1 June 2009

Andrew Barr goes in to bat for cheaper books

| johnboy
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[First filed: June 01, 2009 @ 10:52]

A few months ago I realised that my lifetime habit of buying a book every week could no longer be afforded. With little change from a $50 note for new releases books had moved up beyond discretionary spending for me and into the realm of planned purchases.

It’s not such a big problem for me. I can already read reasonably proficiently. But it must be a nightmare for parents trying to encourage young voracious readers.

Last month Lateline covered the issues. Whereby the local publishing industry considers the high prices a reasonable price to pay for the handful of local authors they encourage.

I reckon this is balls. I would suggest that the national interest is better served by encouraging a million readers rather than paying for the lifestyles of a few dozen authors and Louise Adler. And even without the protection the really good authors like Tim Winton would thrive.

So I’m pleased to see Andrew Barr has announced he’s taking up the cause at next week’s meeting of Education Ministers.

    By making books artificially more expensive, this outdated and anti-competitive law is making it harder for kids, especially those from less well-off families to buy and read books.

    It’s also making it harder for our school libraries to get as many books for their buck as they could.

    Under the Education Revolution we are all working and investing millions to improve literacy and numeracy for kids from low-socioeconomic backgrounds in particular. Any law that makes books more expensive is bad law. Any law that means our school libraries have fewer books available to students is bad law. Any law that effectively makes it harder for kids to read is bad law.

Bravo!

UPDATED: The Greens’ Shane Rattenbury on the other hand is arguing that keeping some local authors and editors employed is more important than having book prices which let us buy books.

    “There has been a push by the big players such as Dymocks, Coles and Woolworths to scrap parallel import restrictions, and while it’s not at all clear that there would be any long term benefit to book buyers, it seems that the big end of town think they would be the winners.”

    “The Australian publishing industry has flourished under the existing arrangements, creating smart economy jobs for authors, editors, publishers, booksellers and printers.”

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Woody Mann-Caruso9:36 am 02 Jun 09

The Pimply Teen from the Simpsons wrote: “The Australian publishing industry has flourished under the existing arrangements, creating smart economy jobs for authors, editors, publishers, booksellers and printers.”

I’m sure the leather-elbowed cardigan brigade will still buy local. Last time I checked, though, ten out of the top ten spots on the bestseller list were ‘Twilight’, and an Australian with a Masters in Lesbian Goatskin Drum-making in Medieval Latvia didn’t write it.

You can never have too many books. and whenever I think I have enough, there’s Die Hard and Alan Rickman mis-quoting plutarch again and I got off snarling to grab my copy only to find I don’t have THAT particular volume. again. And I resolve to get it, and then forget.

We pay WAY too much for books here, for no good reason.

bigfeet said :

Inappropriate said :

I would have thought book writing would be a global market now? What’s to stop an Australian author being published by a US or UK company?

There is nothing to stop them, but the publisher will want to sell the book to the largest audience which is going to be the American market.

So they will have an editor go through the book and change Australian words to American ones (tap to faucet, torch to flashlight, mum to mom, jelly to Jell-O, rissoles to meatloaf etc), alter the spelling to American (colour/color), remove metric references and alter any Australian slang to something that an American reader will understand.

So the printed book that lands back on our shores for sale is no longer recognisable to the author as his own work, and it not in the Australian vernacular.

Books are frequently released in different markets with various adaptations.

Inappropriate said :

I would have thought book writing would be a global market now? What’s to stop an Australian author being published by a US or UK company?

There is nothing to stop them, but the publisher will want to sell the book to the largest audience which is going to be the American market.

So they will have an editor go through the book and change Australian words to American ones (tap to faucet, torch to flashlight, mum to mom, jelly to Jell-O, rissoles to meatloaf etc), alter the spelling to American (colour/color), remove metric references and alter any Australian slang to something that an American reader will understand.

