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Turning down the Corners


by Cassondra Murray



There is a bit of a....

well...WAR is far too strong a word.

Rivalry doesn't quite fit either.

Disagreement? Well, that's a bit weak for the passion with which this is handled.

It's a "THEM vs US" thing I suppose.

The Bandits have not come to blows or drawn swords or anything...

Still, there is a division.


Let me explain the origins of something many of you may take for granted. (Okay, not the REAL origins, as in where they started, but the origins as in how most of us end up with them now--as promotional tools.)

I'm talking about the humble bookmark.

You see, if you've never attended a writer's conference, you've missed out on a lot.

There's the mayhem of a huge hotel lobby, with 2000 writers arriving, hugging each other because we're seeing friends we haven't seen for a year, vying for the hottie bellman's attention (really it's the bellcarts we want, but don't tell the bellmen that), and finding our way to registration.

At registration, we're given a goody bag, filled with promotional items and emblazoned with the name of the sponsors on the side of the bag.



The next morning, we make our way to bad hotel coffee dispensed from industrial-sized urns, then we stand, bleary-eyed and tired from our travels, in corners and small groups, trying to unravel the mysteries of our conference program, make our way to workshops held in little rooms all around the conference hotel (this often involves complex puzzle-solving skills to find our way) and to appointments with editors and agents, where, with sweaty palms and note cards in hand, we do our best sales pitches to weary industry professionals who hope to find the Next Great Romance Author among the throngs.

Then, with a few minutes to ourselves, we wander into that black hole of conference clutter.

The Goody Room.

The Goody Room is where authors (Bandits included)at a conference deposit their promotional material in hopes of attracting the attention of even ONE new reader.

Here's what it looks like.

You walk in the door. It's not a large room. It might be the size of an average living room of the not-so-rich-and-famous. Except there's no sofa or recliner or tv or velvet Elvis on the wall. Instead there are tables lining the walls. And probably one long table down the middle. So you have a little aisle you can walk down and around and back out.

And on these multiple tables are piles and piles and PILES of promotional material for authors and books.

Pens with author's names and logos and brands and last releases.

Little cutesypie plastic bags covered with hearts or flowers, and filled with yummy chocolate Hershey's Kisses (yes.....finger-in-throat at this point.....MORE chocolate--for those of you who have never attended a conference, you should know that chocolate is EVERY-FREAKIN-WHERE at a romance writer's conference. They feed and chocolate you nearly to death.)

On the nezt table you'll find piles and piles of postcard-size bookplates. Those are the covers of books reduced to a postcard and printed on expensive glossy paper.

Then there are more stacks of pens with author's names or logos.

There might be a stack of little personal-size, battery-powered fans emblazoned with the author's name.

At the last conference I attended, there was a table full of bottles of water (okay this was a darn good idea, cuz you get mighty thirsty at a conference) with labels custom-made, advertising the author and latest release.

I have to tell you, that I remember the water, but I don't remember the name of the author.

And therein lies my question.

Because spread among all these goodies are always, ALWAYS a slew of bookmarks. Tons and tons of bookmarks. This, I believe to be the origin and birthplace of the bookmark (hey, it's as good a theory as evolution, with nearly as much evidence).

I could own a thousand bookmarks if I picked up one of everything I see at a conference.

But I don't.

Because I don't use bookmarks.

I bend the pages down.

*Ducks massive amounts of flying fruit and stays down there under cover for several minutes while fruit still flies*

Is it safe to come up yet? *peeks over top of laptop screen*

Yes, yes. I know. Many of you are tearing your clothing and pouring ashes over your heads at the thought. But this is reality.

I've brought home a TON of bookmarks, and lost just as many. I have a few metal bookmarks in the shape of moons or rectangles with wise sayings engraved upon them, and ribbon run through a small, precisely-engraved hole at the top. They were stupidly expensive.

But when I go to read a paperback book at night, by the light of the 60-watt bulb by my side of the bed, here's how it goes....

I read. I read some more. I read until I start to drop the book because I'm so sleepy. Then...

I turn the corner of the page down. I close the book (or drop it onto my lap). I put it on the nightstand if I'm still awake, turn out the light, and go to sleep.

It's true. I turn the corner of the page down on a paperback book. Even some hardcover books.

Nothing like this book. That's just an abomination. Because you can't read the book. That's the point. For me, it's about not damaging the book to the point a person can't read it.
It's why I have such a difficult time throwing books--ANY books--away. Even books from the early 1800s, (I have some of these packed in my garage) which still recommend the use of leeches for curing diseases. Hey,it's ignorant and dangerous, but IT'S STILL A BOOK, yaknow?

While I know I am not alone in turning the page corners down, there are those who say I am, at the very least, heretic. Uncivilized. Low.

Nancy, for instance, thinks this is pure, unadulterated blasphemy. Nancy may not use bookmarks, but has proven intellect and mental power upon which to rest.

"I remember the page number, or at least the chapter, of the book I'm reading," she says. And she reads up to three books at a time.

Humph. I can't remember what I had for dinner last night.

Jeanne has....evolved....a bit. She can now turn the page down on a paperback. But it's taken her YEARS to get to this point. Her dad was a librarian. She says when she was a child, that the decree ran something like the following:

"You did not...


bend the book

turn the pages down

lay the book in any manner which might damage the spine, pages or cover

read while eating, lest you mar the pages (the parents finally gave up on this one)

God forbid you should THOW the book...THAT got you grounded.

Damage came out of your allowance.

Stern stuff....."

Indeed.

As a kid, I brought home about 40 library books per week, on average, and did NOT turn those pages down, because they weren't my books. But now that I pay for my books, and they're mostly all paperbacks? Oh yeah.

I bend, fold (don't usually staple) and mutilate those books.

I bend them around like a newspaper when I'm lying in bed at night, trying to get the printed pages into the light so I can see the text and hold it in one hand. This is not a museum. This is is a spa. It's about relaxation. Entertainment. It's about story. And to hell with the binding.

And when I get ready to turn out the light, the bookmark that might have been there half an hour ago is either a) under the bed b) somewhere buried in the covers or c) at the bottom of the East River, never to be seen again. I cannot hold onto a bookmark to save my life.

So I fold the page down and flip off the light and go to sleep. And I am no worse for the wear. The book? I've not had one fall apart yet. They're rumpled, but still intact.

Two hundred years ago I might have behaved differently, because books were so rare and difficult to produce then. Now, books are everywhere. I have piles of them. They're like air. I can't live without them, but I don't pamper them unless they're very special collector's editions.

And this, you see, is the source of the contention in the lair.

The other night, when we finished our reading session in the lair's library, I folded down the page, and Nancy noticed. She covered her face and looked away. Jeanne actually cringed. (It WAS a Claudia Dain novel after all). Some of the other Bandits coughed and left the room. Even a few of the cabana boys stopped and gaped, open-mouthed.


But some Bandits yawned and went back to reading.

Bookmarks were strewn all over the library table. Promotional ones, with Bandit book covers emblazoned across their slick, glossy surfaces.

I might, on occasion, shove a bookmark into my pages. If it's handy. Or if it's not handy, I turn down the page.

If it's a self-help book or a non-fiction or reference book, I'll highlight, underline, and write in the margins. Oh, yeah. That's a workbook, as far as I'm concerned.

Some do, and some don't.

For some, books are tools. Education.

For others, books are sacred.

Maybe, for some, books are both.

How about you?
Will you turn down the corners of a book page?

Does it matter whether it's hardcover or paperback?


Trade or mass market?

Does it matter who wrote it? Or whether it's a keeper shelf book or a first-time read?


How do you feel about the sanctity of the book?

And while we're at it, would a bookmark given to you ever cause you to BUY the author's book?

How about a pen?


We, as Bandits, always want to know how to spend our advertising dollars, and you, our readers, can tell us.

Has any of the goodies from a bookstore, or anywhere else, ever made you buy a book? What gets your attention?

Inquiring writers want to know!


135 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi looks like we might have the GR Helen

Barbara

Jane said...

I don't turn down corners of book pages. I used to do it when I borrowed a book from a library, but only if the corners were already creased by previous readers. I always use bookmarks for paperbacks, hardbacks and trade size. I can't understand how people can treat books so poorly. I've borrowed a few books from the library where the book had serious water damage. I have no idea if someone dropped it in the sink or the toilet. I'm always happy to receive free bookmarks, pens and other promotional items and I have bought books that were advertised on those items because the story appealed to me. I haven't received any goodies from the bookstore.

Unknown said...

I am like Jane I could never turn a page down.... I have a go at my brother when he does that..... I also read in bed and put the book mark on the bedside table to use when I need it .... I actually use a book mark that I have made on the embroidery sewing machine..... I do have authors book marks and pens are always useful ... I have never been to reader or writers conference but am looking forward going to the Australian Romance Reader Association conference next year

Helen said...

Well done Barbara we can have a cup of tea with him but we will have to make him behave LOL

Cassondra

I love your posts and I was throwing fruit at you when you said you turned the corners down in your books never will I do that I always use bookmarks or at least a piece of paper I don't think I have ever turned the corner down on a book and I am so careful with bending them I am padantic about my books I have to look after them they mean so much to me.

I have been in one of those goody rooms and it was great I came home from ACCR09 with lots of bookmarks and postcards and little candles and lip glosses and pens (you gotta love pens) so many things and yes I use most of them LOL. I love it when I get the books that I have ordered becasue there are always bookmarks in them and yes I have over the years brought a couple of books because I read the blurb on the bookmark.
My friend Barbara makes me awesome bookmarks as well so I have a few of them and I often change them around so they all get used. If I have been lucky enough to win a book and there is a bookmark in it I use that one while reading the book and as for cover flats I love them as well and have a great collection of them that are very special to me.
I actually got a package the other day from Tawny and she put the Romance Bandits bookmark in there I love it Guys and another package came from Aunty Cindy today with a couple more of them in it I have given one to Barbara and I will find another friend to give on too.

