I've been peeved at the extremism of the Author's Guild's stance. I'm a member. When they sent their first letter, I thought, whoa, you're going after Amazon.com, but all other stores that sell new and used side by side are okay? Also, the real issue is review copies and uncorrected page proofs. Some folks make a good side living selling these. I know some people who have made tens of thousands a year by selling off these editions they received as academic or media book reviewers. Publishers sometimes spatter the landscape with free books in the hope of ink, spending thousands of dollars in distribution instead of using that same money to do a focused campaign that would count.

Thus authors suffer twofold: no marketing budget, because funds are wasted on books to people who don't care (it must cost $15 to $20 to send each book out when you count staff time, postage, and raw goods); and with the books sold In advance of the actual publication date deterring purchasers of new editions who buy the uncorrected page proofs or reviewer's copies that are specifically not intended for this.

Take a trip to the Strand, and you think that basically every review copy in New York City winds up in their stacks.