So the printed book that lands back on our shores for sale is no longer recognisable to the author as his own work, and it not in the Australian vernacular.

For all those Barr supporters, be aware that this bandwagon started rolling – albeit very quietly and slowly – on Howard’s watch. I believe it is the Commonwealth that is responsible for import laws, or is there some other factor here?

Good on him. The Australian music industry claimed that it would collapse if restrictions against parallel imports were taken away. These were removed and it;s going strong (and would have been in an even worse position to compete with iTunes if CD prices hadn’t gone down first).

Second hand book stores and libraries. No more issue Andrew. He should be pushing the further use of public libraries anyway.

Not surprisingly, Richard Flanagan has a few thoughts on the matter.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

Online, second hand, fetes, garage sales, on sale, libraries.

Many, many options. If books are too expensive, let the market figure this out.

Cheaper new books, cheaper second hand books, cheaper and possibly a wider range of library books.

That is the market. The market is distorted by the fact that book consumers are being asked to to support the advancement of Australian culture and literature, a task that really belongs to the society as a whole. Government should directly support Australian authors like it does the film industry and we should get books at a fair internationally competitive price.

Clown Killer5:50 pm 01 Jun 09

here’s an idea for cheap books Andrew – It’s called a library … remember? You closed one down just a while ago moron.

This ‘protecting Australian culture’ argument is such rubbish. If Australians believe that Australian literature is worth buying, they will continue to do so. Stop trying to tell the public what is good for them.

Inappropriate said :

I would have thought book writing would be a global market now? What’s to stop an Australian author being published by a US or UK company?

Well they say it’s because they’re writing uniquely Australian stories of interest only to an Australian audience.

Personally I think a lot of them (not all) aren’t good enough.

Inappropriate5:04 pm 01 Jun 09

I would have thought book writing would be a global market now? What’s to stop an Australian author being published by a US or UK company?

neanderthalsis5:04 pm 01 Jun 09

Twice now the quotes have fully italicised my posts. Must be possessed.

neanderthalsis5:02 pm 01 Jun 09

S4anta said :

Madame Workalot said :

deezagood said :

Jim Jones said :

The Brad said :

.

I would love to buy textbooks second-hand, but find that the latest edition of the book is always difficult to find (and invariably different to the previous year’s course). I find it really frustrating – I end up spending almost $500 a semester on books which, if the previous edition was acceptable, I could spend half that for the same thing.

This would be why education expenses are tax deductable kiddies.

But only if you are working in the industry for which you are studying. As a common garden variety Uni student, expenses aren’t deductable and youth allowance or Ausstudy and a few hours a week in retail doesn’t stretch far when purchasing text books and live the life of an 18yo.

how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

As many as I can fit in my house.

Agreed, although Mrs Neanderthalsis has other plans though. She doesn’t appreciate what the house of a bibliophile should look like.

how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

As many as I can fit in my house.

We just got an extra room built … to fit in all of the books!

Vonbare said :

Join a library. Growing up I had a very wide selection of books to choose from every single week, when my parent’s took us to the library.

It cuts down on consumerism too – how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

But libraries have to be able to afford to purchase books also – a decent volume of quality books in good condition. I find it a bit usurous that books can be sold so cheaply everywhere else, and we have to either pay exorbitant postage to get things from overseas – where it can still work out cheaper! Not much use trying to stimulate the Australian economy if everybody is buying overseas. So hell, yes! Give them a bit of competition.

Madame Workalot said :

deezagood said :

Jim Jones said :

The Brad said :

.

I would love to buy textbooks second-hand, but find that the latest edition of the book is always difficult to find (and invariably different to the previous year’s course). I find it really frustrating – I end up spending almost $500 a semester on books which, if the previous edition was acceptable, I could spend half that for the same thing.

This would be why education expenses are tax deductable kiddies.

If you are buying books on the web, Better World Books is always worth a look. They carry a combination of second hand books, library discards, remainders and new books. Their prices are either comparable with or lower than Amazon.