So my answer is yes I love all of those promotional things that authors give out and I keep them all.

Have Fun
Helen

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

Oh, I use bookmarks faithfully in all my books, if for some strange reason (it is possible) I am caught without a bookmark, or I lose one, I will use a receipt, a gum wrapper, anything flat to mark the book until I get another one. Some like the postcards I keep but have used for hardback books.

On the other hand, I don't turn down the pages but I have at least one and sometimes more books with me at all times, I don't buy a purse unless a couple of books will fit in there along with my necessaries. Sometimes, my books get a little wear traveling in my purse. I am not happy about it but I can't not have a book with me, what if I am stopped in traffic? What if I have to stand in line? What if I walked out of the house without my extra bag and I would have to take break and lunch without a book?? ACK no, cannot have a spare moment without a book in my hand, so they go in the purse and they do sometimes get uhhh, ruffled.
I haved bought books based on a bookmark, I use the pens with pride and will tell anyone that asks all about the author whose name is on that pen. Tawny sent a key ring that was shown off for weeks, sitting here at my desk I am looking at two of the postcard bookmarks, Risque Business and the Treasures of Venice. Anywhere in my house I can usually turn my head and spy a bookmark. I have taken packets of advertising to my fav used book store and asked the owner to put them on the counter for freebees. She complied and asked for more the next time I went in. One of my favorite bookmarks was made by an author I found in the lair. Stacey Kayne, her mother and sister made regular bookmarks special, they put a hole in the corner and then did a beaded drop with a dragonfly bead. LOVE that bookmark. Boyfriend bought me a book "thong" that one stays in the bedroom for my bedtime reads. Wow, lot of words for me, must be a subject near and dear to my heart EG

Gillian Layne said...

Love bookmarks! They sit in a big cup on my desk. If I had more wall room I'd love to frame them and use them as art. They ARE art. And yup, I'd buy a book based on a gorgeous bookmark and a hint of a blub that caught my eye. I'm easy like that. ;)

I hope authors out there are flattered that my copies of their books are a bit tattered. It means I've loved it so much it's traveled about the house and on errands with me. Or been read six times.

Goody room--Love the bookmarks, pens, notepads. I picked up a small mirror once I still carry. Nail files are also wonderful, as I'm always losing mine.

gigi said...

I could never turn down a page. I always use a book mark.
I think of my books (paperbacks included) as friends. I treat then as friends.
The answer to the would I buy because of a goodie. The answer is, yes. I have bought many books because of a book mark or a pen.
There are authors I never would have tried had it not been for the pretty book cover on the bookmark or the website address that I would visit to read more about the book.
Also the cooler and niftier the goodie the more apt i am to look for an authors book on the shelf of the internet.

Joan said...

I actually do like bookmarks....and yes....I've read a new author based on one because they usually have pics of their covers and I am very visual when deciding an interest in a new book.

That said...I rarely hang onto them to actually USE them to mark my place in a book.

I do use "other" things....my bank statement, the old appt. card from my dentist and yes, I turn down pages. (The whole remembering page number like Nancy???? Whoa!)

And I'm with Gillian. A worn, tattered, spine bent book means it is READ.....and enjoyed and appreciated. What better compliment can an author have?

Melanie said...

I am real picky when it comes to my books - no bending pages, opening the book to wide, flipping back covers or anything else. Most my books look brand new and anyone who borrows a book gets the lecture on how to treat it and how it is to look when I get it back. I know a little crazy. I normally don't use bookmarks but have been reading so many books lately that I started.

Being as I have not been to a conference yet, attending my first one in July (RomCon), I have just been introduced to all the extras. Can say I love the pens and the bookmarks aren't to bad, think the postcards are just a waste I mean what do I do with those. Have even started reading Sally Mackenzie's Naked books because I was sent a pen saying "I'm a Naked Reader" figured if I was advertising as such I better become one.

Hellie Sinclair said...

I'm horrible on books.

However, once I started buying Harry Potter in hardback, I became vigilant about bookmarks. I do not dogear my HP books. Nor my Twilight books. And if I think mightily of the romance author I'm reading, I find a bookmark for them too. However, that's about my only concession. I eat while I read; and I read in the bathtub...so it's not like I'm not abusing the books. I am.

I did buy one book because of a bookmark--but only because the premise sounded cool. Only when I got the book, the story wasn't very interesting. Sorry.

You want me to buy your book, have someone recommend it to me that I trust.

Nancy said...

Barb, congrats on the GR!

And to hell with the binding.
{{shudder}}

Gak! Just seeing this in print makes me flinch. Gak!

To me, all books are potential keepers. I do re-read, though it takes me longer to get back to a given book than it used to. If you crack the back, as I was patiently, which took some effort, trying to explain to you, Cassondra, but you were sleepy and not apparently absorbing my extremely lucid point, the glue doesn't hold anymore and pages start to fall out, and you can't re-read. Dreadful.

You need all the pages to re-read the book. *sigh*

You didn't mention those antique books had that kind of stuff in them. That's valuable research material, bandita.

Nancy said...

Jane, I do occasionally use a bookmark, but this requires me to remember to pull one from the little basket on the sideboard. I rarely buy a book because of a bookmark, but the bookmark does put the author's name in my head, and I might buy a later book because of that.

It's amazing, the condition library books are sometimes in, isn't it? You gotta wonder what previous borrowers did.

Then there are the borrowers who "lose" books, like out of print resources on period dress or limited print run memoirs on esoteric subjects. Yeah. Lost it. Pull the other one! Them, I'd like to pillory.

Nancy said...

Barb, your comment reminded me that the book beside the bed actually does sort of have a bookmark--a scrap of paper I tore off a page I was discarding. We do actually have a lovely selection of bookmarks, including several metal ones such as Cassondra described, but they're in the dining room. I'm not.

Hmm. Maybe relocation is in order.

Nancy said...

Helen, I know Cindy will be glad her package arrived. She's currently traveling and won't see this, so we'll let her know.

You and I clearly are kindred spirits. I really try not to break the spine of a book. This can be tricky with mass market paperbacks, especially the fat ones so popular in science fiction and fantasy. I'm sometimes reading with the book in a V shape, peering into the inner edge of the page. If it has a deep gutter or margin on the spine side, it's no problem. If it doesn't, I sometimes have to crack it anyway. *sigh*

Recently finished one like that, and despite my best efforts, the middle cracked. Not too badly, I hope.

Nancy said...

Dianna, the DH once got me a funny little book about book addiction, and one of the examples in it was something like "your car breaks down in the desert, and out of boredom you: a) read the owner's manual; b) count all the towns on the map; c) get out of the car and run in place; d) none of the above because you always have a book with you, so you read."

This is usually me. I take two books, minimum, when I go out of town--so I have a choice for bedtime reading, depending on my mood.

Nancy said...

Gillian, I think all the bookmark-generating authors will be pleased you're acting on their promos. I would be. :-)

Unknown said...

Hi y'all. I'm up early, working a bit because I'm behind. I have not had coffee yet, and am wearing my sunglasses indoors to ward off the dread light and fatigue from not enough sleep and late-night internet problems, but I am here to face the firing squads and people with stakes, matches and diesel fuel who would burn me for defacing books. So....fire away...

Unknown said...

Hey barb, you got the rooster. WooHOOOOOOO!

How's he doing so far? What are y'all up to?

Nancy said...

Gigi wrote: I think of my books (paperbacks included) as friends. I treat then as friends.

Me, too. I suspect this may be partly because I became so absorbed in reading as a child and read so many library books. My parents were very firm that you did not, as Cassondra notes, mar things that did not belong to you. Also, my parents read a lot, and they didn't turn down pages. I don't remember seeing either of them use a bookmark, now that I think of it. Which doesn't mean they didn't, only that I didn't notice if they did.

I was a geeky kid, too, a little out of step with others my age, and books were always there for me. That may have something to do with it as well.

Or it could just be I'm anal. *g*

Nancy said...

Cassondra, you're up! Didja notice the non-page-benders are in the lead? *g*

And here I thought I'd have time to propagandize before you surfaced.

Unknown said...

Jane, you're fairly firmly in the burn her at the stake camp I see.

I have no idea if someone dropped it in the sink or the toilet.

Now THAT I cannot abide. I never get my books wet, and I mourn if I spill stuff on it. I don't like the stains and the way the pages are never flat again after they've been wet. A once-wet book is just kind of.....sad.

I'm always happy to receive free bookmarks, pens and other promotional items and I have bought books that were advertised on those items because the story appealed to me.

So, what appeals to you most? Pictures of covers? A solid, intriguing brand for author or writing style or genre? Do you see some things which give you a sense of what that author's story might be like more effectively than others?

I just don't think I have the skill to discern much about a story by the teensy bit I get on a promo product. Or maybe it's that I'm so darn busy I just don't pay attention to those kinds of details on a product I'm using for something else. Clearly, I am NOT an ad agency's dream market.:0/

Nancy said...

Joan wrote: (The whole remembering page number like Nancy???? Whoa!)

Would it surprise you to know that I was able to decide which printing of the Classics Illustrated Comic Book version of Lorna Doone to buy at our local con because I recognized the cover as the one I had in 3rd grade?

Many years later, I bought a nice, hardback edition of the actual book because of that comic book. I might argue it was one of my earliest romance reading experiences.

Y'know, comic books are supposed to be kept pristine. That may influence my reading habits, too. Beat up a comic book, and it's worthless. Unless it's extremely rare. Like Action Comics #1, Superman's debut.

Nancy said...

Melanie wrote: I am real picky when it comes to my books - no bending pages, opening the book to wide, flipping back covers or anything else. Most my books look brand new and anyone who borrows a book gets the lecture on how to treat it and how it is to look when I get it back.

