If you mail me a check, I'll feel bad for you. Then you won't feel bad... and I'll have money to buy beer.

Don't feel bad. Even if it's true that authors don't get payed for close outs, the fact that publishers or shops know they can get rid of books with close outs means they'll be willing to pay the author more money even if there's a risk of it going to close out. So indirectly they still benefit.

Of course, if you feel they deserve more of your money you can always send them a cheque. Then again, in my opinion if you're sending cheques to authors you should start with the less known ones that are struggling to get their next book published or even to get their next book done before the money runs out.

Go to readings, and buy the books. Send Lederer a fan letter. Buy Specklet some beer.

Find a typo and mail that to him instead.

It should be noted that two of the bestest books in my pile are collections of the works of British Isles funny guys Spike Milligan and Peter Cook, both deceased so I feel less bad about not enriching their estates, and when I opened the Cook book in the middle, the first words I saw were "Frog and Peach". Serendipity.

Yes, Quentin, I would feel even better providing extra support to a struggling writer (you wouldn't happen to knowbe one would you?), but none of the authors I purchased this time would qualify. Ironically, when I first filled my shopping cart, I had over 70 books at a total cost to me of over $300, and in cutting that list down, I removed some books by obscure authors because the site had >200 copies and I knew they'd be there when I went back later...

My first thought was that someone had left a kitten/baby at your doorstep and now you didn't know whether to eat it or adopt it. I was rather disappointed to find out that this wasn't the case. Surely this (disappointing someone you have never even met, that is) is something to feel bad about?

So, just out of curiosity, why don't authors get anything from a discount or closeout sale? I would think that a publishing company would be skating on thin ice by not counting one of these books as a sale for the purpose of calculating royalties, but then I don't know much about publishing.

Well I'm certainly struggling to write, but not for lack of money. Thanks for the offer (if it was one) though.

If I may go off on a tangent and paraphrase part of the introduction of a Neil Gaiman book I read a while back, about his not being certain if his book was fit for publishing: "There is an old aphorism that goes 'A novel is a long piece of prose with something wrong with it', and I was pretty sure I'd written one of those."

Daniel, I said "MINI-moral quandry", mainly because for me, a purchase of $120 of anything is a moderately big deal - the only things I've spent more at one time on this year are a bed and a full set of tires.

Quentin, yes it was a sincere-if-not-serious suggestion; I forget (having not seen a book contract for a long time and NEVER having signed a book contract) how much 'non-superstar' author royalties on $120/reduced price or $320/cover price be?

Now, to up the ante (if anyone is still reading this thread). A long time ago I made an affiliate deal with this website, putting their ads on my blog and getting a commission for sales via my link. It produced very few dollars, but it still made me feel guilty for the reasons noted above. Would anyone think me crazy if I resumed that practice, specifically promoting the "obscure authors with 200+ books in stock" and committing myself to giving them my commissions IF I can find them? (Which if I sold all 200 books would be less than 10 dollars) Nevermind, I think I just answered my own question. Where are my meds?

Nice plate of beans you have there, wendell.

Three-bean salad. I LIKE it.

wendell: I was merely trying to be funny. Sorry.

Well, since he's only your SECOND favorite linguist, then I don't think you owe him anything.

He does all right for himself. Send your money to a musician or an as-yet-unpublished writer instead.