Their profits and some of their books are used to support literacy programs.

… and when a decent ebook reader is released, books will be effectively free (via “illegal” downloads or library e-loan schemes) or at very least a damn side cheaper than they are now.

someoneincanb1:25 pm 01 Jun 09

Libraries are great, but with the price of books they are struggling to maintain stock. A budget only goes so far and the astronomical price of books means the library basically gets less of them nowadays. This means a longer wait and a poorer selection.

Even with postage costing as much as the actual books, it is still cheaper to buy books (even Australian ones!) online. Amazon have an enormous selection, better than any book shop could hope to have, it offers second-hand books (which are always in exceptional condition) and it is very comfortable browsing online to put together an order for the whole family every few months.

I used to support local and small bookshops, but with the price these days I’m with Johnboy and can no longer afford to just duck into a store and get a new read. Everyone I know who reads buys online – I can’t see how current pricing could be good for authors when avid readers are purchasing from overseas.

how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

as many as i can, neanderthalis! books are brilliant and i have deliberately gotten rid of only very very few books i’ve ever owned (and despaired at losing books i have inadvertently mislaid – or mislent… as deeza, i am also a re-reader and love having access to books referenced in other books/fora…

Wandering around Barnes and Noble in yankland is always an amazing albeit depressing experience. Because books are heavy and baggage allowances are shrinking! But it does illustrate to one very clearly what a mark-up there is on books here. And those retro-covered Penguin paperbacks should be nearer to $5.

I am in love with those orange and white Penguin Classics. Only $9.95 a pop to become more edumacated and hold your own in elitist literature conversations!

Madame Workalot12:41 pm 01 Jun 09

deezagood said :

Jim Jones said :

The Brad said :

.
– Shop at amazon. It often works out cheaper if you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive via overseas.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk

Free (and very fast) shipping!

I’m too impatient to wait for books to become available through the library and as I am a re-reader, I like to keep them. The book depo is fabulous, as is amazon and even ebay. I never, ever buy new books/textbooks any more as there are plenty available cheaply on-line.

I would love to buy textbooks second-hand, but find that the latest edition of the book is always difficult to find (and invariably different to the previous year’s course). I find it really frustrating – I end up spending almost $500 a semester on books which, if the previous edition was acceptable, I could spend half that for the same thing.

neanderthalsis12:40 pm 01 Jun 09

Vonbare said :

Vonbare said :

Join a library. Growing up I had a very wide selection of books to choose from every single week, when my parent’s took us to the library.

It cuts down on consumerism too – how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

For an ardent bibliophile, possession of the book is almost as important as the actual reading. I would be happy with my own library of Babel…

The only time I have ever thought that I may have too many books is when I was packing to move from QLD to the ACT. 2000 or so books are a lot to shift.

But good on Andrew Barr for taking up this issue.

Jim Jones said :

The Brad said :

.
– Shop at amazon. It often works out cheaper if you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive via overseas.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk

Free (and very fast) shipping!

I’m too impatient to wait for books to become available through the library and as I am a re-reader, I like to keep them. The book depo is fabulous, as is amazon and even ebay. I never, ever buy new books/textbooks any more as there are plenty available cheaply on-line.

I buy a lot of computer reference books which typically cost $80-110 in Australian stores, but I buy them from Amazon.com for US$30-40 which usually equates to AU$60 (including shipping). Sure I have to wait a few weeks for delivery, but the Amazon.com service itself is remarkable and the range is bigger than you can find anywhere else.

Also if you buy more than 1 book, you cut the shipping and it become even for favorable.

Every now than then my partner jumps in on the order and gets some ficton for her.

It’s simply the cheaper way to do it.

Just a few thoughts, where is the money being made/spent here? Maybe now the government has spent squillions of dollars on computers, they should actually use those computers as learning aids? No matter how much money a school spends on their library, it wont compare to the quantity of information available online, in most cases for no charge.