A kindred spirit! This is me! Except I don't lend books anymore. I loaned out a signed Sue Grafton and my favorite Tony Hillerman (both hardbacks), the first one I bought of his, and they never came home, so I'm done.

I loaned a bunch of paperbacks to a friend once. They left home pristine and came back beaten to pieces, and that was the last time I did that.

If you don't re-read the book, it doesn't matter if it falls apart. If you do, it seriously does.

Unknown said...

barb said:

I am like Jane I could never turn a page down.... I have a go at my brother when he does that.....

Ah, see? I knew I was treading on dangerous ground when I wrote this blog. Telling a bunch of fellow book lovers that you turn down the pages of books is sort of like thinking you're bullet-proof, isn't it? *sigh*

I also read in bed and put the book mark on the bedside table to use when I need it .... I actually use a book mark that I have made on the embroidery sewing machine.....

Okay you are just WAY more organized, precise, and domestic than I shall EVER be. Maybe you could stand close to me and some of it would rub off by osmosis or something.

I do have authors book marks and pens are always useful ... I have never been to reader or writers conference but am looking forward going to the Australian Romance Reader Association conference next year

OH, you'll come away with TONS of bookmarks and stuff I'll bet. Conferences are like little homeless shelters for promotional products. Always overcrowded with more goodies than could ever be used.

Nancy said...

Ms. Hellion, I'm more likely to buy based on a recommendation, too. I like to browse in the bookstore, and I might pick something up to look at it based on an intriguing bookmark. Now that so many stores are cutting back their inventory, though, browsing becomes more difficult.

Unknown said...

Helen said:

I was throwing fruit at you when you said you turned the corners down in your books never will I do that I always use bookmarks or at least a piece of paper I don't think I have ever turned the corner down on a book and I am so careful with bending them I am padantic about my books I have to look after them they mean so much to me.

*sniff* Oh, Helen, you make me cry with your devotion to the books! *sniff*

It's interesting because I have this deep devotion to the books too, but something about using them hard doesn't bother me. Of course, I love primitive antiques as well--all beat up and showing the wear of the lives they've lived. There is petty much nothing shiny in my home. When I pick up a book that's rumpled because I've read it over and over, I kind of love it more. I know that probably makes absolutely no sense.

Isn't that strange? I would probably be the kind of parent that roughhoused with her kids a lot too. Right down there in the mud making mud pies with them.

I USE stuff, and like it better because it looks well-loved. I never thought of it until you said it this way, but I DO like my books better when they're showing a little living. Hmmmm.....

pjpuppymom said...

Sorry, Cassondra. I'm firmly in the bookmark camp. No turned down corners for this girl.

I love collecting bookmarks! I have oodles of them. Some are "keepers" and not used in books while others are well loved and put to use often. I have so much fun hitting the goody room at conferences and gathering up new bookmarks. I hand them out to people I know to promote authors I like, send them out in prize packages from our blog and have even been known to pass a few out in the book aisle at Walmart. Oh, you haven't tried (fill in the Bandita author) yet? Here's one of her bookmarks with the title of her latest release. Give her a try!

I discovered some new-to-me authors whose books I'm now enjoying, after picking up their bookmarks at last year's National.

Unknown said...

aka Dianna said:

I haved bought books based on a bookmark, I use the pens with pride and will tell anyone that asks all about the author whose name is on that pen.

Oh, that is just AWESOME! And so cool about the Tawny keyring and the cover flats on your desk. I think that must be the key to good use of bookmarks. have them around everywhere so there's always one near. Hmmmmm...Perhaps I could adopt this strategy for a while and see how it goes. I doubt it will work though.

And something you said, about carrying a book in your bag--I do this too--nearly always have a book with me--and if there's a bookmark in it and the bookmark sticks up above the top of the book, the bookmark just gets TOTALLY RUINED--all bent over and just nasty. I hate that floppy-topped bookmark drooping out of the top of a book. So I don't use one. Weird, twisted logic I guess, and once again, I never even thought about it til you said what you said.

Wow....it's a day for self-discovery. Perhaps this therapy will help reform me to the use of bookmarks!

pjpuppymom said...

Cassondra said: Conferences are like little homeless shelters for promotional products. Always overcrowded with more goodies than could ever be used.

So true! At last year's National, the goody room monitor was begging us to "take more!"

Unknown said...

Gillian Layne said:

And yup, I'd buy a book based on a gorgeous bookmark and a hint of a blub that caught my eye. I'm easy like that. ;)

Now see....the little blurb might do it for me. I could go there. If it's a good little blurb, well-chosen, it might intrigue me to buy the book. But a pen? I love having pens with my friends names on them, but if I didn't know that author, would I buy the book because I got a pen with her name on it? No way.

Good to know that other readers WOULD do so though.

I hope authors out there are flattered that my copies of their books are a bit tattered. It means I've loved it so much it's traveled about the house and on errands with me. Or been read six times.

YES! A rumpled book is a happy book. That's how I feel.

Goody room--Love the bookmarks, pens, notepads. I picked up a small mirror once I still carry. Nail files are also wonderful, as I'm always losing mine.

Ha! But can you say, without looking, whose names are on those items? No cheating!

Unknown said...

gigi said:

The answer to the would I buy because of a goodie. The answer is, yes. I have bought many books because of a book mark or a pen.
There are authors I never would have tried had it not been for the pretty book cover on the bookmark or the website address that I would visit to read more about the book.
Also the cooler and niftier the goodie the more apt i am to look for an authors book on the shelf of the internet.


REALLY!!!!???

Actually that's awesome, and good to hear, because I never even look at the pen I'm using unless it's a particularly attractive pen, and then I'm looking more at the style and design than at the logo. I don't think I would ever take the time to visit someone's website because I had a pen in my hand with their name on it (unless it was something really different that intrigued me) but I am so glad that marketing like this actually does make a differnece to some people. I was not expecting this outcome to the questions.

Huh...maybe I'm the only one who simply ignores stuff like this. I've become so jaded to marketing that it gets filtered out.

Unknown said...

Joanie said:

And I'm with Gillian. A worn, tattered, spine bent book means it is READ.....and enjoyed and appreciated. What better compliment can an author have?

Oh, good. I will not burn at the stake alone. Thank goodness. I was feeling a little lonely standing in this big pile of thrown fruit.

Unknown said...

Melanie said:

Being as I have not been to a conference yet, attending my first one in July (RomCon), I have just been introduced to all the extras. Can say I love the pens and the bookmarks aren't to bad, think the postcards are just a waste I mean what do I do with those.

I kinda feel this way too, about the postcards. I mean, time was that postcards were made because you actually MAILED the card to your mailing list of fans, so they'd know you had a new book out. With the advent of email, that seems to have fallen by the wayside. It's also very expensive to use snail mail now. I do know some people collect those cover flat cards, and I don't know many authors who don't eventually make them, especially if they have a provocative cover. Like Joanie said earlier, a lot of us are visual and will buy based on a really appealing cover.

Have even started reading Sally Mackenzie's Naked books because I was sent a pen saying "I'm a Naked Reader" figured if I was advertising as such I better become one.

Now that's interesting. Putting something on the pen which intrigues teh reader and taunts him/her into buying a book. That's good marketing right there. I'll have to think more about that.

Unknown said...

Oh, and Melanie, this is part of why I never loan out books except for extremely rare occasions. If you are yearning for a book I have, if it's still in print in paperback, I'm more likely to go and buy you one than to loan mine. Cuz they never come home. And although I do treat books kind of roughly in comparison to some, the way they come back to me looking? OMG. It's like they've been run over by a car! Pages falling out and crumpled. What did they do, sit on the thing? Store it under their pillow at night? WHAT? My books look pristine compared to the way some people treat them. That's too much, even for me.

So nope. No loaning books. I'll give them away, but no loaning.

Yes, now I shall not only burn at the stake, but go to hell for being mean, too. :0(

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: Yes, now I shall not only burn at the stake, but go to hell for being mean, too

And I'll be in the pit beside you since I no longer loan books either.

Unknown said...

MsHellion said:

I eat while I read; and I read in the bathtub...so it's not like I'm not abusing the books. I am.

OH, good. Another to burn beside me.

And this is how I am too. If I have a hardcover series, I take very good care of those, and I don't turn the pages down on those either. I will use the dust jacket flap as a bookmark if I'm desperate.

Paperbacks are another story. They get tossed around and abused and...well..loved.

And see...that's sort of strange isn't it? A book is a book after all. But a hardcover is more like....furniture or something. More permanent. Like it should last forever. And frankly, I don't buy them any more becasue I don't have room. If it ONLY comes in hardcover, I'll buy that.

Paperbacks just have this sense of "temporary" to me. Like it's the travel size and meant to be used hard. Paperbacks are the 4-wheel drive, sport utility vehicle of books. Big hardcovers are the waxed-to-a-high-shine museum pieces which never leave the garage for fear that a bird will do its business on the paint.

And I'd prefer to read paperbacks. Yes, the type is smaller, but they're lighter, less cumbersome and more comfortable to hold and I don't have to worry about them as much.

You know how you walk into a private library of really old, nice books, and it has this sense of grandeur?

Paperbacks are less grand. And I don't want to be grand when I read. I want to relax, sip coffee or wine, and escape.

Deb said...

Gulp, confession time. I turn down the corners of the page. I have bookmarks, even a magnetic one, but they are never in the place where I happen to be reading my book. So, yes, I dog-ear the pages.

pjpuppymom said...

Nancy said:And I'll be in the pit beside you since I no longer loan books either.

I loaned the first three books of Robyn Carr's Virgin River trilogy to a neighbor. They left my house in pristine condition and came home looking like they'd been for a swim in the lake. Now I only loan books I don't plan on keeping.

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

If you crack the back, as I was patiently, which took some effort, trying to explain to you, Cassondra, but you were sleepy and not apparently absorbing my extremely lucid point, the glue doesn't hold anymore and pages start to fall out, and you can't re-read. Dreadful.

