I got a bad case of sticker shock the other day. No, I wasn't shopping for cars --- I was in the bookstore. Sure, I know book prices are steadily on the rise, as is everything else. But to actually see a paperback-sized hardcover priced at $20 and paperbacks priced at $14 about stopped my heart. It caused my second near-fatal experience with book prices: adding up what I spent on books in the past year.

I value books for what they have to offer, their mind-expanding potential, their entertainment potential, and many other things. But after seeing the $20 price tags and adding up what I've spent on books, I have to wonder --- at what point does a book's cost outweigh its value?

A book's value has little to do with how much you paid for it. Some books go up in value, such as first editions, out of print, or signed copies. "I often pay way more than the original price of the book since the psychological "value" of adding that title to my collection is higher than the physical "value" of the book," says Carol Ann Waugh of Xcellent Marketing.

"Cover design is also an important aspect of value." Says Linda Martinson, author of POETRY OF PAIN. "I have chronic pain myself (fibromyalgia) and wanted the book cover to reflect how I feel physically --- a blue background (the serenity I want to feel), the title in fractured font (my broken body) printed over a radiating red ball (my pain). Many customers have pointed to the cover and said, 'This is me.'"

"It's what you get from the book that determines its value in relation to the sticker price but not solely dependent on it. It seems to me that "value" carries some obvious connotations that any buyer can appreciate.... Content...must be considered one of several (elements)," says Bill Warner, owner of GLB Publishers.

"Content." It can make or break a book's value. Have you ever read a book that made you mad because it let you down, you didn't like the ending, or it didn't have the information you thought it would? No matter what you paid for it, the book's value is zero to you.

When a book touches you, entertains you, takes you away to another place and time, or provides an answer you were looking for, you almost always feel you got a good value. At the least, it was worth the money you paid. If it made a strong impact, the book's value is much more than the price paid. Books I read as child and teen keep increasing in value as their impact carries through my life.

Then there are those so-so books: they were OK, but didn't move you to one extreme or the other. Those, you donate to the library or take to the local used bookstore, both ways of increasing the book's value against the money spent. The majority of books I read fall into this category, just as many bestsellers and starred review books end up in the "to be donated" pile rather than on the "keeper" shelf.

You rely on word of mouth, recommendations from family and friends. But even that isn't going to be strong enough when that imaginary line between cost and value is crossed.

The $20 and $14 fiction books came highly recommended by friends; they declared them "must reads." Based on just their recommendations, I was ready to buy the books --- until I saw the price. Even if I read chapter excerpts and loved it, I wouldn't spend the money. The prices cross my cost/value line for fiction books. Chances are I won't find these books in the library because the authors are not well known (no offense to libraries, they have an all too see-able bottom line). Since the friends are out of state, borrowing them isn't an option; I wouldn't want the books to get damaged or lost en route. The price is practically pushing me into the local used bookstore --- a last resort option I don't like to use (and one that makes publishers cringe). No one is winning here: not the publisher, not the author, not me.

So at what point does the cost outweigh the value? Each book answers it differently for each reader. The difficult part is you can't weigh a book's value until after you've read it. You determine up front how much money and time you're willing to spend. When I read a so-so book and spent $7 on it, I can live with that. Spending $14 on a so-so book crosses the line; at that point, I feel I've wasted money and time. I've determined my cost/value line to be around $10, maybe stretching to $12 if I'm desperate for something to read.

I'm a hard-core reader, an eclectic reader, and a reader who spends an obscene amount of money on books. Even so, I have my limits on how much I'll pay for a book, how much money and time I'm willing to spend looking for good reads. Knowing I'm missing out on some great authors and stories hurts, but I feel a stand has to be made in my own way.

Talking to other readers I realize I'm not alone. Book prices are pricing out even the hard-core readers, sending them to used bookstores and looking for lower priced alternatives. Many have started reading circles at work so they can pool and share their book resources. "We have a romance, mystery, fiction, and science fiction group at work," says one reader. "It's great...I've tried authors I haven't read before and types of books I don't usually read. No way could I afford all these books on my own."

We're people who gladly spend money on books, people who place a high value on books and what they offer us, the types of readers publishers usually love. But fiction book prices have hit our limit, and we're taking matters into our own hands.

Publishers, get a clue: Your prices are costing you your best customers, and we're not easily replaced.

--- Jamie Engle

(c) Copyright 2001, Bookreporter.com. All rights reserved.