Moogirl took me to task in the post below. She made a number of good points.
And before I go off into another snarky post, let me state that Moogirl is someone I truly respect. Seriously. She's been here for a long time, and she speaks her mind. That is part of the fun with this blog . . . having readers disagreeing with me.
Additionally, she is one of my best looking readers, and I don't want to lose any good looking readers. They bring a certain appeal to this blog. Just like a club with hot members.
Last time Moogirl twisted my ear was when I wrote about Lonelygirl15. She didn't let me off the hook until someone pointed out all the mainstream media, including BusinessWeek and New York Times had written about that lonely girl, too.
But this time I got a real spanking.
And since I've felt very liberated lately, I figured I should point out an obvious solution to one of the very good points she made in Moogirl gives Dr. Rost a Spanking.
Moogirl wrote that "Many readers cited money as being the issue keeping them from purchasing your book. This seemed to leave a particularly bad taste in your mouth. I’ve noticed a decidedly snarky tone on your writing ever since (and not the good kind). The comment about a contribution button scaring away 90% of your readers was particularly sarcastic, as was the bit about most of your readers will think spending money on whistleblowers (the people, not the book) is a fab idea as long as it doesn’t cost us anything." And Moogirl continued, explaining how most of my readers are ordinary people, working for minimum wage or a little over, so that makes it hard to spend the ten dollars.
And I think Moogirl makes a good point. So I decided to start the "Get The Whistleblower Free Program."
This is how it works:
Anyone can read "The Whistleblower" for free. Most book stores will allow you to return the book within 30 days and get a full refund if you have a receipt. Same for Amazon, but you have to pay shipping.
Isn't this unethical? you may wonder.
I don't think so; if you buy a book, and later decide to return it because you didn't want it and you get money back you are simply following the merchant policy. You really can't know what you want to do until you've read it. Maybe you want to gift it to someone for the holidays. After all, most people buy holiday gifts. And if you have little money it may make sense to eat the cake and have it too, so to speak. Merchants have a return policy in place because they know it makes people buy more books, not fewer books. Because most people don't bother to return something, even if they don't like it.
But let's say you are a sneaky person, you have no intention of keeping the book, and you buy it simply to return it. Doesn't that hurt the merchant? you may ask.
Not at all. The bookstore does the same thing. Every single book they don't sell, they return to the publisher and get a refund. And after you have read the book, you will talk about it and some people who actually have ten bucks will buy it, because you told everone at work, or in the unemployment line how great it was!
So you see, everyone wins, no matter what your motives are. That's capitalism at its best.
Here are a couple of policies, check with your local book store:
Returns to Borders Express Stores
Merchandise presented for return, including sale or marked-down items, must be accompanied by the original Borders Express or Borders store receipt. Returns must be completed within 30 days of purchase. Returned merchandise must be in saleable condition.
Returns To Waldenbooks
StoresMerchandise presented for return, including sale or marked-down items, must be accompanied by the original Waldenbooks store receipt. Returns must be completed within 30 days of purchase. For returns accompanied by a Waldenbooks Store Receipt, the purchase price will be refunded in the medium of purchase (cash, credit card or gift card).
Uh, one more thing. Moogirl also wrote that, "I fear you may be alienating some of your most loyal readers." She was probably referring to my comment about "a contribution button scaring away 90% of my readers."
Truth is, I'm not afraid of that at all.
You see, no one thinks they are part of those 90%. It's the same with doctors. Study after study has shown that doctors don't believe they are pesonally affected by drug company promotion, but they do think many of their colleagues are influenced . . .
:)
