# Books without covers...Why are they stolen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910 "2008-11-15T22:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/41 "2008-11-18T06:06:00Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > For $50 I’d get one. Otherwise, I’ll just use the library. [Here is one for $59.95](http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2.cfm?Product_ID=5032&refererid=pricegrabber). It is overpowered for reading eBooks, but does not have a memory slot. Unfortunately, there was never a market for cheap (\<$100) PDAs. Instead of selling the older models cheaper, they just kept releasing and retiring them. Now, there are very few PDAs even made thanks to smart phones. You can download books onto your smart phone or blackberry, but I like the larger screen on my PDA (that and my work BB is locked to prevent third party apps). Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/42 "2008-11-18T06:10:41Z")
> [@tygerbryght](#): > > I have a problem with e-books, in that any kind of screen now available (and no sign this will change) is much harder on my eyes than printed paper. I wrecked my eyes on one of the very early computer monitors (for mainframes, before UL certification), the kind that gave you purple auras after a little while on them. > > But I have some e-books anyway (from Baen; who else?). Why? Because the full Grantville Gazette is available _only_ as e-books. They’ve said they’re not printing hard copies of every story - and I’m hooked on the 1632 universe. > > If that’s the way the future’s going to be, I can only hope that someone will, eventually, produce screens that are much easier on my eyes. Sunlight is not the problem. I don’t understand the problem, exactly. I only know that I can read printed paper all day long, and half the night, and my eyes hardly ever tire. After four hours looking at a screen, my eyes are at least starting to ache, and usually they’re burning. > > Maybe “electronic paper” will work. I certainly hope something does, if they’re the future. But I’m another that wants hardbound - preferably sewn - copies of my favorite books, as they get a lot of re-reading. Out of curiosity, what have you tried to read on? An old fashioned black and white reflective PDA has no flicker and fairly sharp text. The newer color active matrix displays are also quite nice and better than most LCD monitors to read off. Plus, with MobiPocket reader, you can set the color of both your test and background. I personally prefer a black background with white text in bright light and dark red text for reading in the dark. Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/43 "2008-11-18T06:14:54Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > I thought Print-On-Demand was so that you would go to some guy’s website, order the book, and he would print it and send it to you. In other words, it would allow publication of things which were not publised until now. I think for now the biggest demand would be any book that does not have enough demand to justify a full publishing run, but that someone, somewhere wants on occasion. You could also do vanity publishing, or print up your novel to give to an agent. Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/44 "2008-11-18T07:43:42Z")
I simply don’t like to read lengthy items on a screen. I’ll happily interact through them all day, editing, coding, web surfing, reading email, and so on. It’s not an issue of eye strain. It’s an issue of the mechanism not being appropriate to the task of reading something that’s going to take some time to go through, either for pleasure or study. It’s simply annoying. Plus, it’s hard to fall asleep with the screen over your face like a opened book. Also, it doesn’t hurt the book to fall on the floor or get rolled over on when I do that. At least not enough to make it unreadable. And think of the people who read in the bathtub. Dropping a $7 paperback in the tub is a minor annoyance, but your $350 kindle? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/45 "2008-11-18T15:13:02Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Anyway, the point is there is no technical or monetary reason for eBooks not to thrive. Products don’t thrive for technical or monetary reasons. They thrive because people like them. Some people like eBooks, and some don’t. > [@guizot](#): > > How do I harm the writer once I’ve bought the book? Are you saying that I should throw it away and then go out and buy a legitimate copy? The question I was responding to was what to do if you find yourself in possession of a stripped book. Rather than reporting it to the authorities, I recommended just tossing it in the trash. Then you’ve hurt nobody. > [@sailor](#): > > I thought Print-On-Demand was so that you would go to some guy’s website, order the book, and he would print it and send it to you. In other words, it would allow publication of things which were not publised until now. Print on Demand is a publishing system where the books are stored in the memory of a giant press, as opposed to in boxes in a warehouse. It’s frequently used by vanity presses (“send us $600 and we’ll print your deathless prose without proofing, copyediting, fact-checking, or any other editing”) and for highly specialized books. A POD press is automated, and can print just what’s been ordered that day: five of these, two of those, six of the other thing. They cost a _lot_ of money (last I checked they ran $500,000 and up), and are used by publishers with a lot of different titles–not the Web site dude with one title. > [@SmackFu](#): > > Are returned hardcovers where the “bargain books” come from, that are marked down from $25 to $5-$7? > > And when B&N or Waldenbooks sells them, are they actually getting new shipments from the publisher, or are they marking down their own inventory? No, those are “remainders.” When sales of a book start winding down, the publisher may be left with thousands of copies taking up warehouse space that would be better dedicated to newer products (this frequently happens with hardbacks when the paperback comes out). Instead of tossing them, they’ll discount them heavily, selling the books to a “remainder house” for a buck or so. Booksellers then buy them from the remainder houses for $2 or $3, and sell them to you for $5 to $7. Remainders frequently have a slash through the barcode, or a colored dot on the cover or the edge of the pages. This indicates the book is not returnable. The reason for the large markup is that if it doesn’t sell, the bookseller has to throw it away. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/46 "2008-11-18T15:55:30Z")
