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Featured Author - Carole Matthews


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Thanks, Kell! Lovereading is a great site and they're really nice people who run it, so I was delighted to be their featured author too. The internet is a really nice way for authors to connect with their readers. Which is a good time to thank Michelle for having me on her excellent site too! It's been nice to meet with you all - thanks for all the interesting questions so far. Best Carole xx

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Hi Michelle - no, you're not nice people. You're VERY nice people!!

 

When I was researching The Chocolate Lovers' Club I did go out and buy a bunch of books that featured chocolate. But, frankly, I was horrified to find how few there were in the fiction section. I've done reviews of the books I read on www.thechocolateloversclub.co.uk and there's also some of the useless facts I gleaned over the year I spent doing my research - I've become a complete chocolate anorak! I think the book I enjoyed the most though was Joanne Harris's Chocolat - that was my third read of it. It's such a sumptuous read. Yummy. And it's one of the few books that I've read that I've also really enjoyed the film version of - even though it was totally different. My friend, Annie Murray, has also written a lovely saga based around the girls who worked in the Cadbury's factory during the war called The Chocolate Girls. Lovely book. Best Carole xx

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Hi Michelle - this is a tricky one. Once upon a time authors used to believe that people buying second-hand books would then go on to look up the author's other work, if they'd enjoyed it and would, hopefully, pay for it in a book shop. I would love to think that it still applies to some people. But now the second-hand market has gone from a few dusty shelves in an Oxfam store to a multi-million pound business. Oxfam have something like 65 dedicated book stores now and make around 17 million a year - and are putting 'proper' independent book stores out of business at an alarming rate. The problem is with the charity stores is that they don't pay for their product, they don't pay for staff and they get reduced rent and council tax - businesses than need to make a profit can't possibly compete with that. Plus the rise of the internet swapping sites and that fact that you can get most of the bestsellers on Amazon for 1p shortly after publication is all helping to decimate the book industry. It's a big problem. I think in years to come that it will be impossible for writers to make a living from writing books and we'll see a shrinking book market as more of the publisher's spend goes onto promoting the megasellers - like the James Patersons, the Martina Coles and there'll be less diversity in the books available. I think a lot of the people buying second hand books and swapping them don't realise what damage it's causing to the industry that they love so much. The Society of Authors are trying to get people like Amazon and the second hand sellers to donate a tiny amount per book resold (1p or so) to go to ALCS which collects royalties on behalf of authors - so that it can be redistributed amongst writers - but no one is terribly interested in putting themselves out to do it. Oxfam have refused point blank. I hate throwing books away, but would never now donate them to a charity. The other thing that the second-hand market it harming is libraries - who wants to wait weeks to get your turn at a bestseller when you can pick it up so cheaply elsewhere? In a quarter I might sell 5-10 new books on Amazon - compared to 300-400 second hand ones. It's very scary for writers the way things are going. Carole xx

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Thanks for the insight, Carole.. I guess all the time we're swapping books, and buying them cheaply, that it makes it so much harder for the authors. I also know from chatting to writers that it's a difficult business, and there's not as much money in it as we think. I'm sure the huge best sellers do well enough, but that's only a tiny percentage of the authors around today.

 

It seems that many charity shops charge quite a bit for books, as do alot of second hand sellers... it is a shame that they won't pay out a tiny percent as royalties.

 

I think we have a cross section on here.. I believe when we've discussed it before, we have our share of swappers, new buyers, and library users.

 

Do books have to be a certain price to make a profit? I was just thinking that when flicking through amazon, I'm much more likely to buy the £3.99 books, than I am the £5.59 (I think that's one of the popular prices) or above.

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I do see your point, but personally speaking I had to cut out things like magazines and expensive cards a while back, and I rarely go out. (Sad, I know :lol: but I do have a young family.) Considering I'm generally a fast reader, over £5 does feel like quite a bit of money to me.

 

As I say, I can only speak personally for myself.. I do appreciate that a profilt has to be made somewhere.

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I'll admit to being a bargain-buyer - I scour places like The Works & Bargain books for new authors to try, but then if I enjoyed the one book they were seling cheaply, I'm more likely to buy more by the same author. And I tend to ask for books as birthday & Xmas prezzies,which invariably end up being hardbacks, so I figure I'm making up for it in the end. :lol:

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I wonder how things will change when somebody finally comes up with a fab i-reader and we can all download onto screens. What price books then? Best Carole xx
I'll still be buying good old-fashioned books when that time comes - i like to feel the pages between my fingers & I have trouble reading huge swathes of text from a screen. :lol:

 

And as for 6 books a year, well, I must be bringing home about 10 times that, so I'm taking care of 9 non-readers! LOL!

