ACT NOW!
Australians who care about our book culture face the loss of what we’ve grown to love – a vibrant, modern, successful, unique relatively small-scale publishing industry that provides the best in books for all tastes, ages and interests.
If we do nothing our book publishing companies run the risk of becoming warehouses for overseas imports.
This blog is a conduit in the current battle to protect Australian published books from the threat of world (US and UK) domination of our market. It will feature contacts, blogs, links, comments so Australians are informed by well-researched sources and not just by the mainstream media, most of whom appear to promote the lifting of Territorial Copyright protection on Australian books.
It will provide links you can access to take the fight to your own neighbourhood, your own school library and to your circle of friends. To anyone who cares about Australian books.
Australians have the right to read books written by Australians and published in Australia NOT editions of Australian-authored books that have been republished in the US or the UK, changed to suit the overseas market and then imported here to swamp the market. This will affect the Australian publishing market. They will rationalise by cutting their new author programs, they will not support and nurture developing writers. Australians will not have the choice of books and authors we do now.
THE U.S .AND THE U.K. PROHIBIT PARALLEL IMPORTATION OF BOOKS TO PROTECT THEIR PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, SO WHY ALLOW IT HERE?
More to follow…..
SAVING AUSSIE BOOKS 
A few weeks ago, I checked out a few book prices in Dymocks. To purchase four children’s books, I would have to spend more than $9 over recommended retail price.
Sorry, Dymocks. That doesn’t sound like cheaper books to me!
A case of do what I say, not what I do?
As is so often with the media, facts are not checked; if it sounds good it must be correct.
Australia is fast becoming a country which is governed by the ‘popular’ media and not by governments or what is correct. This is just one more case of media mis-information.
We have to TRY and inform the pollies so that can do the correct thing.
Mardi
I don’t know if anyone happened to notice that the price comparisons in yesterday’s Australian showed that Dymocks prices were WAY HIGHER than Borders.
Aren’t Dymocks the ones who say they are campaigning for cheaper book prices for readers?