Nope. Not for me. Maybe I have industrial strength glue in my books, or maybe I just bend the spine and the cover and don't break it. (I actually don't like to completely break the spine. It feels wrong) But my pages never fall out. Anything else, though (except getting it very wet)is kosher. I have about three paperback books with pages falling out and they were stored in an attic for 15 years in 150 degree heat. I think the glue just gave up.

You need all the pages to re-read the book. *sigh*

Agreed. My pages don't get torn out or fall out, neither do they get crumpled up by being buried under the couch cushions and sat upon end-ways. Flat-ways....well, that could happen.

You didn't mention those antique books had that kind of stuff in them. That's valuable research material, bandita.

Yes, they are good research material. You can have them. Come and get them. If I need one, I'll borrow it from you. *GRIN* I promise to treat it well while I have it. *crosses heart*

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

Cassondra, you're up! Didja notice the non-page-benders are in the lead? *g*

And here I thought I'd have time to propagandize before you surfaced.


Ha! You think I wanted you out here campaigning without opportunity for rebuttal? Yes, I'm a vampire, but I can still read and type as long as I'm not in direct sunlight.

Unknown said...

In response to Joanie, Nancy said:

Would it surprise you to know that I was able to decide which printing of the Classics Illustrated Comic Book version of Lorna Doone to buy at our local con because I recognized the cover as the one I had in 3rd grade?


That's different. That's a visual thing, with which you were deeply impressed as a child. I would recognize some of those little books from the grocery store rack even now, as the same books I read and loved, and would know an old one from a new one by the covers I loved so much. Like Joanie, I'm visual that way, and having read your descriptive writing, I think you are as well.

But remembering the PAGE NUMBER? I'm never even aware of the page number I'm on. I often walk into the next room and can't remember what I went in there for and have to give up until it pops back into my head. I don't even make an attempt at page numbers. I don't have the extra gray matter to spare. I bow to your excess of it though.

Nancy said...

Cassondra, this is interesting. You bend the covers to the North Pole and back, but the spine doesn't crack. Are you, basically, rolling the cover and pages in your palm as you go?

You certainly can re-read if the spine doesn't break and all the pages are there. Although the whole concept still gives me the freak-out willies.

What's also amazing to me about loaners is, if you lend the book and it's pristine--does the borrower not notice that, not think s/he has a duty to return it in the same condition as when it left home? I thought that was, like, a rule with borrowed property, so why doesn't it extend to books?

Terri Osburn said...

I DO NOT bend pages. No dogearing in my house. I'm not as adament with the binding, but I prefer the book to stay closed when I close it.

Tons of bookmarks in my house (from said goody rooms and author signings and winning books on blogs like this that almost always show up with a lovely bookmark inside.) This means there is almost always a bookmark within reach.

And I'll admit, there have been times when one square of tp has been folding neatly to create a bookmark. Possibly TMI?

Bookmarks and pens would not make me buy a book. I'm guessing it's more for author name recognition, but often I don't pay attention to what author is on my pretty bookmarker.

Don't like anything bigger than traditional bookmarker size either. No use for anything bigger.

Nancy said...

Re: the remembering page numbers thing, Cassondra said: I don't have the extra gray matter to spare. I bow to your excess of it though.

I don't know that it's excess gray matter so much as it is luck. That's one of my few numeric skills, that and remembering phone numbers I use a lot. The boy can look at an algebraic equation and solve it in his head. I look at and feel my brain tilt.

I have yet to learn the channel numbers on the satellite service, though I have a few, like BBCAmerica, SyFy (dreadful name!) and USA Network down.

FWIW, the dh thinks the page number thing is spooky.

Unknown said...

PJ, I knew you'd be in THEIR camp on this one. That's okay. ;0)

I love collecting bookmarks! I have oodles of them. Some are "keepers" and not used in books while others are well loved and put to use often. I have so much fun hitting the goody room at conferences and gathering up new bookmarks. I hand them out to people I know to promote authors I like, send them out in prize packages from our blog and have even been known to pass a few out in the book aisle at Walmart. Oh, you haven't tried (fill in the Bandita author) yet? Here's one of her bookmarks with the title of her latest release. Give her a try!

You and your ilk are all godesses who deserve all good things. But what do you do, carry around a tote full of bookmarks or what? How do you have the right bookmark at just the right time? I don't even clip coupons any more because I forget I have them in my bag. The other day a lady saw me buying Biz on the laundry aisle and handed me a coupon for two dollars off. TWO WHOLE DOLLARS OFF! I forgot it by the time I got to the register. It was in the cash compartment of my purse and I paid with my debit card. Out of sight? Out of mind. Like everything non-essential to survival in modern life these days, it got deleted before it was even fully assimilated.

I discovered some new-to-me authors whose books I'm now enjoying, after picking up their bookmarks at last year's National.

Have you noticed anything in particular about certain bookmarks that make them more effective than others at getting you to pick up the author's book? Is it just the "oh, somebody new I hadn't heard of" factor? Or was there something about those which stood out from the crowd of stuff we're bombarded with in places like that?

Unknown said...

Cassondra wrote: Yes, now I shall not only burn at the stake, but go to hell for being mean, too

And Nancy said:

And I'll be in the pit beside you since I no longer loan books either.


Pull up a chair by the fire. Here, I snuck in a book. It's a little dog-eared, but it's a good read. You want a glass of extra-warm port? Everything's a little warm and dog-eared down here, but see, I'm used to it. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Gillian Layne said...

Cassondra, I CAN name names without looking. I'm still carrying the Fog City Divas blog mirror in my purse (I was so sad when they disbanded), Lori Foster's pen in my bookbag, and Christie Craig's pen is on my desk. Those little whatnots and dodads do make an impression on me. Maybe I'm just a reincarnated packrat...

Unknown said...

Yes, I'm losing my mind from too little sleep.

Need. More. Coffee.

Unknown said...

Deb said:

Gulp, confession time. I turn down the corners of the page. I have bookmarks, even a magnetic one, but they are never in the place where I happen to be reading my book. So, yes, I dog-ear the pages.

Oh good. We're forming a group. Perhaps they won't have enough firewood or kerosene to burn us all at once. Here, have some fruit. I have a whole pile of it. You can cut off that bruised part where they threw it.

pjpuppymom said...

Have you noticed anything in particular about certain bookmarks that make them more effective than others at getting you to pick up the author's book?

I just pulled three bookmarks from my stash: "The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor" (anthology), Margaret Rowe's "Tempting Eden" and Kandy Shepherd's "Love is a Four-Legged Word." What catches my attention about these? The colors. They are all very pleasing to the eye. They all show a picture of the book cover and they all include a blurb about the story. They also show the book's publisher, publication date and the author's website address. With the exception of reading the first few pages (which I don't do before buying anyway), they tell me everything I'd discover by taking the book off the store shelf.

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

You bend the covers to the North Pole and back, but the spine doesn't crack. Are you, basically, rolling the cover and pages in your palm as you go?

I dunno. By the time I'm done, they'll lay flat on the table but I still have to hold them down. Maybe it's because I do it gradually as I move through the book and it eases into the extreme bend. Not that I do this on purpose or anything. But it's paper, and I think of paper as bendable. The spines of my books bend. I almost never hear a crack. I hate that crack sound. I don't try hard to NOT hear it. Maybe I just don't force the spine abruptly and that's why it works? I have no idea.


What's also amazing to me about loaners is, if you lend the book and it's pristine--does the borrower not notice that, not think s/he has a duty to return it in the same condition as when it left home? I thought that was, like, a rule with borrowed property, so why doesn't it extend to books?


I'm not sure it extends to anything any more. I have certain neighbors to which I will loan anything they need, even expensive power tools, or my cars. But they are like me, and if I break it while I've got it, they will repair or replace it. That's just the rule I live by. Most people nowadays don't live by this ethic.

If I borrowed a book (and I would not borrow one which was very rare unless I needed it badly adn then I would treat it with extreme gentle care)and it DID get damaged, I would return it and there would be another, NEW copy alongside it when I returned it. That's just the way I do things.

Nancy said...

Cassondra, you don't hear the crack with a paperback--it just appears as a crease down the spine.

I once saw a character on TV come in from buying a new, massive hardback and methodically break the spine in three places, roughly 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 through the book, so it would lie flat.

I yelled at the TV.

Nancy said...

PJ, you don't read before you buy? Why not? What if you don't like the author's voice?

Unknown said...

TerriOsburn said:

Bookmarks and pens would not make me buy a book. I'm guessing it's more for author name recognition, but often I don't pay attention to what author is on my pretty bookmarker.

In this, we are alike. A pretty graphic or a great cover will catch my eye, and make me read the little blurb. If I love the blurb enough, I'll go find the book maybe. Bookmarks with only a brand or author name won't get my attention.

Don't like anything bigger than traditional bookmarker size either. No use for anything bigger.

In this, we differ. It's one reason I decided to do this blog. As Helen mentioned, the Bandits just did a bookmark, and we'll proabably have an official launch here one of these days. And it is bigger because there are so many of us on the back. Bigger also means stiffer, which I also find that I like. It's more like a hardcover book in that it feels more permanent, and it holds up better with the book in my bag. It's not all creased and broken and flopping nastily over the top of my book. It's still straight.

I figured I'd give these away but never use one. But I'm using this one. Perhaps I've just never found the RIGHT bookmark for me until I found a larger one. I've never had larger ones before. Only the normal size, "right for paperback" ones. Interesting that we all have such distinct preferences, isn't it?

Unknown said...

Gillian said:

Cassondra, I CAN name names without looking. I'm still carrying the Fog City Divas blog mirror in my purse (I was so sad when they disbanded), Lori Foster's pen in my bookbag, and Christie Craig's pen is on my desk. Those little whatnots and dodads do make an impression on me. Maybe I'm just a reincarnated packrat...

