As someone who is an avid reader, I'm always going to bookstores and browsing through stacks of books. However, every time I return to a bookstore, I notice that the prices have significantly increased. Many people are not crazy about e-books; they prefer the written word. Therefore, it is difficult to justify spending so much money on a few books. On average, I have observed that they range anywhere from $25-$30. Why is it that movies can be rented for $4.99, but valuable pieces of literature cost almost triple that? Shouldn't the reading of literary masterpieces be encouraged? Books are outrageously expensive, and that detracts customers from wanting to spend the money. If books were less expensive, perhaps more people would read. Putting such an expensive price on creative writing seems non-sensical, and the world could benefit from this being changed. Authors must make commission somehow, but perhaps more people would buy the books if they could afford them. Yes, there are libraries, but bookstores have a wider range of books, and people can customize them by highlighting their favourite phrases or making notes. To put it simply, the increase in the price of books is unnecessary and creates more harm than help. The world could benefit from reading more literature.
'If books were less expensive, perhaps more people would read.' A lovely idea, but unfortunately the old adage is true - 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.' There are some people who wouldn't read books even if a dozen books were given away free with their morning cereal. – Amyus5 years ago
Two observations: 1) I do not believe prices of books are the reason people don't read. How is that even possible to substantiate objectively? 2) Aren't e-books also "written word"? Don't you mean "printed word"? – T. Palomino2 years ago