Are Malaysians stealing my books?


The other day I was in the Borders Bookstore over at the Curve in Bandar Utama, and (as authors tend to do, alas) looked to see if they had any of my books. They didn’t, at least not in the fantasy section, nor in the general novels. So I asked an assistant.

Because there were two down as unsold in the inventory, a delightfully helpful gentleman then went to a great deal of trouble to look for them. He even emailed me afterwards to tell me that even a thorough search had not managed to unearth the missing volumes. So if you go there, you are unlikely to find “Heart of the Mirage” – but I can thoroughly recommend the staff.

And I am left wondering if folk have been stealing my books. (Come on, guys, you are supposed to pay for them, you know.)

And I have just received a box of author copies of “The Shadow of Tyr”, so that title should be in the bookshops here soon. (It is already on sale in the UK and on Amazon.co.uk. ) MPH in MidValley had a stack of “Heart of the Mirage” not so long ago and some should still be there. The store in Subang Parade also had it recently. I haven’t tried Kinokuniya but I imagine it’s there too.

So happy holiday reading everyone – and don’t forget, give books as presents.


Comments

Are Malaysians stealing my books? — 12 Comments

  1. I read Heart of Mirage a couple of months ago (it was indeed difficult to find a copy!) Thoroughly enjoyed it.

    I can’t remember if I’d read a fantasy novel in the first person before, so it was a refreshing experience. Even more so considering that your heroine is not the typical naive protagonist. And the Mirage is an absolutely marvelous invention.

    A few days ago you wrote about words that jolt a reader out of a story-world… I particularly remember feeling jolted when you used ‘klip-klip’ in Heart of Mirage, but that was followed by a warm rush of recognition, and that somehow made the world feel more real.

    I was enchanted. Read the book over two days and felt immensely satisfied.

    Looking forward to get Shadow of Tyr!

  2. Thanks, guys. That is lovely to hear. Yes, klip-klip was my fun nod to Malaysia, which of course few non-Malaysians would know.

  3. I plan to start a search for your books after Christmas, Glenda, not much time right now, I gather they are available in the UK where I shall be, but UK prices are twice what I would pay here and being a pensioner, have to watch the pennies you know. That is why I use libraries so much these days. Someone suggested I should ask for them as Christmas presents, I only get one present, from my hubby, and I already got that.

  4. Order through your local booksellers, doesn’t cost any more and you don’t pay shipping. I (finally) did this with the Isles of Glory series which I’ve just finished reading… which, may I say, BTW, wow! I’d really love to comment further, but wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, suffice to say, provides a whole new perspective on an old fantasy faithful!

  5. I suppose there’s a certain comfort in knowing that one’s books are considered desirable enough (or marketable enough) to be stolen … a distinction among one’s peers. Hey, now you have an underground following! 🙂 Then again, I imagine it’s not quite the sort of ‘sales figures’ you had in mind.

  6. Yes, I rather liked Ted’s bear too. sort of the way I feel about my writing lots of times…

    Jo – to tell the truth, I also find buying books makes too much of a hole in my pocket at times, so I sympathise.

    Joanna, glad you enjoyed it!

    I had a friend in Oz who told me that a local book store told him his was the most often stolen novel of the year. He didn’t know quite how to take that…

  7. I used to have a couple of thousand or more books, but having shipped them from England to Canada and Canada to the US apart from any house moves we may have made, I decided to reduce their number drastically. I then bought a number of e-books but found I was spending too much on those anyway. So, libraries it is. They often buy books for me if they don’t have them in stock.

    Ted’s bear looks a tad grumpy to me.

  8. I remember looking for a book once at an Angus & Robertson (i know they’re evil – i didnt know that then though, lol) which their computers said they had in stock but was nowhere to be found. The girl at the counter said that fantasy is the most often stolen genre, something about fantasy being more re-sellable??? Strange, all the fantasy readers I know are book lovers who I would think respect the authors enough to not steal…

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