That's AWESOME! You're a marketer's dream!

Is there something distinctive about THOSE particular items? I know you loved the FCDivas and mourn their loss (as do we all) but as to the item itself, is it a great writing pen? Is it pretty?

Is the mirror packaged a certain way, or is it a certain size that's more convenient than others?

You certainly have come across others, but you keep Christie Craig's pen on your desk. Why hers?

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

FWIW, the dh thinks the page number thing is spooky.

I agree with the DH. *takes a step back and slightly sideways out of range of Nancy's squinty-eye look, just in case*

Unknown said...

PJ said:

I just pulled three bookmarks from my stash: "The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor" (anthology), Margaret Rowe's "Tempting Eden" and Kandy Shepherd's "Love is a Four-Legged Word." What catches my attention about these? The colors. They are all very pleasing to the eye. They all show a picture of the book cover and they all include a blurb about the story. They also show the book's publisher, publication date and the author's website address. With the exception of reading the first few pages (which I don't do before buying anyway), they tell me everything I'd discover by taking the book off the store shelf.

So, we are alike in that good graphics and enough information are the keys. Not an easy combination to get of course. And I would guess it takes practice and an objective marketing eye to decide what to put on that little piece of advertising. A good one is very nearly a piece of fine art and commercial art at the same time

pjpuppymom said...

PJ, you don't read before you buy? Why not?

I'm just weird, I guess. I don't like to start reading until I'm settled in and ready to continue.

What if you don't like the author's voice?

This hasn't happened to me very often but, when it does, I either donate the book or toss it in my UBS bag.

pjpuppymom said...

As Helen mentioned, the Bandits just did a bookmark, and we'll probably have an official launch here one of these days.

Yay! Can't wait to see it!

We just had bookmarks made for The Romance Dish. It cost a little more but, after reading the comments, I'm glad we spent the money to get a nice, sturdy one that's glossy on both sides.

Cassandra, in answer to your earlier question: When I have a few bookmarks from a favorite author, I'll put them in an envelope or a small ziploc bag and carry them in my purse so I can share.

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

Cassondra, you don't hear the crack with a paperback--it just appears as a crease down the spine.

There are about a gazillion small creases down the spine of the paperback books where they have flexed. No one big crease. I think this must come from not forcing it at first, but allowing it to happen as I read the book.

I once saw a character on TV come in from buying a new, massive hardback and methodically break the spine in three places, roughly 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 through the book, so it would lie flat.

I yelled at the TV.


I could not do this, even to a paperback. The book would fall apart. My books will lie fairly flat with a little pressure from my hand (but I'm always in bed, so flat is seldom necessary, but I roll the cover around the back of the book a lot. (We're talking paperbacks exclusively here). When I take my hand off of the book, it will close itself very nearly shut. Not quite, but nearly. The glossy cover never gets over being rolled outward, but I don't care. When it's packed tight in a bookshelf, it doesn't matter.

Now...I have purposely broken the back of a textbook which I hated and which I could not re-sell, and which I was required to spend HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS per week studying (It was a really poorly-done textbook). I have also purposely broken the back of paperback workbooks in which I needed to WRITE in order to make use of them. (These should necessarily be spiral bound. Period.)

But those were tools. And I did not love them.

Terri Osburn said...

ACK! No rolling! LOL! If the Bandita Bookmark will fit in a paperback without sticking out all over (sticking out at the bottom bothers me) then I will bend *g* my rules, of course. Can't wait to see it.

Gillian made me have to look to see whose mirror I carry in my purse. Someone Capshaw. Fits perfectly in a little pocket and always there when I need it. But as we can tell, didn't even know who the author was who paid for it. Now I feel bad.

Christie Craig's pens (the one I have anyway) is a bobblehead pen with a suction cup cat that makes it stand up on your desk. Coolest thing ever. Even has a little wisp of hair that sticks up. LOL!

Forgot to say, a blurb on a really pretty bookmark that shows the cover may get me to try something new. But I don't always looks. I know there's a bookmark in my living room right now that I keep glancing over. I should see what that is.

Unknown said...

TerriOsburn said:

ACK! No rolling! LOL! If the Bandita Bookmark will fit in a paperback without sticking out all over (sticking out at the bottom bothers me) then I will bend *g* my rules, of course. Can't wait to see it.

Nope. It won't. It's big. It's a pretty bookmark though I think. In my world, bigger is usually better because little things end up just being more clutter, or lost in the other clutter. And if it's not tough, it will get destroyed.

Gillian made me have to look to see whose mirror I carry in my purse. Someone Capshaw. Fits perfectly in a little pocket and always there when I need it. But as we can tell, didn't even know who the author was who paid for it. Now I feel bad.

Don't feel bad. This is my point. You are like me in that even if you use an item, you don't know who made it. Probably Carla Capshaw. Hey, at least you still HAVE it. This says to me that it worked at least half way, but not the way we, as marketers, want our promo items to work. At least not for YOU. For Gillian, it worked all the way, which is interesting.

Christie Craig's pens (the one I have anyway) is a bobblehead pen with a suction cup cat that makes it stand up on your desk. Coolest thing ever. Even has a little wisp of hair that sticks up. LOL! Now this, apparantly, works all the way. You kept the pen, and you knew whose pen it was without looking, right?

Forgot to say, a blurb on a really pretty bookmark that shows the cover may get me to try something new. But I don't always look. I know there's a bookmark in my living room right now that I keep glancing over. I should see what that is.

So every now and then it works. Interesting. And maybe that's the goal. To get enough "every now and thens" to have a larger over all effect.

I have one thing I got years ago at a conference and I still carry it. It's a little business card holder. I want a card holder for each of my bags so I don't have to transfer them when I pick up that bag, and I always have a card with me. It's from Novel Talk. I dunno if they're even still in business, but I know who made that card holder. It was effective marketing for me.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Oooh, conspiracy! Helen and Barbara in contention for the GR...

Grins.

Cassondra...*shakes head, winces* you KNOW how I feel about this...

Hahahah. Seriously, I'm quite curious about what everyone's said so far, so I have to go read comments. Be back in a bit...

Unknown said...

Jeeez-o-flip.

I hit some combination of buttons on my laptop and the blog expanded to great big font. I feel like I need to back away from the screen now. I don't know how to make it go back. :0(

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said:
Then there are the borrowers who "lose" books, like out of print resources on period dress or limited print run memoirs on esoteric subjects. Yeah. Lost it. Pull the other one! Them, I'd like to pillory.


Oooh, yes. I'll snap the lock on the other side of the pillory and gather the basket of overripe fruits and bad veg. Grrr.

(Remember, I am not only a librarian's daughter, I have a library degree. Grrrrr to stealing the book just because you like it....grrrrr!)

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: d) none of the above because you always have a book with you, so you read."

Hahahah! Yes. I'd choose D. I've always got one in purse or car, and if not I would indeed read the owners manual.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: Would it surprise you to know that I was able to decide which printing of the Classics Illustrated Comic Book version of Lorna Doone to buy at our local con because I recognized the cover as the one I had in 3rd grade?

Nope. WOuldn't surprise me a bit. Then again, I'm very visual too and remember that sort of stuff too. I guess we're co-geeks on that one.

p226 said...

I used to be a corner-bender. I didn't care. I did it for spite, you see. Because, the anti-corner-benders were so vehement about how evil a sin it is, I just... I couldn't resist the decadence. So... I turned corners.

Then... for a while... I started feeling a little guilty about it. "You know, this is a very good book, and, well, someone else might want to read it... and it might be distracting for them to see all my dog-eared page corners... I'll be nice."

So, I used bookmarks.

Bookmark after bookmark after bookmark. Because, apparently, I can keep a bookmark for about 11 seconds. After that, it vanishes. Now, I don't mean I "lose" them. I mean, the damn thing vanishes. Gone. Poof. Winks out of existence. Bookmarks are magic that way.

I've often wondered where they go. I kind of picture some kind of demonic imp on one of the lower planes of hell sitting atop a seven thousand foot pile of metaphysically confiscated bookmarks, and cackling maniacally. Yeah. That's probably where they go.

But I have defeated the imp! Soundly! I have determined, that even the imp has taste. As such, he/she/it has absolutely no interest in my new bookmark. It is a single square of white, quilted, squeezably-soft toilet paper. It smells like lilac or something. And the demon-bookmark-thief-in-hell doesn't want it.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Oh, good. I will not burn at the stake alone. Thank goodness. I was feeling a little lonely standing in this big pile of thrown fruit.

Good point here? Fruit covered stakes don't burn well...you're safe...grins.

Unknown said...

P226 said:

I kind of picture some kind of demonic imp on one of the lower planes of hell sitting atop a seven thousand foot pile of metaphysically confiscated bookmarks, and cackling maniacally. Yeah. That's probably where they go.

That must be where all of mine go when I think they've just fallen under the furniture. Yup. Poof. Just like yours. Even my expensive moon-shaped metal ones. I want those back, by the way. Maybe we should organize a raid.

But I have defeated the imp! Soundly! I have determined, that even the imp has taste. As such, he/she/it has absolutely no interest in my new bookmark. It is a single square of white, quilted, squeezably-soft toilet paper. It smells like lilac or something. And the demon-bookmark-thief-in-hell doesn't want it.

Ahahahahahaha!

Hmmmm. I don't want it either. Very shrewd of you.

Unknown said...

Jeanne said:

Good point here? Fruit covered stakes don't burn well...you're safe...grins.

Well, some of them were clearly going out for larger cans of kerosene. I was getting a little worried for a while.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: I would treat it with extreme gentle care)and it DID get damaged, I would return it and there would be another, NEW copy alongside it when I returned it. That's just the way I do things.

Amen, sistah!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said I've often wondered where they go. I kind of picture some kind of demonic imp on one of the lower planes of hell sitting atop a seven thousand foot pile of metaphysically confiscated bookmarks, and cackling maniacally. Yeah. That's probably where they go.

