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Post by Claire on Jan 14, 2009 17:39:41 GMT 1
OMG must get that bibliography susan! Is it available here or just in the US? See its not just konstanze you are tempting! But I will justify buying it as research! Re. morgans in books K M Peytons Stealaway also features Morgans. But back to the Ellen Feld ones, the fantasy element in it is very slight, just to do with a dream. I still think it would do better without it and it makes the start of the book a tad confusing but once you get that bit out of the way it doesnt really rear its head again and the rest is very traditional. It also features some in-hand showing which is very rare in pony books (I am trying to compile a list but that is another story) I am not too obsessional with series if I just read the first book or can even read them all in sequence up to a certain one, but i just find it impossible to read them out of sequence. I'm the same with TV shows/films if I miss the first bit/episode will not watch them. Trying to get back to the original subject, I don't think we have totally strayed away because the very fact that we have found two very traditional types of pony series which have been self-published shows that it seems the only way to continue with the trad pony book. Judging from the popularity and awards of the Morgan series however it does show there is a market for them if publishers weren't so narrow minded. Mind you both sets of books feature a specific breed (Morgan and Exmoor) which perhaps have a niche market.
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Post by susanb on Jan 14, 2009 18:19:45 GMT 1
Claire...the bibliography was published only in the US, but I have seen copies listed in the UK before when I've recommended it to people...I just checked and there aren't any copies on abe at the moment....I'd suggest checking biblio, alibris, amazon, etc before forking over postage from the US! It came out only in hardcover, there was never a dj, it's a light green cloth covered book, with title, etc stamped in. (Grin..as a bookseller, maybe you can deduct it from your tax somehow as a business expense?).
Re the traditional pony book, I agree, I think they would sell quite well if publishers/booksellers (by which I mean real brick and mortar stores) would give them a chance. The fact that a couple of the Ellen Feld titles show up in best-loved-lists of children's books that CHILDREN, not adults, select, is encouraging.
The only time in recent years that I've seen a new hardcover, traditional horse book in a store was when Kim Ablon Whitney's "The Perfect Distance" came out a couple of years back...the store had 5 or 6 copies on the shelf, and of course I bought one right away...when I went back the following week, the rest were gone. Anecdotal evidence, of course, we're only talking about one title, one bookstore, but still..... (btw, the store was Barnes & Noble, a multiple, somewhat like Waterstones, not a specialty children's or equestrian bookstore)
Re breed specific books: though the two series we're talking about are breed specific, it's my gut feeling that that wouldn't make much difference to children.....I think kids who read horse books, read horse books...they might love a particular breed (especially if they own a real Morgan or Exmoor!), but I wouldn't think it would make a lot of difference in reading material....I certainly didn't care as a child..if it had a horse on the cover, I read it!
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Post by Claire on Jan 14, 2009 18:31:56 GMT 1
Yeah i don't think it would make much difference to kids, but was just thinking maybe some of the books are bought by adults who love the breed. ( I have a feeling the Exmoor ones may be bought by tourists in the area who love Exmoor and its ponies) Its really hard to find out if there is still a market out there (apart from us ageing pony nerds that is ) it would need quite a large marketing study really.
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Post by susanb on Jan 14, 2009 20:32:33 GMT 1
I had no idea the German's didn't like Trakeners!! I had a book of horse breed pics/descriptions as a child (actually, I still have the same copy) and I used to DROOL over the pic of the Trakener!
Glad to hear you already had two books! Instant gratification when you want to read them, and not a penny more spent :-) These days every time I'm tempted to buy more books, I think "um, and what about the ones you haven't read yet?". It hasn't actually made me stop buying, but I know I've cut down a bit.
Re abebooks...there's abebooks.co.uk and abebooks.com (which is Canadian really...abe is a Canadian firm), and there's a German site as well...abebooks.de. The forums to chat on are individual, but as far as sales go, one search swoops up everything regardless of location, so you're not missing anything. Actually, when it comes to chatting, everyone hangs out on the .com site....we all speak English (well, different variations on it, but close enough ;D ), so what was the point of separating forums? Over the years, I've learned about so many more authors on the forum (UK, Canadian, Australian) that I had never heard of before, which has been fabulous, but expensive! The trend has run both ways too....to the joy of booksellers everywhere, I'm sure!
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Post by susanb on Jan 15, 2009 15:02:07 GMT 1
Konstanze....re abe, I saw the same 13 as you did, but I noticed that none were located in the UK, which was what I was looking for specifically for you and Claire (to save on postage!)....I have seen copies located in the UK before, but it looks like they all sold.
;-) Good luck holding out against that impulse! I can post a pic of a page this weekend, if you and Claire would like, so you can see what the listings actually look like...it might not be anything you're interested in anyway!
