Two Cents Worth (Australian, not American...for now)

In the raging debate on parallel imports the arguments have all focused on big selling authors with overseas deals. The letters you read, the comments that are quoted are all from internationally published authors. For the lowly, such as myself with no overseas deals it’s still sad news. It means publishers have even less leeway to take a risk on lesser writers that aren’t guaranteed to hit the best sellers. It’s the writers who are simply relieved to still get published at all that will really lose out. The big names may make less money, but they’ll still be published.

Who will subsidise Australian writers?
It’s about transferring money from publishers and authors to large booksellers. Yes publishers made more money under the scheme but that meant they fostered local writers such as myself without any government subsidy. It was a very efficient way of supporting a local art form at no cost to non-readers. Now that unofficial sponsorship will go to Dymocks and Angus & Robertson instead. Has anyone heard their plans to foster Australian writers during this debate?

Anyone who thinks they are going to pass on all the savings on parallel imports to customers are fooling themselves. All the price comparisons between Dymocks current price and the Amazon price suggest the Amazon price will be available here. It won’t. Book chains are duty bound to charge the most they can. They have to and they will pass as little on to the reader as they can.

Commodity Pricing
If books were cartons of milk all this wouldn’t matter but books are more than semi-skimmed beverages. They’re not just products which readers “deserve” to get as cheaply as possible. My books are my children that I have sweated, cried, cursed, laughed and been filled with pride over. There’s always a point in the publishing process when your child becomes a commodity that must be sold. It’s part of the process you have to accept it.
However, this ruling says I was always fooling myself - Beauty of Truth, French Letters, Lab Rats, The Trouble with Sauce were never my lovely children, they were simply the milk I squirted out to be packaged and stacked on shelves.