But I have defeated the imp! Soundly! I have determined, that even the imp has taste. As such, he/she/it has absolutely no interest in my new bookmark. It is a single square of white, quilted, squeezably-soft toilet paper. It smells like lilac or something. And the demon-bookmark-thief-in-hell doesn't want it.


Oh. My. Lord.

I now need to clean the keyboard and go tell my neighbor why I was hollering with laughter. (I have the window open, she heard me LOL. Somehow, I don't think the joke is going to convey, though)

ROFLMAO!!! Snork, snork, snork.

Terri Osburn said...

Great, the only other person to admit to using tp is the guy. Not sure what that says about me, but I feel I'm in good company. And I'm helping defeat the demonic imp.

I remember the Christie pen partially because she's my friend and because I see it on my desk every day. She also sent me a pizza cutter, which I use a lot. It tied into her pizza delivering heroine. Ideas like that are golden.

And that should be a "sunction cup caP", just to make that clear. LOL! Yes, Carla Capshaw!

Terri Osburn said...

That Bandita bookmark sounds good enough to frame. I'd definitely hang that one up in my writing space. Wonderful inspiration.

Unknown said...

TerriOsburn said:

That Bandita bookmark sounds good enough to frame. I'd definitely hang that one up in my writing space. Wonderful inspiration.

It really did turn out pretty I think. We're all really proud of them, and we're going to do something fun with the launch I think.

I think it's our logo--the mask with the rose. I don't mean to brag, though I suppose I'd be bragging on the artist--suz's daughter (and I ALWAYS spell her name wrong) Lyndsey. She did the art and I've always thought she did a stunning job and that our logo was really pretty. It transfers well to all kinds of things. We did balloons one year for National, and they turned out nice. Sometimes a professional eye makes all the difference, and hers is very good.

I can't remember who did our bookmarks. Donna was in charge of that. We'll tell, I'm certain, and give her credit when we do the bookmark launch.

Susanna Fraser said...

I always bookmark, but most of my bookmarks are convenient found objects--used baseball tickets, subscription cards that fall out of magazines, and now that we've just bought a house, paint color sample cards. For the first few months after a conference I have actual bookmarks, which is kinda cool, but then they all fall between the sofa cushions or get left in library books and I'm back to last week's M's vs. Twins ticket or Martha Stewart Cornbread (and a very tasteful muted yellow it is, that looks just as good in a paperback as it does on our living room walls).

I don't think I've ever bought a book based on a bookmark or other conference swag, so I'm fascinated to see that many people have--at least when there's an eye-catching cover involved. Maybe I'd better budget money for bookmarks and postcards after all...

Unknown said...

Susanna Fraser said:

I don't think I've ever bought a book based on a bookmark or other conference swag, so I'm fascinated to see that many people have--at least when there's an eye-catching cover involved. Maybe I'd better budget money for bookmarks and postcards after all...

This is exactly the way I feel. I'm so surprised to find this many people actually being affected by these items. I would have said, "Nobody buys a book because of a pen or a bookmark." I might have even wagered a little money on it because I'm so oblivious to those things. I would have lost, though, and I'm actually kind of glad about that.

Gillian Layne said...

Terry's right--my C.Craig pen looks like that too, which makes me grin, which makes it a keeper.

The little mirror is just handy! Perfect size, and weighs nothing.

Pens are keepers when they work. Some, sadly, just don't. And bright colors help a lot, because it's a black hole at the bottom of my purse.

How on earth do you folks read a paperback without breaking the spine? It's the first thing I do, so it lays flat. It doesn't make my hands hurt so much to hold it.

I love the bigger--trade?--paperbacks because they lay flat when open.

Unknown said...

Gillian Layne said:

How on earth do you folks read a paperback without breaking the spine? It's the first thing I do, so it lays flat. It doesn't make my hands hurt so much to hold it.


THIS! I would not read them if I could not be comfortable doing so. Probably why I don't read hardbacks much. They're cumbersome.

Susan Sey said...

Oh, Cassondra, you & I? We'll get along just fine. Not only do I bend back the pages of my books, I bring them into the tub with me. When pressed for time & toddler-free space, I'll take 'em into the SHOWER. Yeah, if you hold them up high enough, you can keep the pages relatively dry. It's the only way I can finish a chapter sometimes. I retreat to the shower.

And there. Now you know everything. Let the recriminations begin. (Sorry, Nancy & Jeanne. I know I'm bad. I just...I need to finish a chapter sometimes.)

Pissenlit said...

GahAckArghEekEep! *twitch twitch* Noooooooooooo!! Must. Not. Harm. Books. I don't turn down corners, I try my best not to break spines(when I do it's probably from too many rereads), I don't mark up any types of books(all my art history textbooks from university are covered in post-it notes...though to be fair, I have an aversion to highlighters). I once saved a Dan Brown book from going in the trash at my cousin's house and I can't even stand Dan Brown!

Nope, I don't believe a bookmark or a pen has directly caused me to buy a book yet though I have looked some authors up because of them and kept some in mind. I've had someone ask me about a pen I was using once(it was a colour changing one depending on the temp of your hand!) and so I got to mention the author and the book and the series it came from(I owned the books but that didn't stem from getting the pen and bookmark).

So, from experience...
Good:
Pens, postcards, cover flats, bookmarks(though I don't usually use them unless maybe they're book thongs), samplers(super awesome and really eeeeeevil 'cause they hook you in and make you want to find out what happens next), post-it notes(super useful and other people see them), full-sized yo-yos(I have a yo-yo weakness...I think I currently have a promotional one in a coat pocket), temporary tattoos(I looked up an author/book because of one, once and if one's lying around and I'm bored, I might slap it on!)

Promotional fails:
Key fobs with a book's cover on it(too big to use), t-shirts that are unwearable due to size and bookmarks that are taller than the book it's promoting(gets all bent up). Oh and I once got a handmade bookmark that didn't have the author's name or the book's title on it and though I could tell what genre it was for, I can't remember who handed them out. It's awful that someone put so much effort into something so anonymous.

Silvia said...

I love those bookmarks. I have a modest collection of them and are always happy to get some more. There almost as good as a book. Okay, that's a lie but they're cute and I just love 'm.

Helen said...

Great comments everyone

I have books that are very well read and you can see that some of them were my Mums and I agree that a book that looks well read must be a great story.

In my bag at the moment I have pens from Tawny and Donna and I love pulling them out when some says has someone got a pen but I do hover close and make sure I get them back LOL.

I have nail files as well in my bag from Avon that were given out at the ARRA Awards and they are so handy to have in your bag.

I have a drawer in my "library" room that is filled with little bits and pieces that I have collected over the years and whenever I get something more to put in there I love looking at what I have and remembering where I got it from LOL.

Barb and I will be having a cup of tea with the GR today I am sure she has learn't what he is truly like by know I will have to take some Tim Tams down for them both.

Have Fun
Helen

catslady said...

Say it isn't so!!!Never, never, never. Books are forever and I hate to see them purposely damaged. And highlighters are even worse because I can't even read a book that's been marked (shudder).

chey said...

I rarely turn down the pages of a book, or write in it--and only if I own it. Doesn't matter what kind of cover or who wrote it. I don't really have a keeper shelf. I think keep it nice for the next time it's read--by anyone.
I don't think a bookmark would cause me to buy a book. It might make me remember the author's name the next time I was looking for books.

gamistress66 said...

I admit I use to turn down page corners when I was younger. Now days I'll occasionally use a real bookmark. Most often it's just a piece of paper or something else handy to use a bookmark. For hardcovers, the flap of the book cover that they put on them often works quite well (assuming the book isn't too thick). Napkins, reciepts, utensils, even the computer mouse or another book has also been known to come in handy.

One problem I found with turning corners is when you reread the book it can be difficult to tell if it's a new mark or an old mark that wasn't straightened or refolded on its own. When money was tight in my early years "on my own" and was often either raiding my old books or the library for reading material this could be annoying. Particularly when it was 3rd or 4th time or so the book was being read -- to many marked pages to track.

I don't carry books with me on a regular basis (I'd never get any work done) but will take 2-3 with me when traveling depending on the the length of the trip and planned activities. I'm a fairly quick reader so need to be sure there's enough to last ;)

Is there any such thing as too many pens???? I've got over half dozen pens/pencils/highlighters just sitting on the desk by the keyboard and still can have trouble finding one when needed. Edibles and toys also make for nice goodies (I may not buy what they sell but I still like them):)

Nancy said...

Susan--the shower?! The tub, I can see, but the shower?! I read in the tub but carefully toss the book far away from the drip zone before I exit.

This ranks right up there with--might even trump--what some people from my fandom days claimed to do, which was eat cookies in the shower. This claim set off a vigorous debate (with two-month time lags since this was before the internet and that's how often we all exchanged comments) on the advisability of this practice, only some of which was printable in a public forum.

I'm guessing the book takes on a certain degree of moisture?

春樺春樺 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nancy said...

Cassondra said: Everything's a little warm and dog-eared down here, but see, I'm used to it. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sneaky, DeHo, sneaky!

I just got back from taking the boy shopping to prepare for his big trip this summer. Our task list included finding small, inexpensive gifts for the host family who'll be housing him for a few days, people about whom we know nothing, including the level of their English fluency, except that they are Japanese. The NC state flower is the dogwood, and the boy found a nice little metal bookmark with a dogwood on it. BUT . . . it's the kind of bookmark that clips onto the page {{shudder}}. Like a giant paperclip.

We looked at it, and I said, "You know, boy, we-the-anal-retentive don't clip things onto book pages."

He looked back and said, "We're going to assume these people aren't like that." *sigh*

And he breaks the backs of his books. Clearly, the acorn fell a bit far from the tree in this regard. Plus the whole math thing.

