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In a move to counter mass discounters and reassert the public's perception of the value of the novel, C.J. Beck has instructed his publisher YouWriteOn.com to raise prices on his latest novel 67%.
The 256 page trade paperback SIXTEEN STORIES, NO PETS will go up from $11.99 to $19.99, Sunday November 1st.
"Book price wars turn the novel, which can be the highest of art forms into a commodity. Novelists often spend far more time on a masterwork than fellow artists who paint or sculpt, and yet receive only pennies in royalties, months or years after a decade of distillation and hard work.
When asked if he thought he would lose sales to the deeply discounted books of competitors like Carl Hiaasen, Beck said - "People value their time reading. The time spent with a book is very personal and more valuable than money. It's about perceived value. Sales might even go up."
Beck claims there is over ten years of hands-on research in his latest novel which is a behind-the-scenes look at life and death in a South Florida condo. The book is part condo survival manual, part comic crime mystery in a genre pioneered by John D. MacDonald and taken up by Carl Hiaasen. SIXTEEN STORIES, NO PETS is based on Beck's experience as a condo President surviving internal politiking by his neighbors and foiling predatory developers like Donald Trump. Beck has just returned to Florida after a successful book tour with Blackwell, the university book retailer in the United Kingdom.
"People need to support the independent book retailer and chains like Blackwells, that take reading seriously," says Beck. "Otherwise we are going to see fewer and fewer authors and books available. Part of the experience of reading, is foreplay - the time spent browsing in the book store. Let's not lose foreplay"