While I understand the need for some books for literary reasons, the idea of simply printing textbooks to make more money every year, seems to defeat the purpose they want to encourage.

If this issue is more about the idea of novels and books in general, people should check out used bookshops and the lifeline bookfair.

I understand some people saying ‘but i dont want a used book, i want a new one’. Would those same people expect the government to subsidise the increasing cost of new cars, because they dont want to buy a non-new one that someone else has touched?

Heh, remember when the GST came in, there was the major outcry of “How dare you make beer more expensive!”, and those who were arguing to make books exempt were drowned out by the beer-swillers 😛

For me, I’ll usually try to score a mainstream novel from someplace like K-Mart, where it’s up to $10 cheaper, then go to Borders or Dymocks for more obscure titles. I only use Amazon as a last resort, as I consider their shipping charges a ripoff for the time/cost service you get.

But I have to say, anything that makes books cheaper is a plus 🙂

If you’re a good author, you’ll break into the market. Take, for example, Stephen Clarke who self published 200 copies of his book ‘A year in the merde’ which has gone on to be a bestseller and he’s written a few more.

Join a library. Growing up I had a very wide selection of books to choose from every single week, when my parent’s took us to the library.

It cuts down on consumerism too – how many books do you really need to buy and keep??

The Brad said :

.
– Shop at amazon. It often works out cheaper if you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive via overseas.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk

Free (and very fast) shipping!

There are other cheaper alternatives for parents trying to encourage young voracious readers. (None of this applies to textbooks, which is a totally different scenario, but this post is primarily about fiction)

– buy at second hand book stores
– go to trash and treasure
– Shop at Big W and K-mart, where you can pick up a paperback for 30% off. (I realise they don’t stock a huge amount, but they do have Tim Winton, and popular literature)
– Use E-bay
– Use the library.
– Borrow from a friend, or start a swap club.
– Shop at amazon. It often works out cheaper if you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive via overseas.
– If you really really need to buy the latest $50 book, but can’t really afford it, buy it, read it, then sell it on E-bay. If its current, you’ll possibly get 70%+ of your money back.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy11:11 am 01 Jun 09

Online, second hand, fetes, garage sales, on sale, libraries.

Many, many options. If books are too expensive, let the market figure this out.

I buy almost all my books online from England – even with the stupid exchange rate I save whopping great buckets of money.

The protectionist argument is bollocks, no matter who uses it (car manufacturers, agriculturalists, etc.), but it’s particularly so when the commodity you’re flogging can so easily be sourced elsewhere.

I hear you! Growing up with a bookshop at my disposal meant that when I left home and I had to actually go and buy books (gasp) it came as quite a shock!

Another law that made books more expensive was the GST- what the f was Howard thinking taxing education like that? The GST nearly killed off small bookshops.

Anything that makes books cheaper for the consumers will be excellent for bookshop owners (like my family’s shop) and a step in the right direction for the industry.

Books are a guilt-free pleasure …except on the hip pocket and removalists backs…

The CT ran this as front page news – Andrew Barr writes a letter to his counterparts in other jurisdictions. I can’t quite see how this gives AB his balls. To me it looks more like AB desperate for something to fill his quota for the front page.

The issue has been well covered already. The intense debate was a long time ago – a year or maybe two – and AB is clearly playing catchup now.

As for the issue itself:
1. libraries are good places for voracious readers, and the ACT interlibrary loan system works well.

2. It’s already very, very hard for new authors to break into the industry. The angst is not about the established authors because they can probably get signed up reasonably easily elsewhere. Nowhere has the ACT Government (now it has jumped on board, it must have thought long and hard about this) indicated how it will encourage the local talent and help wanna-be authors get past this additional barrier to getting published.

footy jerseys and books, andrew is on a roll! why isn’t this man chief minister? seriously.

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