OTOH, he also finds his tribe at DragonCon, as I do, so there's that.

Nancy said...

Pissenlit said: GahAckArghEekEep! *twitch twitch* Noooooooooooo!! Must. Not. Harm. Books. I don't turn down corners, I try my best not to break spines(when I do it's probably from too many rereads),

A woman after my own heart! Though I did have to highlight textbooks and still do. I highlight too much to use sticky notes instead.

I don't throw away books, either. I just can't. I donate them. It doesn't matter whose they are or how little or much I liked them. I just cannot put a book in the trash.

I even have trouble throwing away completed crossword puzzle books. I do write in those because, well, you kind of have to. I give them to the dh and let him throw them away. He loves throwing things away. It makes him happy. Compensates, sort of, for my "NO! I might want to order something from that catalog!" (which is why I keep finding things like Christmas 2009 catalogs, which I forget to recycle and he won't unless he knows I'm done with them).

As a general practice, though, he wouldn't throw a book away either. He's just a little less nutso that way than I am.

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

Nancy said...
the first one I bought of his, and they never came home, so I'm done.

I did that too, I had a signed Stacey Kayne that I loaned to an avid western reader and it never made the trip back home. I also loaned a book (not signed, I did learn that lesson well) and it was burned, another was soaked and I couldn't even get it back in the bookcase and yet another one was left on a leaky sink in the potty! Uh really? Your mothers didn't teach you to take better care of someone else's belongings than you do your own?? If I had done anything like that with someone else's belongings my mother would have killed me.

Nancy said...

Gamistress, you make an excellent point about the downside of turned corners on re-reading!

And no, I don't think there's any such thing as too many pens.

I'm also a fairly quick reader, which is another reason I take more than one book when I go anywhere.

Nancy said...

Dianna said: If I had done anything like that with someone else's belongings my mother would have killed me.

Yup, mine, too. And then my father would've wanted a word.

Nancy said...

Helen, it's good of you to help Barb entertain the GR. Just please don't feed him too many Tim Tams. He has a certain sense of entitlement.

Nancy said...

Catslady said: Say it isn't so!!!Never, never, never. Books are forever and I hate to see them purposely damaged.

Yup, yup! I agree. Except I did have to cave, as I've said, on the whole highlighter thing with textbooks.

Nancy said...

Silvia, I've heard that people sometimes collect bookmarks. I can see why--I think lots of them are very beautiful.

Nancy said...

Gillian, I read a paperback without breaking it by holding it in a V shape, about as wide a V as I think it can sustain without cracking. Usually works. Not always, though.

Unknown said...

Sorry, y'all. I got called away from the lair for a bit, but I'm back. Bwahahahahahaha.

Pat Cochran said...

Hello, Cassondra,

My library book usage through high
school ingrained in me avoidance
of the folding-down of pages. No
way, it wasn't my book! It has
carried over to today, I keep book
marks at my bedside and in the living room. All autographed books
and books won as prizes are added
to my keeper shelves. And it does sometimes matter who the author is.
Heavens to Betsy, no way would I
fold down the page of a Bandita
book! As to promo items, I mostly use the pens, notepads, and bookmarks. The item most enjoyed is always the CHOCOLATES!!!

Pat Cochran

Christine Wells said...

Cassondra, I know Nancy will kill me, but I'm with you--a book is to be read, IMO and anything that doesn't interfere with the reading is fine by me. I used to leave all my books face down at the page I was reading but dh nagged me about it so much that I now remember the page number.

Bookmarks--absolutely useless from my POV. I've had a really beautiful one for years and never bought the book it advertises, probably because I don't read much in that genre. But on the other hand, I do think they're good promo tools because they're small ads for your book that you can put in someone's hands. Even if it goes in the trash very soon after you hand it to someone, you've at least had the chance to get a visual in their minds, which they might recall later when they're in the store. Rather than your name or book title, which they are more likely to forget. And often people collect bookmarks and if they read in that genre they really will take notice and read the blurb. I think they're worth it from an author's POV!

Ooh, Barb, congrats on the rooster!

Another fab post today, Cassondra!

Unknown said...

Susan Sey said:

Oh, Cassondra, you & I? We'll get along just fine. Not only do I bend back the pages of my books, I bring them into the tub with me. When pressed for time & toddler-free space, I'll take 'em into the SHOWER. Yeah, if you hold them up high enough, you can keep the pages relatively dry. It's the only way I can finish a chapter sometimes. I retreat to the shower.


Smoov, you have small children. Nuff said, honey.

Unknown said...

Pissenlit said:

GahAckArghEekEep! *twitch twitch*

*slaps Pissenlit on back a few times*

SNAP OUT OF IT HONEY!

No books were harmed in the making of this blog. ;0)


See, I think promo only does any good if it gets you to a) go to the author's website or b) gets you to pick up the book or explore further. Of course, I would want the reader to like it, but buying Christmas presents for the whole world is not my intention (I'm a b*tch that way). The point is to get someone to try my book who might then like or LOVE my book and buy future books and tell friends, yadda yadda yadda....

I have been so pleasantly surprised to find that some of y'all actually have bought books because of pens or bookmarks.

Unknown said...

Pissenlit said:

Oh and I once got a handmade bookmark that didn't have the author's name or the book's title on it and though I could tell what genre it was for, I can't remember who handed them out. It's awful that someone put so much effort into something so anonymous.

How in the world did that escape notice? What a shame and waste!

Unknown said...

Silvia said:

I love those bookmarks. I have a modest collection of them and are always happy to get some more. There almost as good as a book. Okay, that's a lie but they're cute and I just love 'm.

Ah, yet another bookmark lover. Perhaps I need to find suitable containers to keep them handy, and therefore where I need them and easy to get to. Anything I have to dig for gets no attention, and believe me, in this house, I have to do a lot of digging.

Dianna Love said...

I never bend a page in a book I'm reading for pleasure. I'll bend the page on one I'm studying in a minute. I also don't keep up with bookmarks. I think bookmarks have a purpose, but - IMO - it's wasted to leave them in a goodie room of a "writers conference." Maybe in a goodie room for a readers event, but I don't see writers pouring through the bookmarks to choose a book. I do think putting them inside a book when you sign one for a reader is a good idea - put two in so the reader can share that with another reader.

Good luck with this. I'm returning to my writing cave that would make a good foxhole to hide in during this battle of the bookmarks.

Unknown said...

Helen said:

I have a drawer in my "library" room that is filled with little bits and pieces that I have collected over the years and whenever I get something more to put in there I love looking at what I have and remembering where I got it from LOL.



Oh Helen, you're sentimental in such a cool way. See? I would look at those things and think, "I have no freaking idea where I got any of this stuff." It wouldn't stick in that way. It's no secret that I live at too fast a pace, but this stuff just doesn't stick for long with me.

Unknown said...

catslady said:

Say it isn't so!!!Never, never, never. Books are forever and I hate to see them purposely damaged. And highlighters are even worse because I can't even read a book that's been marked (shudder).

Sorry. *hangs head, scuffs toe in dirt* I don't purposely damage them. I just use them. I read them. I don't baby them. And they get rumpled. Not crunched. Just...rumpled. And I actually like them that way. That one picture on the front page of the blog of the books on the shelf--those books wouldn't look nearly as cool, inviting, and lure me to their interesting, well-loved stories if they were pristine. They just wouldn't. Not for me. A pristine book says "bought, put on a shelf, and never read" to me.

For me, each of the little nicks and imperfections brought about by wear is like a little badge of honor. A mark of the book's fine character--a character which has drawn a reader so into the story he forgets even where he is.

But that imperfect, slightly mussed stuff fits me. Nothing about me is perfectly anything, and likely never will be. Maybe that's why I love primitive furniture and older, scuffed up books. They fit.

Unknown said...

Chey said:

I don't think a bookmark would cause me to buy a book. It might make me remember the author's name the next time I was looking for books.

Name recognition is an interesting concept for me. I think it's important, but I don't know if it drives sales or not. Of course, at the "household word" level, like The Nora--how 'bout that. Name recognition so profound that she even has designations that we all recognize--anyway, at the household world level, I'm sure name recognition has a major role. But at the beginning or midlist author stages?

I just don't know.

Unknown said...

gamistress66 said:

Is there any such thing as too many pens???? I've got over half dozen pens/pencils/highlighters just sitting on the desk by the keyboard and still can have trouble finding one when needed.

Oh yes, there are for me. I have HUGE containers stuffed full of pens, and frequently have to go through them and cull them because they get old and dry up and then I grab one when I need it and it doesn't write. I also am anal about pens writing smoothly. If it's a cheap, rotten pen, I trash it immediately. Good-writing pens--no, there are never enough of those. Although, everywehre I go in my house there are usually piles of pens in the way, so maybe even those can get overdone....

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

We looked at it, and I said, "You know, boy, we-the-anal-retentive don't clip things onto book pages."

He looked back and said, "We're going to assume these people aren't like that." *sigh*


SNORK!

Nancy said...

Christine, oh, Christine, *shakes head* I am so sorry to hear that you also are a corner-turner. Seeing as you expect me to kill you, I really might be tempted to challenge you to pistols at dawn, except you just had that fabulous book come out, and I would hate to deprive the world of its successors.

So you get a pass. :-)

Nancy said...

Cassondra! You can't hit Pissenlit. No smacking our buddies around!

Geez, bandita!

Besides, Pissenlit agrees with me, which exempts her from smacking around. At least in my bookiverse, into which I'm still trying to drag you. :-)

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

I don't throw away books, either. I just can't. I donate them. It doesn't matter whose they are or how little or much I liked them. I just cannot put a book in the trash.

I even have trouble throwing away completed crossword puzzle books.


Oh, I used to be this way, but not any more. Watching me ditch stuff which is old, horrid and no longer useful would give you hives. I got this way by having clutter control my life and eat up all of my free time and much of my energy so that now, I have little energy and no free time. NONE.

