15 Responses so far

1. 1. BukaHobbit on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm

   I have not heard Mr. Buckell complain about Borders, he was simply making a statement of fact. Kind of like a ‘this is the way the world works’ thing. Don’t forget, the big chain stores offer something that wasn’t always available to everyone, easy access to cheap books. Of course they are going to do everything to maximize profit…that is why they exist. They have no higher purpose. Indy book stores are labors of love and should be supported, but that does not make the chain stores evil.

2. 2. Sisi on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:00 pm

   I bought my paperback copy of Ragamuffin at Borders. I belong to their club, so I had a coupon that made the book extremely affordable. Good price, GREAT book and another loyal fan – its all good, eh?

3. 3. Andrew Wheeler on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm

   Strangely enough, the Internet is chock-full of people who don’t seem to be able to read at all. I don’t know how they manage it, but they can misunderstand even short, declarative sentences and simple English words — and at breathtaking speed, to boot.

   I don’t know where they come from, and I’m sorry to hear that they’re playing their malicious game of Telephone with your words.

   To avoid their attention, I recommend writing really, really long posts — at least several thousand words — and burying any hint of controversy deeply in the middle. It’s not fool-proof — the Internet is proof that there’s always a greater fool — but it’s worked for me…

4. 4. Tobias Buckell on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

   Thanks Sisi! Yeah, it’s all good, exactly!

   Andrew: yeah, this thing is getting Telephone weird.

   As to your rec on blog posts, coincidentally, in blog consulting, I advise 100-200 word posts, often with bullet points, in order to communicate, with the point the person wants someone to take away in the headline.

   I just don’t follow my own guidelines LOL.

5. 5. Laurie Mann on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:38 pm

   Borders used to hire people who could read…*sigh*…

6. 6. Jamie Grove on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 pm

   I’ve been following this Borders thing from afar. Saw the post on Mr. Gaiman’s site and yours. Really, so many people just fail to read things before hitting the comment button.

   I recently received a four page email from a read who clearly had not read my post (because they were basically rewriting my post in their own voice, which kinda made me realize that perhaps the post was not all that hot to begin with).

   I appreciate your openness and I hope you’ll keep posting that way.

7. 7. Delux on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:57 pm

   Wow.

8. 8. Wyman Cooke on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm

   Who is urging a boycott? We need to talk to them. Maybe apply the clue-by-four to the higher functions.

9. 9. Paolo on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 pm

   Buckell…. aren’t you that guy who’s trying to unionize science fiction writers?

10. 10. Wyman Cooke on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    I swear, I run across more rumors and stories. I was in a debate with a guy who was convinced that Starship Troopers had an earlier incarnation in the late 1940’s. In fact, according to Heinlein’s own words, he wrote it after reading an anti-nuclear ad in the late 1950’s.

11. 11. Kat on Oct 24th, 2008 at 9:10 am

    Found you from Neil Gaiman’s post about the “boycott”. I wonder why people who clearly can’t read are bothering to follow *authors’* weblogs.

    It must be very sad for them to be surrounded by all those books they can’t read or understand. Perhaps we should start a Borders Employee Literacy Program.

12. 12. bellatrys on Oct 26th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    There were some authors calling for buying from independents instead of the Big Chain Bookstores, but it wasn’t you! I know it can be complicated to keep straight who said what online, but really now, between hyperlinks and google it really isn’t that hard to keep straight.

13. 13. Wyman Cooke on Oct 27th, 2008 at 3:43 pm

    Bellatrys, this is SF fandom we’re talking about. I’ve had people trying to persuade me that what I know didn’t happen did happen. Their belief is well-nigh unshakable. God save me from fanatics, as Frank Herbert said.

14. 14. Chris Hayes-Kossmann on Oct 28th, 2008 at 11:10 am

    Phew! It’s so easy for people to get angry on somebody else’s behalf these days. Your original post didn’t seem at all unclear to me, so I don’t know where people are sourcing this boycott business from.

    As for Borders not stocking your latest – that’s fine by me. I work in a little sci-fi/fantasy specialist bookshop about 100 meters from the Melbourne Central Borders, and whatever they don’t stock we sell by the truckload. We’ve gone through somewhere approaching 80 Ragamuffin’s already this year and 60 Crystal Rain’s – thanks Tobias, you’re keeping our business afloat! If the chains have an ordering system that prohibits the restocking certain authors then there will always be alternatives at local indie bookstores.

    Keep up the good work, Tobias. See you on the bestseller lists.

15. 15. Lynn on Oct 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Way I heard it, you were using some of your family’s secret enormous stash of pirate gold hidden at your private island compound to bail Borders out of bankruptcy. I didn’t think it was true. I mean, the minute you did, the IRS would be all over you.