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Post by susanb on Jan 16, 2009 15:15:06 GMT 1
Konstanze...no, the book doesn't list American books excusively because the author thought they were the end all and be all (or she wouldn't have listed English book printed in the US), it lists American books because the author was an American librarian and she listed what the libraries here bought (public library's budgets have never stretched to importing books, they buy from domestic publishers) and had in the catalog. Oddly enough, sometimes things don't have any deep meaning at all, it's just a matter of mechanics. Why do New Englanders eat more ice cream in the winter than anyone else in the US consumes in the middle of summer? Because to make ice cream you need milk and ice, and from the beginning (in the days before refrigeration) New England had both all year, it became a habit, and subsequent generations and new immigrants picked it up.
Incidentally, many US publishers did pick up many British books...one of my top two (tied for first) favorites, Tall and Proud, UK title King Sam, was by Vian Smith, a Dartmoor author more popular in the US than in his native UK (Claire did a nice review of him on her blog, noting that you have to buy his books from the US). Sabre, the Horse from the Sea, by Kathleen Herald had US printings, long before she was the famous K.M. Peyton, and my three Oxus books are all American editions.
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Post by Claire on Jan 16, 2009 15:27:21 GMT 1
Hi susan I agree I was just going to say it is possibly a matter of logistics or even space (!) rather than national pride. When I started compiling my bibliographies of pony writers I obviously started with English ones cos they are easier to find info on in this country and even tho I have included some US and Aussie writers it is quite selective. Its not cos I dont like the US/Oz books or think UK pony books are best. There are a huge anount of pony book writers out there! I would love the book in order to supplement my knowledge of the pony book scene in the US.
The info about Kathleen Herald is very interesting! KMP seems fairly popular in the states (would you agree?) judging by the many US editions of her books.
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Post by susanb on Jan 16, 2009 15:43:18 GMT 1
Claire...oh yes, K.M. Peyton is very popular here....she's probably the only traditional pony book author I see regularly on the shelves in an average (non specialty) new bookstore (Barnes and Noble or Borders, which are like a Waterstones).
The tv mini-series Flambards aired here way back when, and was very popular, which only added to her fame, but she was published and popular long before that....the edition of Sabre came out at roughly the same time as the UK printing. My copies of Fly-by-Night and The Team are American printings (they kept the same artwork and format as the UK editions, which I was happy about).....she's the one author my local (Massachusetts) equestrian bookseller collects.
Re the bibliography....I'll post a pic this weekend...of a page of listings and a page from the index. It has a title/author index (common), but it also has an index by breed, riding discipline, etc. It's broken down into children, juvenile, young adult and adult catagories, which is good, though I've had some quibbles with the border between the age groups (I expect she went by whatever was in the library catalog though).
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Post by susanb on Jan 16, 2009 15:57:39 GMT 1
:-) No offense taken!
Re Peyton/Herald....Kathleen Herald was her maiden name, when she married Michael Peyton, they wrote and published together four "Sea Scout" books....sort of teenage boy mysteries at sea (I think of them as the Hardy Boys on a boat, though the boys are friends, not siblings) and used their first initials in lieu of first names: K for Kathleen, M for Michael = K.M. Peyton. She continued using the name writing her on her own. (I've read three of the four Sea Scout books, btw, and can recommend Stormcock Meets Trouble in particular).
Re Smith....I think Claire mentioned in her blog that the only two books that seem to pop up commonly in the UK are Come Down the Mountain and Martin Rides the Moor (I have no idea why this pair, they weren't even my favorites!). Of course all the Smith books are listed in Terri Wear's bibliography, because they had U.S. printings...I owned Tall and Proud (aka King Sam) as a child, but the others I got from the library....my particular favorite at the time was The Lord Mayor's Show, which I've read (well, of course I own them all now) as an adult, and it holds up so well.
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Post by susanb on Jan 16, 2009 16:02:00 GMT 1
I LOVE House...but you're wrong about Hugh Laurie...the director of House might have been clueless, but millions of Americans knew Laurie from Jeeves and Wooster and Blackadder....in fact, I didn't watch House for years after it's debut, because I just couldn't imagine Laurie in a serious role!
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Post by susanb on Jan 16, 2009 18:13:20 GMT 1
Re House, no, nobody could be House but Laurie....(and he does the best American accent by a Brit I've ever heard....the silver medal would probably go to Angela Lansbury). He pitches his voice much lower for the American accent too....very sexy ;D Re "heard of"...good heavens, we get at least as much British tv as you get American....check out links below, I think you'll recognize a lot of the series. And this is just one network, it doesn't cover everything that makes it over here. At just a quick glance I notice McCallum, Waking the Dead, Heat of the Sun, Vicar of Dibley are missing....as is As Time Goes By....hm....the lists have really just a fraction of programs, but it gives an idea) www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/archive/programs.htmlwww.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/pastprograms.htmlupcoming this year: www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/
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Post by susanb on Jan 17, 2009 21:12:56 GMT 1
Konstanze...just noticed that part of your post on spending-spree-freaking-out...I must have scanned it too quickly, and missed that bit yesterday.
