BOOKS? They're for DECORATION, aren't they? WHO READS REAL BOOKS ANYMORE?

I know a few things. One of them is that VINYL is NOT coming back. A few hipsters may be supporting a VERY LIMITED pressing of a new album in VINYL, but no. VINYL is NOT coming back.

Another thing.

BOOKS that aren't available in digital format, and easily pirated on the Internet or sold for 2.99 in bootleg form on EBAY, are ALSO not popular anymore.

VINYL and BOOKS are a GLUT on the market.

I volunteer at a branch of the New York Public Library that sells both. Guess what. The vinyl goes for a dollar each (and doesn't move much), CDs go for a dollar (and barely move), and the store has HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of books in DOLLAR BINS that do not sell either.

In fact, once a week boxes and boxes of this stuff are given away to someone nice enough to NOT charge what the sanitation department charges for GARBAGE REMOVAL.

What does this person do with all these useless books? Oh, forages around to see if there's a rare one that might sell on Amazon, but others...sells them for DECORATION. Like so:

Yes, there are a FEW people out there who like to impress people by pretending to be literate.

"Oooh, look at all these rare old books!"

Only OLD and RARE doesn't mean VALUABLE.

My guess is that most of the people who buy 10, 20 or wholesale lots of books are either phonies who want to impress people or would like cheap soundproofing, or, perhaps weasels who think that these EBAY dealers are dummies who don't check first to see if there's something valuable in the stacks.

Some hotels like to have a "reading room," and know that the old books LOOK nice, but that nobody's going to want to steal them. Some restaurants want to decorate with old books, too.

Another possibility is that this junk goes to photographers who need an all-purpose fake room with a wall of books, OR amateur theaters that need that wall of books in the background. Thing is, today it's very easy to Photoshop a realistic background of books on shelves, or paint them. It's more realistic to have the books, but it's also painful to move and store them between shows.

BOTTOM LINE? This crap is NOT being sold because people want to READ archaic, dull stuff from 100 years ago. These sellers aren't offering anything in leather. They aren't offering famous authors and first editions. Nothing collectable at all.

Most people, especially city dwellers, have limited room, and don't want groaning, warped shelves loaded up with books. Just as they've gotten used to owning BLIPS for their music (mp3 downloads), they are used to getting ePUB and MOBI and PDF editions of the latest non-fiction and fiction, and too often, via pirates and parasites who offer the copies for 30 cents cents on the dollar. If not free.

Book companies try to ignore all of this, because it takes so much time to send in takedown requests. That's why, on EBAY for example, filthy swine from Sri Lanka keep getting fresh identities every week and offer all the latest titles, while sneaky cheats from the more literate countries, such as Merry Olde England, simply say "here's thousands of public domain titles" when, in fact, they're selling all the latest stuff they've downloaded from the vast piracy net of torrents.

Here's a typical filthy Sri Lankan illiterate who, my my my, is offering EVERY Sue Grafton book for only $3.99. AND similar bargains on tons of others. Type in an author and add KINDLE or EBOOK and you'll see what these scumbag Sri Lankans do every day on EBAY.

PS, I actually do send in takedowns for myself and a few high profile authors, but EBAY doesn't accept a takedown unless I represent the specific author.

It does no good for me to say: "Hey, I'm a VeRO rep for nearly 20 years, you know me, and I know a bootlegger when I see one. This Sri Lankan parasite is bootlegging Grafton."

Their response would be, "Tell Sue Grafton to sign a letter authorizing you to send us a takedown."

If I say, "Why don't you ask the seller to show a signed license agreement authorizing him to sell the Grafton books..."

...the response back would be: "We are JUST A VENUE. It's NOT our job to question what a seller uploads to our site."

Would you be surprised to learn that several major companies, including ones I've written books for (hellllo DOUBLEDAY) turned down my offer to, FOR FREE, send in a DMCA if I saw a violation?)

Here's an example from Merry Olde England...a crook called DOBSON'S. They are offering copyrighted books. Harlan Coben is NOT public domain. But Coben isn't sending in a DMCA is he? The book publishers aren't shutting down this asshole. Too much time and effort to do that. Better to hope that J.K. Rowling and pudgy E.L. James will sell enough to offset the losses. Mmm, book publishers. You thought they were literate, moral, and intelligent? How fucking DUMB can they get?