Nothing is worth that, and it has made me into a b*tch about useless stuff. And honestly, The Merril's Atlas of Radiologic Technology from 1988 is useless. Use. Less.

Unknown said...

aka Dianna said:

If I had done anything like that with someone else's belongings my mother would have killed me.

Me too, Dianna.

If it's YOUR book I'm reading and you want it back, I treat it like it's made of thin glass. Mine? I rumple mine. And library books were always treated carefully, as publich property, which is what they are.

Unknown said...

Pat Cochran said:

My library book usage through highschool ingrained in me avoidanceof the folding-down of pages. Noway, it wasn't my book! It has carried over to today,

Yeah, I totally get that. I was taught to not ever damage a book on purpose, but that while the information in the book was sacred in a way, the physical book was just "stuff" like any other stuff, and had a natural lifespan, and should be used as such.

And yet another keeper of bookmarks in strategic locations. I may have to adopt this, as it seems to work so well for so many people and I just never did. My bookmarks lay around all over and get Poofed by P226's demon bookmark thief.

Unknown said...

Christine Wells said:

Cassondra, I know Nancy will kill me, but I'm with you--a book is to be read, IMO and anything that doesn't interfere with the reading is fine by me.

Oh, thank goodness. Cuz Wicked Little Game is looking rather dog-eared and rumpled. Just sayin.

And boo hiss to your hubby for nagging. ;0)

Unknown said...

Dianna Love said:

I never bend a page in a book I'm reading for pleasure. I'll bend the page on one I'm studying in a minute. I also don't keep up with bookmarks

Hi Dianna! *waving madly*

I do this too. Highlight and write and underline all over one I'm studying. But not one for pleasure. The marks bother me. But I always buy a second copy for that if it's fiction.

I've seen you reading real books, not just the Kindle. How did you mark your page? *frowns* Are you one of those "I just remember what page I was on" people, like Nancy? *frowns again, and plans to watch for this next time she sees Dianna read.

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

Besides, Pissenlit agrees with me, which exempts her from smacking around. At least in my bookiverse, into which I'm still trying to drag you. :-)

I wasn't smacking her around, I was keeping her from choking to death. She was hacking like she had a chicken bone caught in her throat!

And give it up. It ain't happenin.

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: And give it up. It ain't happenin.

Hopes springs eternal. Faith as a mustard seed moves mountains. Just 'cause the odds are against you doesn't mean you can't win. Blah-de-blah, but I'm not giving up. I'll just go back to plotting stealthily.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Dianna and Nancy said: Dianna said: If I had done anything like that with someone else's belongings my mother would have killed me.

Yup, mine, too. And then my father would've wanted a word.


Ohhhh yes. Words upon words would have been uttered over this. And I'm thinking a grounding...without books. There were strong feelings about this topic in my house as well. Grins.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: If it's a cheap, rotten pen, I trash it immediately. Good-writing pens--no, there are never enough of those.

Amen. Trash the cheap rotten pens! Grins. I tend to hoard pens too, but 'round here, they go the way of the wind. Too many other users. If it's a good writin' pen, I smuggle it to my office and hide it. Bwah-ha-ha.

Conversation in my house: "Honey? Where's that pen I brought home from the office, the green one?"

*Me, whistling, trying to sound innocent* "Oh, gosh, honey, I don't know...." *slips it in the drawer, pats the drawer, moves along...

Susanna Fraser said...

And honestly, The Merril's Atlas of Radiologic Technology from 1988 is useless. Use. Less.

We're getting ready to move next week, and yesterday Mr. Fraser and I agreed that we really needed to toss his 2004 Baseball Prospectus. No point in even donating it, because the info is too old. No one is going to look at a 2004 book to pick their 2011 fantasy team. It was still painful to put an actual book in the recycling bin with magazines, cardboard, and junk mail.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: Blah-de-blah, but I'm not giving up. I'll just go back to plotting stealthily.

I am SO not getting into the middle of this.

So. Not.

I think I'd rather investigate P266's bookmark-thieving-imp theory.

Snork.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Susanna said: Mr. Fraser and I agreed that we really needed to toss his 2004 Baseball Prospectus. No point in even donating it, because the info is too old. No one is going to look at a 2004 book to pick their 2011 fantasy team.

Oh, good Lord! You mean I'm going to have to MOVE to get my DH to ditch these things? YIKES! Best go call the realtor, 'cause those baseball prospectuses (and atlases) are beginning to take up some serious shelf space!

Unknown said...

Jeanne said:

Ohhhh yes. Words upon words would have been uttered over this. And I'm thinking a grounding...without books.

That would be hell.

Nancy said...

Susanna, I find moving opportune for getting rid of things. I haven't moved in many, many years, but I remember. Congrats on getting rid of the old baseball book.

Unknown said...

Jeanne also said:

Conversation in my house: "Honey? Where's that pen I brought home from the office, the green one?"

*Me, whistling, trying to sound innocent* "Oh, gosh, honey, I don't know...." *slips it in the drawer, pats the drawer, moves along...


Oh yeah. I'm the worst pen thief. I don't mean to be. I just walk away with whatever is in my hand because I'm focused on what I'm doing and not that. When I used to run events and was in the middle of a big hairy one, my volunteers would start smiling and try to hide it and I'd check out my reflection and I'd have about six pens stuck in my ponytail and behind my ears, and I'd be rooting around looking for a pen.

*sigh* It's true.

What's worse is when you finally remember to check your hair and you're with other people and you're patting your head for fifteen seconds feeling around for a pen and there isn't one. Then they consider calling the men in the white coats.

Unknown said...

Susan Fraser said:

No one is going to look at a 2004 book to pick their 2011 fantasy team. It was still painful to put an actual book in the recycling bin with magazines, cardboard, and junk mail.

I feel your pain.

Well, actually, I don't any more, but I empathize cuz I used to feel it. I got over it when I needed more than little paths to navigate through my house and Goodwill told me that I could donate the books (which I'd always done for the ones the library and other "reader" places didn't want) but an honest guy at the donation center told me that they took them, but they took, them and threw them in the dumpster, along with half the other stuff I donated. :0/

I use St. Vincent de Paul now.

Unknown said...

Nancy said:

Susanna, I find moving opportune for getting rid of things. I haven't moved in many, many years, but I remember. Congrats on getting rid of the old baseball book.

The trouble is that there are fewer and fewer places who take old books. Old textbooks, in particular, are very difficult to find a home. And some recycle centers take books and some don't. What I hate is not tossing the books that really truly have no more useful life, but wasting the TREES it took to make those (Often horrid) books. I'm telling you, a fair percentage of textbooks are not worth the trees it took to make them. WAY not worth the trees.

I love trees. :0(

Louisa Cornell said...

Adding my two cents. And the GR is back Downunder! Tim Tams are SUCH a great lure!

I have a huge basket in which I keep stacks of bookmarks I've acquired at luncheons and conferences. The postcards go in a scrapbook OR the really gorgeous ones of books by authors I love get framed.

And when I pick up a book to read I usually stick a couple of the bookmarks from the basket in it. So, no I don't turn down pages. Just can't do it. I also use all of those bookmarks to mark places in research books that I know I will need for the book on which I am working.

And I also have a pretty good collection of pens from conferences too. Keep them in cups all over the house so I can always find one when I need it.

I've got mirrors in my purse from conferences, lotion and nail files. I have notepads in several locations as well.

And lets face it, a postcard or bookmark of a book cover that features a hot guy gets my attention!

Fedora said...

Cassondra!!! Your post was a delight, as yours always are! But seriously??? You fold down the corners??? *faints*

I use bookmarks, or reasonable fascimiles thereof--receipts, (clean) napkins, business cards, gum wrappers.. all work for me.

And honestly, I can't recall a promo item that caused me to buy the book, although I have hung onto some promo items because I've loved the book it was promo-ing. :)

Cassondra said...

Louisa said:

I have a huge basket in which I keep stacks of bookmarks I've acquired at luncheons and conferences. The postcards go in a scrapbook OR the really gorgeous ones of books by authors I love get framed.

And when I pick up a book to read I usually stick a couple of the bookmarks from the basket in it.


AHA! Yet another good idea. Except. If you have two bookmarks in there, how do you know...well, never mind. I guess if you're THAT out of the story, you'd need to start over at the beginning anyhow. I kinda feel like two would be in the way though...hmmmm...but I can totally run with having a stack and when I decide to read a book, just automatically sticking a bookmark in there. That makes sense. And of course, I've never considered bookmarks as "disposable" items. It's like if I had them and planned to keep them, I had to keep them forever, then they get all nasty if I keep them in the book (the top sort of "wilts" yaknow? from being in bags and purses and such) But I guess the reason to have a bunch is that when one wilts, you can just toss it and grab another one. All the more reason to create bookmarks which do not easily "wilt"!

Cassondra said...

flchen1 said:

Cassondra!!! Your post was a delight, as yours always are! But seriously??? You fold down the corners??? *faints*


Alas. It's true. *hangs head because she's disappointed a friend* And I'm not likely to change any time soon, though I could potentially up my usage of bookmarks based on all the suggestions. However, receipts? No. Those have to be kept for taxes and go staight into a file in my purse. Gum? Don't chew it. Paper napkin? That would get confiscated by my husband who has allergies and frequently needs emergency stashes of some tissue product for nose-blowing purposes. Plus, I just don't like odd bits of flotsam hanging about. Life is cluttered enough.

Maybe that's the real root of it. Bookmarks feel like more clutter to me, in an already clutter-strewn life. Perhaps, though, if I had a system, and a bunch of them organized just so in cool containers, I could make it work.

Hmmmm....looks like bookmarks are my only hope.

catslady said...

I actually like aged books and do think they look loved and well read. But aged is not the same as purposely damaged - sorry, I will use anything around me as a bookmark :)