tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post2608761184954222881..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Parallel importation: a disaster for Australian writersAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-40059417215490572652009-04-22T17:21:00.000+10:002009-04-22T17:21:00.000+10:00Yes, I spent a very pleasant evening at Supernova ...Yes, I spent a very pleasant evening at Supernova when the Pellinor books were first published. I think only The Gift was out then. I can't quite remember.<br /><br />Re the bookshops: it's interesting to see the flood of submissions on the PC's website from independent bookshops, responding to the PC's interim report (and as one man against any change to the present situation). They are not Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-87868553764194716302009-04-21T18:36:00.000+10:002009-04-21T18:36:00.000+10:00(It was the talk about 'supernova' in your blog pr...(It was the talk about 'supernova' in your blog profile that made me cuious Bren. I think Alison's presented there once but before my time. And what is it with Melbourneans and exploding stars? Nova Mob, Supernova...)TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-20502033990000165502009-04-21T18:34:00.000+10:002009-04-21T18:34:00.000+10:00Wow - that's quite a word verification! Looks like...Wow - that's quite a word verification! Looks like 'Australians for Australian Books' have demonically possessed your computer!TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-92226612297125256272009-04-21T17:18:00.000+10:002009-04-21T17:18:00.000+10:00Lucy is a friend, have been invited to Nova Mob to...Lucy is a friend, have been invited to Nova Mob to read, never been to a regular meeting. <br /><br />(Word verification - supporting Australian publishing)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-70994346303029637362009-04-21T12:40:00.000+10:002009-04-21T12:40:00.000+10:00On an unrelated subject - Hey Bren, have I ever ra...On an unrelated subject - Hey Bren, have I ever ran into at one of Lucy Sussex's SF Nova Mob Wednesday night meetings perchance? <br /><br />(Word verification - criers)TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25657358239118602972009-04-21T12:17:00.000+10:002009-04-21T12:17:00.000+10:00It's understandable worrying about the future of i...It's understandable worrying about the future of independent and smaller retailers in the context of changing trade circumstances - but there are plenty of other examples in the past 40 years of situations where trade barriers, regulations and restrictions have been dropped and this has not resulted in the end of independent/small businesses. The end result is typically the reverse. <br /><br />TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-40775465230959273402009-04-21T12:00:00.000+10:002009-04-21T12:00:00.000+10:00It's also a "trade barrier" that entrepeneurs cann...It's also a "trade barrier" that entrepeneurs cannot just publish any old text and sell it anywhere they like. Copyright restricts trade all right - publishers have to negotiate rights with those who own them. <br /><br />And there's plenty of competition in the Australian book trade. Parallel importation will affect that negatively - independent bookshops, who don't have the buying power of big Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-91336323816064386402009-04-21T11:11:00.000+10:002009-04-21T11:11:00.000+10:00The words I used were 'trade barriers'. Which they...The words I used were 'trade barriers'. Which they are: restrictions on importing copies of books from overseas is a restriction on trade - ie, a trade barrier. <br /><br />According to Macquarie a tariff is a system of duties, a table of charges upon an import or export. Which is something rather different. So I'm quite happy to reject that characterisation as well! <br /><br />Unfortunately TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-64125842054281903902009-04-21T08:42:00.000+10:002009-04-21T08:42:00.000+10:00I totally dispute the characterisation of Territor...I totally dispute the characterisation of Territorial Copyright as a kind of tariff. It is an aspect of my OWNERSHIP of a book I have written. Before copyright protection, authors could make zilch from bestselling books - publishers just made and sold them. Intellectual copyright matters and has been hard fought for. It's called literary estate. Imagine if you spent 10 years building a house, andAlison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28074621860103361852009-04-21T08:27:00.000+10:002009-04-21T08:27:00.000+10:00Booksellers buy what will sell. It keeps them in b...Booksellers buy what will sell. It keeps them in business, after all. They're not a perfect source for books, but they're a hell of a lot more convenient than a library, where books are often quite slow to obtain, sometimes can't be obtained at all, and when you can get them you can't keep them for very long. <br /><br />The history of the economy generally indicates that the lifting of trade TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-6474153729656854282009-04-21T08:23:00.000+10:002009-04-21T08:23:00.000+10:00From memory, I get around 20c a copy from the US a...From memory, I get around 20c a copy from the US at the time of printing. It's reprint rights, not royalties for me, I'm afraid. Royalties here are around 90c a copy. Lending rights are more, luckily... so support your libraries folks. Knowledge is free there... just take your own container.<br /><br />Tim, I must be a pain to my library. I'm always telling them what to buy or ordering them Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-19672916692749470832009-04-21T08:06:00.000+10:002009-04-21T08:06:00.000+10:00Since when did lower income people "pass" on libra...Since when did lower income people "pass" on libraries? Ours are pretty well patronised.