Price wars on books

It's not just coincidence that the name of the store is Common Good. "There is more of an experience in buying a book than just getting it at a cheap price," Common Good books manager Sue Zumberge said.

For three years, Common Good has been doing just that on its little corner in St. Paul's Cathedral Hill.

It's a refuge for the reader, a sanctuary for the book lover.

So when news hit today that big box retailers like Walmart and Target will sell Sarah Palin's biography, "Going Rogue" at a price below cost the reaction was mixed.

Zumberge's role at Common Good is one of manager and one of relationships.

She knows her readers and she knows that if they want Palin's book they will buy it from her for three times as much as it costs at Walmart, Target or amazon.com.

"We have presales on a number of those books from people who know we won't discount it and that is a show of support for independent bookstores," Zumberge said.

The price war isn't limited to Palin's book.

John Grisham's newest book is also being deeply discounted by big boxers.

"They are just trying to get people into their store to buy more expensive things and I'm sorry they are using books as a loss leader," Zumberge said.

And if we ascribe to the notion that a book, the magic of words on the page is a loss leader, well, the loss is ours.

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