getting the message across

[adelaidesean]

There's an email going around from Dymocks to subscribers to its Booklovers program. It's calling for people to sign a petition encouraging the Productivity Commission to lift restrictions on book imports into Australia. If you think (like me) that this will cripple the Australian book industry and marginalise Australian writers even further than they already are, and if you're discomfited (like me) by the thought of protests occurring outside Dymocks stores (holding innocent staff accountable for decisions made much higher up the chain), can I suggest you unsubscribe from Booklovers program instead (if you're a member) and perhaps send an email explaining why? If subscribers drop by a significant amount, the bosses will recognise the loss of goodwill for what it is (a potential loss of sales) and may feel the pinch more directly.

Spread the meme. This is important.

(If you don't know what on Earth I'm talking about, have a gander at the Australian Society of Authors site. It'll fill you in.)

ETA: the email to direct your protest regarding the mailout is members (at) dymocks.com.au.

ETA: sign a counter-petition at Australian for Australian Books!

ETA: see the comments for some points to raise if anyone asks what exactly we're complaining about.

ETA: or, even better, let Garth Nix and Justine Larbalestier explain it far better than I ever could.

Comments

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so who wants to write the reverse case - Australian book distribution a rort, costing multiple times that of other countries?

Certainly must be tied in to current protectionism somehow?

Probably articles on the net I gues about the cost breakdowns elsewhere, so could compare that, taking in your historical exchange rate and the Democrat Toerag Bendover Merchant tax.

Given what you and Sean are saying about it not being the writers and booksellers getting the extra cash.

[chuckmck1.livejournal.com]

It may not necessarily be protectionism: it may simply be a case of 'this is how much we charge', and nobody has ever seen fit to challenge it. For example, it's only over the past couple of years that customers have started to question the price of books in local bookstores, and that's only because the popularity of Amazon and others has educated readers as to how books ideally *should* be priced. Before that, nobody ever gave it a thought (not even local booksellers). It would be interesting to see what the response to a challenge to the distributors would be, though - probably much like the response of the banking industry a few years back when customers suddenly realised how much they were paying in fees for supposed services: Tough.

To be honest, there's probably also an issue over what all the various people involved with writing, publishing and selling a book consider to be a 'decent' profit. Personally, as a bookseller, I don't think retaining 30-40% of the rrp is all that great: with that sort of margin, I need to sell a hell of a lot of books to pay for overheads before even thinking about making an actual profit. On the other hand, speaking as an author, 40% represents a comparative fortune. I supect that if you asked publishers, printers and distributors to justify their costs, they could do so easily (on paper, at least).

In the end, any changes to pricing will come down to a hell of a lot of compromise between all concerned, and it's bound to be a horribly messy process. Can you really see anyone involved agreeing to make *less* money in order to make the pricing 'fairer'? Meh.