<br /><br />And booksellers <I>don't</I> make "literary choices" by choosing which books to display on their shelves? Checked out the poetry sections in commercial bookshops lately? How many contemporary Australian poets do you see on sale there? Maybe two or three...if you're lucky. That is, if there is a Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-8943281184308791882009-04-21T07:49:00.000+10:002009-04-21T07:49:00.000+10:00I think I can understand why a lot of lower income...I think I can understand why a lot of lower income people would pass on libraries - literary choices being made by other people on their behalf.TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-88038616242141052522009-04-21T07:17:00.000+10:002009-04-21T07:17:00.000+10:00Thanks Bren. It is hilarious that publishers are d...Thanks Bren. It is hilarious that publishers are described as "tight-fisted" (they're businesses, right?) while booksellers are, on the other hand, enlightened champions of the oppressed masses. Pull the other one. And yes, it's the retailers - those who invest and risk least, especially on the sale and return policy observed by most publishers - who make the lion's share of the RRP.<br /><br />Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-60154409662420723302009-04-20T23:23:00.000+10:002009-04-20T23:23:00.000+10:00Low income readers don't give up reading because t...Low income readers don't give up reading because they can't afford to buy books. They become rampant library-goers.<br /><br />I think it's hilarious that Dymocks CEO stated that books were still selling wonderfully recently despite the climate and makes statements like: ""The list highlights the enduring popularity of Australian authored books," says Don Grover, Dymocks CEO, "with perennial Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-71664733097728093722009-04-20T22:56:00.000+10:002009-04-20T22:56:00.000+10:00You've neglected to mention some other points: nam...You've neglected to mention some other points: namely, that people who stand to benefit from cheaper deals/bargains (such as might result from the use of remaindered books in sales) would be those who are on a low income. Authors stand to gain <I>new</I> readers, which in turn puts them in a better position to bargain with publishers. <br /><br />And there's the other point: the vast majority of TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-489504401527842222009-04-20T17:45:00.000+10:002009-04-20T17:45:00.000+10:00...and re the book prices: you could try reading t......and re the book prices: you could try reading the Productivity Commission's rather uncertain analysis on book prices yourself. It's online. They admit there's not enough evidence to claim with any certainty that books are more expensive in Australia than elsewhere. Yet even without that evidence, they are prepared to make claims that any higher prices are, per se, to do with Territorial Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-18286316144549420552009-04-20T17:37:00.000+10:002009-04-20T17:37:00.000+10:00Local publishers - unless they decided to pay thei...Local publishers - unless they decided to pay their employees nothing at all - simply couldn't compete against remaindered books. One example: Toni Jordan made the Miles Franklin longlist with her rather marvellous romcom Addition. Consequently her Australian publisher, Text, issued a smart new edition. But at present her British publisher has several thousand remaindered copies in a warehouse, Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-9246858924099715332009-04-20T17:29:00.000+10:002009-04-20T17:29:00.000+10:00The surveys referenced in that link look rather se...The surveys referenced in that link look rather selective, unsurprising for a webpage entitled 'Australians for Australian Books'!TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-31340644482206278012009-04-20T17:21:00.000+10:002009-04-20T17:21:00.000+10:00Booksellers and publishers wouldn't bother sourcin...Booksellers and publishers wouldn't bother sourcing overseas if they couldn't get cheaper prices and competitive deals - in which case a lifting of import restrictions wouldn't matter.TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-70623770926811477312009-04-20T16:53:00.000+10:002009-04-20T16:53:00.000+10:00That's the argument of Dymocks and associates, of ...That's the argument of Dymocks and associates, of course. Which doesn't account for the majority of booksellers who are actually <I>against</I> the proposal.<br /><br />If you take the GST from Australian book prices, you'll find that in fact Australian books are around the same price as books from the US and the UK - some are more expensive, some cheaper, some about the same. If you compare to Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-19365850853157669452009-04-20T15:22:00.000+10:002009-04-20T15:22:00.000+10:00Well lifting the import restrictions would tend to...Well lifting the import restrictions would tend to give a downward pressure to prices of all books. One example of how books could become cheaper is provided in this submission (in the sale of cheap/remaindered books). <br /><br />Which in turn would make it easier for booksellers to be competitive, and open up the market to people on a low income. Now you might not agree that this would be good TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-76559175881269588342009-04-19T00:59:00.000+10:002009-04-19T00:59:00.000+10:00Because it isn't hard enough to make an income as ...Because it isn't hard enough to make an income as an artist already in Australia???. I am APPALLED! I choose to buy books of living authors because I know they get some royalties, just like people who want to see my theatre pay to see it. <br /><br />This just reiterates the shrinking value parts of Australia places on cultural activities. Can you imagine the outrage that would ensue if we cappedThoughtful Theatrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03243461930900984148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25401563865933560932009-04-16T20:18:00.000+10:002009-04-16T20:18:00.000+10:00Yaaay, Alison! Great sub!Yaaay, Alison! Great sub!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com