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I can't imagine life without books in their present form - it's the whole book thing I love not just the story within a book's pages - it's the covers, etc. Don't think I'd be keen to read from a screen.

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I hope that books will still be around - it's like the banana, a perfect package. The new book readers are making quite an impact though - particularly for academic and professional texts at the moment. They also trialled them in schools and got a fabulous response from kids. I guess it's the next generation who might prefer a gadget to a book. There's a certain appeal about being about to download a dozen books onto a reader to take on holiday rather than fill my suitcase with space that should have clothes in it! The screens on the readers are whizzy new electronic ink rather than being computer screeny - much easier on the eye. At

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Hi Michelle - The research trip to the Himalayas for With or Without You was absolutely stunning. I fell in love with the people and the places we went to. I did a three-week hike in the foothills of the Annapurnas - fabulous. When I got home, the book just wrote itself - it was an absolute joy. It's one of my own personal favourites out of my books and it's the one that most readers write to me about. I'd love to go back - perhaps to the Everest region next time.

 

We also did a three-week trip across China and I wrote a short story based on our travels when I got back for the Girls' Night In series (which was for the War Child charity). I think it's the best short story I've ever written - called Travelling Light. (I'd like to do a book of short stories one day - I just love writing them! I put a new one up on my website every month.)

 

The Sweetest Taboo was based on my trips to LA. I've been fortunate enough to sell the rights to a couple of my books to Hollywood, so we've had to go out there a few times. A lot of the things that are featured in the book, I did!

 

I do like to go to the places that I write about if I can. You can only do so much from imagination and I find if you go to the place it often throws up other angles for the story that I hadn't thought about.

 

Best Carole xx

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As many on here are aware, I am waiting patiently for a book reader. I don't have qualms about reading from a screen and frequently read from the computer screen. I think it might help tidy up the house as we have books littered everywhere at present. But seriously, I think its another tool in the kit, so to speak and as such will be used when most appropriate. As Carole says, going away on holiday, even for a few weeks, with 80 odd books stored on the reader you will never run out of something to read and it's light to carry. I think it could be an absolute boon for studying.

I don't think there is any danger of books vanishing. There might be a proportion of the new generation who will grow up using the reader and stick to it, but I suspect many will return to books. Although I love books, their covers in particular, it's what's written that's important to me. My imagination takes care of the rest. Nothing can replace a beautiful hardback book, especially one with illustrations, (which probably won't come across as well on the reader), but I do feel that it should be regarded as an extra tool, available if needed, and with many advantages. If folk don't want to use a reader, they don't have to. But isn't it nice to have the choice?

 

Pp

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With or Without you was the first book of yours that I read.. I think it benefitted fromyour personal experience. It was a great book, btw. :smile2:

 

Where else do you want to go,but haven't managed yet? (And next time you do LA, can I come along too? :) )

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I completely agree with your comments with regard to second-hand books. The Oxfam stores in particular look like 'proper' book shops, and charge far more than I expected. Also, with regard to libraries, our local Library is due to close after being around more years than me - I have to believe that the availability and cost of second-hand books is a factor...among others.

 

I only buy second hand books if the book I want is no longer in print. My friend opened an independent book shop in 2005 (taking a huge risk) and finds it very difficult to compete with both large book chain and second hand book-sellers. She has attracted a lot of local authors to do signings, which gets people through the doors, but obviously the 'big names' aren't interested. I hope that her shop doesn't become another statistic...

 

I don't think that buyers necessarily think that they are doing damage to the book sellers who can't afford to absorb losses and to the writers - they are just delighted to get a bargain!

 

Kerri

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I have to admit that since I read Carole's post on buying second hand books, I have thought alot about it. I guess it is obviously going to have an effect on sales of new books and hence the incomes of authors. I think I have always bought a cross section of books, new and old, but I think I may have to reconsider. I was always chuffed at getting the bargains. Like you Blossom, I think Oxfam charge far too much. I would consider buying a new book for that price, unless it was a hard-to-get book. Anyway, you will be glad to know that I have just bought a heap of new books on Amazon...thought I would treat myself as my birthday approaches!

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