Another type of bargain book to be found at my local Border’s is a “hurt”. It’s got a remainder mark, but it’s not in good enough condition to actually be “new” even though it’s not used. They show up with a light blue price tag sticker on them, rather than one of the red or yellow ones. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/47 "2008-11-18T17:05:54Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > They cost a _lot_ of money (last I checked they ran $500,000 and up), and are used by publishers with a lot of different titles–not the Web site dude with one title. “Web site dudes” can certainly publish their own titles and have a company with the big expensive presses print them for them. That can be cost effective for as low as one title. The “dude” can either go through a company that acts as a middleman to prep the materials so they work on the big POD press (and has other add ons like ISBNs) or, if they are up on the tech details enough, save money and deal with the printer directly. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/48 "2008-11-18T17:09:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > To clarify: the book is stolen because the bookstore was refunded the wholesale price. It’s wasn’t actually stolen from the bookstore; it was stolen from the publisher. > > Everyone agrees that stripping books is wasteful, but no one has come up with a better system to ensure that bookstores get proper credit. > . Yes, I worked for Dalton’s (or was it Waldens?) decades ago, and my freind & I were taking the stripped books to the local “old Folks Home” where many of the residents were and a small fixed income. We got in trouble for it, and had to stop. Recently, I worked for Borders, and we were supposed to throw out the stripped books, but they also had a policy to follow local law, and San Jose requires recycling (there’s no real penalty yet, mind you). So I put the books into the recycle bin instead, and the Manager agreed with me. But she said “Let’s not make a big deal about this either way. We are damned if we do and damned if we don’t, so let’s just quietly recycle.” **chorpler** Umm, how does one read even a paper book in the _shower_?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/49 "2008-11-18T17:15:25Z")
And if we’re talking the bargain area of big chain stores, besides the remainders and hurts there are also ones that the chain store itself publishes on the cheap hoping to sell them with very little mark up but in high volume. Some of these store-published are priced like normal books by other publishers and go in the main part of the store, but some are specifically intended to be straight-to-discount titles. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/50 "2008-11-18T18:14:59Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > [Here is one for $59.95](http://www.refurbdepot.com/productdetails2.cfm?Product_ID=5032&refererid=pricegrabber). This is still too rich for me. I usually don’t take $60 books to all the places mentioned by **InvisibleWombat** for fear of losing or damaging them. For that I want something whose price is low enough that loss or damage amounts to nothing more than “Eh, that’s annoying, but I’ll just get another one at the 7-11” – certainly less than $15, and probably more likely in the $3-$7 range. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/51 "2008-11-18T18:27:48Z")
> [@Dan\_Norder](#): > > “Web site dudes” can certainly publish their own titles and have a company with the big expensive presses print them for them. Of course. That’s how the POD companies make their money. They don’t come up with these titles themselves. It’s the web site dude, and the woman with her memoirs, and the guy who finally wrote that novel, and so on and so on. The post I was replying to implied that people could buy their own presses to do this, and that generally doesn’t make sense, mostly because “do it yourself” binding options just aren’t as clean and professional looking as the perfect binding the POD places do. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/52 "2008-11-18T18:30:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > **chorpler** Umm, how does one read even a paper book in the _shower_?😕 I could do that with my PDA if I wanted, but I have never had the urge to. I have known people who read and drive at the same time, but showering while holding a book would be awkward. > [@acsenray](#): > > This is still too rich for me. I usually don’t take $60 books to all the places mentioned by **InvisibleWombat** for fear of losing or damaging them. For that I want something whose price is low enough that loss or damage amounts to nothing more than “Eh, that’s annoying, but I’ll just get another one at the 7-11” – certainly less than $15, and probably more likely in the $3-$7 range. I carry my PDA everywhere. It is in the the lower front pocket of my cargo pants right now. I treat it about the same as my wallet. It comes out of my pocket to use or when I get home, otherwise it is always in there. BTW, do you carry a cell phone? Is it worth more than $60? Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/53 "2008-11-18T18:42:42Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > I carry my PDA everywhere. It is in the the lower front pocket of my cargo pants right now. I treat it about the same as my wallet. It comes out of my pocket to use or when I get home, otherwise it is always in there. BTW, do you carry a cell phone? Is it worth more than $60? I get my cell phone free with my service plan. I certainly don’t use it while in the bath or a hot tub. I leave my laptop and iPod safe at home when going on an international trip. I don’t want _yet another_ valuable item to carry around and worry about losing or damaging. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/54 "2008-11-18T19:12:41Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I get my cell phone free with my service plan. I certainly don’t use it while in the bath or a hot tub. I leave my laptop and iPod safe at home when going on an international trip. I don’t want _yet another_ valuable item to carry around and worry about losing or damaging. Since most of my international travel has been business, I have usually needed my laptop. As for my PDA, I did break my first one by dropping it. Since then I have gotten a metal protective case. My last PDA lasted four years. I did need to replace the case due to breaking the hinge, but it wasn’t the best case and it did keep the PDA safe. As I look at it I got a lot more than $200 dollars use out of that PDA (it was a Palm Tungsten E). Since I read a lot of the free or cheap books (Baen and Project Gutenberg were my primary sources), I probably saved money. Sure I would have gone to the library more, but I can’t take five library books on the plane. Before I switched to eBooks I would end up buying books in airports and then leaving them in the hotel room. Jonathan ETA: You may have gotten your current phone free, but most plans only allow you to get a new one every two years unless you pay for the protection plan. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/55 "2008-11-18T19:19:39Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > ETA: You may have gotten your current phone free, but most plans only allow you to get a new one every two years unless you pay for the protection plan. You average a lost or broken phone more often than once every two years? And my plan apparently does let you get a new one even more frequently, provided you extend your contract another two years. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/56 "2008-11-18T21:59:23Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > You average a lost or broken phone more often than once every two years? > > And my plan apparently does let you get a new one even more frequently, provided you extend your contract another two years. No, but I have replaced three PDAs in eight years. My point was that my phone would cost me as much to replace as my PDA. Actually, my current PDA would cost more the my current phone, although less than an iPhone. Sprint(me) and Verizon(my wife) both give you a discount with a contract extension, but you have to have a certain amount of the contract gone first. They would not be able to sale the $3 a month equipment protection plan if you could just get a new low end phone every two months. Jonathan ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/57 "2008-11-18T23:54:26Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > The question I was responding to was what to do if you find yourself in possession of a stripped book. Rather than reporting it to the authorities, I recommended just tossing it in the trash. Then you’ve hurt nobody. But do I hurt the author if I read it and then toss it in the trash? ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/58 "2008-11-19T06:34:16Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Out of curiosity, what have you tried to read on? An old fashioned black and white reflective PDA has no flicker and fairly sharp text. The newer color active matrix displays are also quite nice and better than most LCD monitors to read off. Plus, with MobiPocket reader, you can set the color of both your test and background. I personally prefer a black background with white text in bright light and dark red text for reading in the dark. Thus far, only on my monitor, which is a 22" LCD, purchased last year. I can read anything, including _really_ tiny print on paper (e.g., the pocket-size full Bibles, which I think is around 5 or 6 points) and for a considerable length of time without my glasses (extremely near-sighted), and without eyestrain. But on the monitor, I stay at 1024 x 768. And I enlarge the font. When Kindles get (lots) cheaper, I may try one, or whatever seems to have the highest quality several years down the road, when they’ve all improved greatly and gotten much cheaper. But other than - possibly - e-paper, I have serious doubts that any kind of electronic text will remain much harder on my eyes than real paper. ---
**Author:** ![datasos\_adv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@datasos\_adv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/datasos_adv)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/59 "2008-11-19T07:17:36Z")
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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910/60 "2008-11-19T16:32:19Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > But do I hurt the author if I read it and then toss it in the trash? You hurt the author if you read your free copy instead of buying a copy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-without-covers-why-are-they-stolen/472910.md?page=4)