Collecting Conumdrum

In last month’s TriAPA, DLReach in his Ink and Hatchet: Musings on Larger than Life Fiction broached the elephant in the bookstore, collecting books and the To Be Read pile. I discussed something similar with someone at Howard Days. How many different editions of the same story do you need? I’m sure many of us have a love/hate relationship with our collecting habits. I have been a collector of comics for over 50 years and wargame miniatures for over 35 and am still struggling with both. And thanks to the Whestone Discord, now a struggling collector of books. (thanks a lot 8-( For myself, I see a number of levels to my collecting.

Especially with comics, the completionist aspect is a big impetus. The thrill of buying that last missing issue to complete a full run of a series is wonderful. This also even affects my wargaming hobby. When I start a new army, I have to over-analyze and buy all possible troop options for the army, just so I can have every combination (even though the army will probably sit unpainted in the garage until I turn to pewter myself).

Similar to, but slightly different from, completionism is the achievement aspect. Completionism is satisfaction from having the whole set, while achievement is the gratification from completing a specific task. Finding your 1st book in a series gives a thrill. Once I bought my 1st Imaro, I knew I had to get the others, and am looking forward to the joy of finding the rest of them, one by one.

The used book store also has a lot to answer for. Any bookstore that only carries new titles has little allure for me. I can walk in or visit online a new book bookstore at any time and find/order the newly published thing in which I’m interested. (Does everyone have their Hurled Headling Flaming, Conan: City of the Dead and Lord of the Shattered Land paperback?) But the used bookstore is a treasure trove of unimaginable delights. I never know what I;m going to find. Are you going to find another Imaro? (I was actually shaking a bit when I asked to see the 1st one from behind the counter, I never thought I’d see one in the wild). Am I going to find the 1 book missing for your set of Lancer/Ace Conans? Is a cover of an unknown author going to grab me and I’m going to discover my new favorite author (until the next seductive cover). I (unfortunately) have some very good bookstores in my town and go to them every 2-3 weeks, primarily because of the evil Fear of Missing Out. If I don’t go, I won’t know what I might be missing, and once there, well I might as well get something.

Another key aspect of buying, at least new books, is to support others in the community. (Does everyone have their Hurled Headling Flaming, Conan: City of the Dead and Lord of the Shattered Land paperback?) I feel as being part of a community of any kind, it’s my responsibility to contribute back to it in some way. And one way to help our community is to support its creators. Without support, this very niche of a niche literary genre it could die off very quickly. Buying books/magazines/kickstarters created by follow community members is one way to help.

And now to the uncomfortable ones. I know I enjoy and get validation from the sword emojis and other positive comments on the Discords when I found a good book or deal. And being able to say I have an Imaro and 2 Kanes and a Nifft and an original Clark Ashton Smith pulp issue makes me feel like I’m “serious” collector, and by extension, accepted by the community. I’m sure many/most of us suffer from some level of imposter syndrome in our lives and this is just a coping technique to convince myself otherwise. And after the isolation of the pandemic and working 100% remote with infrequent contact people outside my immediate bubble, the online communities have become more important. I buy books to put tick marks in the “true fan” column and feel a bit more like I belong.

Now for the big one. I said I was a collector, and I am mostly just that. I am not a big reader. It’s so much easier to watch TV or doom scroll, or doom scroll while watching TV. All these books (and comics) I’m buying, I’m not spending a lot of time trying to read. It’s not like I’m reading all of the time to try to whittle down my To Be Read pile. I’m just buying to buy and complete/achieve/support/get (somewhat empty) validation. Should I even be buying these highly sought after books if there’s a good chance I may not read them? Should I leave them for someone else who would most likely put them to the use for which they were created, actually read them?

DLReach calculated that within a few years, if he continues with his rate of book buying and new author discovery, he’ll soon be unable to read all of his To Be Read. I keep telling myself I’ll read all my comics in my retirement, but I have had very similar thoughts with my continually growing collection of unpainted wargame miniatures. I have abandoned miniatures projects approaching 20 years old. Will I ever go back to them? My brain and emotions tell me of course, I just have to pick it back up again. But realistically when will I have time when I don’t complete the project I’m currently working on before getting distracted by the new shiny (not factoring in the time I should be reading too).

A few related side issues. Some of the wise Discordians said that to help Sword and Sorcery grow as an accepted genre, we should be reading the newly released stuff. Buying Imaros, Kanes and Niffts, probably won’t move the needle in the publishing world’s eyes, but reading the new authors and publications may. (Does everyone have their Hurled Headling Flaming, Conan: City of the Dead and Lord of the Shattered Land paperback?) Should I be buying old dusty used books at all? Or should I be focusing my time and money on the boosting the new creators to show the publishers that there is something here worth their time and effort to explore? Although, with the wonderful number of new releases, I’d be no better off in the obsessive collecting arena. Also, while I’m sure my TBR pile is small compared to others, when I do end up finishing a book and look at the pile of to pick a new one, what should I pick next? Old or new? Conan or Clonan? I’m kind of overwhelmed and end up walking away to doom scroll and watch TV.

I’ll end with a vague estimation of my buying vs reading ratio in the last 14 months since last year’s Howard Days when I got infected by the book buying bug.

Book bought: 87

Books read: 18 (but 11 them are Dark Man journals and the like, so very thin)

TriAPA Mailing #10

10th issue of the TriAPA mailing

Art Critic Flame War: Part 1 10th issue of 12 Leagues to Averoigne (contained in TriAPA #10)
Original articles referenced in this month's issue