If it's any comfort (probably not, right at this moment), I expect everyone here went through the same thing when they first discovered the Open-24-Hours-You-Don't-Even-Have-to-Get-Dressed-(or-Even-Out-of-Bed)-Biggest-Bookstore-in-the-World that is the internet. I was like a kid in a candy store, buying and gobbling, but unlike a kid there was no "responsible adult" to stop me, because...yikes!....I was supposed to BE the "responsible adult"!!
As one who has been there/done that, I can offer a few suggestions:
1. Slow down and smell the roses...you now HAVE some gorgeous books...favorites from the past, new authors/books to explore...take the time to savor a few....remember that any time you spend reading books is time you're NOT spending buying more! And after all, the enjoyment of the book was the point in the first place.
2.) The library can be your friend! .... I know you want to "save" reading some of these books till you relocate, so now might be a good time to check out the library for books and authors that you haven't read/are just too rare or expesive to buy. I'm pretty sure I've chatted with people in the UK who have said you have more or less the same system we have here, where you can request books through your library that are actually located in other libraries throughout the UK (it's called inter-library loan in the US, not sure what it's called there). My library has online catalogs where I can search for a book, put in a request and they call me to pick up when it arrives....if your library does the same, and your husband/daughters can swoop by to pick up/drop off, it might be a good option. In the US (where budgets haven't been axed, which is a problem here at the moment), some libraries do free deliveries to people who can't get out too......maybe your library has something like that as well....it's always a good idea to check out all the possibilities. You could be doing your library a good turn at the same time... use it or lose it is basically how they operate around the world...libraries keep track of how many patrons they have and use those figures to justify their budgets. And you may save a pony book as well...the other thing they keep track of is which books circulate...those not checked out for long periods of time tend to get disgarded, to make room for new books.
I know the library option may not sound as fun as owning, but you may get to read books that you literally can't find in any other way (I know I have) ....and lets face it, the odds of getting a book like that are vastly better while you're actually in the UK than when you're in Kenya! For books less rare, but that you haven't tried yet, you may find that you don't WANT the books after you've read them....buying them might be a waste of money if you don't want to give them shelf room in the UK, let alone transport them abroad.....try before you buy can be a really good thing!!
For me, it's been good for research/buying guide as well....sometimes I've read a book obtained through the library and thought "ok, I like it $25 worth....I'm not paying any $200, but I'll keep an eye out, and at $25, I'll add it to my collection...if it doesn't come my way that cheap, it wasn't meant to be".
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Post by garej on Jan 17, 2009 21:32:50 GMT 1
I'm pretty sure I've chatted with people in the UK who have said you have more or less the same system we have here, where you can request books through your library that are actually located in other libraries throughout the UK (it's called inter-library loan in the US, not sure what it's called there). My library has online catalogs where I can search for a book, put in a request and they call me to pick up when it arrives....if your library does the same, and your husband/daughters can swoop by to pick up/drop off, it might be a good option. It is called an Inter Library loan in the UK, and all libraries over here subscribe to it. So if your local library (or even ones in the same county) does not have a particular book, another one in another part of the country may do so. Just a note, there is a charge for it. Mine charges £2 per item, but I dont know if it is the same for all libraries. But for a rare book, it is probably better paying £2 than over £100 for it (especially if you find it is terrible).
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Post by Claire on Jan 17, 2009 21:44:15 GMT 1
That seems quite expensive garej it used to be 50p at my last local library. Havent joined the new one yet. It really is worth checking out the library. Mine had KM Peytons Free Rein and Dear Fred and a couple of her non horsy ones in the large print section and I also got to read some other rare horsy ones by inter lib loan. My top tip for libraries is to check the large print section. Even if you dont have bad eyesight. You often get the latest bestsellers which you cant get hold of in the normal copies as someone always has them out. Also some of the titles they order for large print are a little more offbeat/obscure whatever you want to call it - so you often get some great books (as with the KMP) Susanb what brilliant advice! Luckily my addiction is cured by selling the flippin things after I have bought and read them. Trouble is with the credit crunch may find myself with a lot of expensive unsold books
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Post by garej on Jan 17, 2009 22:29:02 GMT 1
My top tip for libraries is to check the large print section. Even if you dont have bad eyesight. You often get the latest bestsellers which you cant get hold of in the normal copies as someone always has them out. Also some of the titles they order for large print are a little more offbeat/obscure whatever you want to call it - so you often get some great books (as with the KMP) That is a good idea - I never thought of that. Also, many libraries have a regular sale, and sometimes you can find horsey books there. Last time mine had Flambards for sale, and it was only 50p and was still in fairly decent condition. I didn't pick it up because I already have the book, but it is a lot cheaper than ebay! Of course they will have all the usual ex-library marks, but for someone who is starting off their collection or on a tight budget, that won't matter.
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