An interesting take on the closure of Borders
Nicked from Goodreads.
"I am a publisher (we do our own distribution) and it's hardly surprising that Borders went belly up. Firstly they operated out of the US then New Zealand and they have always been elusive. Very hard to get them to take our books then they always 'lost' invoices so it was difficult to extract money from them. Did they drag the others down? Who knows? How will this affect the A & R franchise owners who may be in better financial shape than the 'parent' company?
There are excellent bookshops, independent bookshops invariably, and people go to them for an old-fashioned book-buying experience which is almost meditative and a welcome break from much of life's daily grind. Abbey's in York St. Sydney, Ariel Books at Paddington, Gleebooks in Glebe, Paperchain at Manuka ACT, the store at the new portrait gallery in the ACT is excellent - these are just a few of my favourites. I could go directly to a publishing house and get a standard industry discount but I'd rather go to a bookshop. The cost is not the driving factor. I do buy books online, specific titles usually that have a later release date in Australia. Why does this happen? Maybe so the Oz release coincides with an author tour. But it's frustrating if you've read a review and you want to buy the book. Half the time I think it's just a case of not being on the ball; the sleepy syndrome.
Most days I spend lashed to a computer so I view reading a book as a break from this so I haven't gone down the kindle track yet, but I might in the future.
I think the market will decide who survives in the book trade and the best bookshops will be here for a while, even while on-line shopping and e-books increase."
"I am a publisher (we do our own distribution) and it's hardly surprising that Borders went belly up. Firstly they operated out of the US then New Zealand and they have always been elusive. Very hard to get them to take our books then they always 'lost' invoices so it was difficult to extract money from them. Did they drag the others down? Who knows? How will this affect the A & R franchise owners who may be in better financial shape than the 'parent' company?
There are excellent bookshops, independent bookshops invariably, and people go to them for an old-fashioned book-buying experience which is almost meditative and a welcome break from much of life's daily grind. Abbey's in York St. Sydney, Ariel Books at Paddington, Gleebooks in Glebe, Paperchain at Manuka ACT, the store at the new portrait gallery in the ACT is excellent - these are just a few of my favourites. I could go directly to a publishing house and get a standard industry discount but I'd rather go to a bookshop. The cost is not the driving factor. I do buy books online, specific titles usually that have a later release date in Australia. Why does this happen? Maybe so the Oz release coincides with an author tour. But it's frustrating if you've read a review and you want to buy the book. Half the time I think it's just a case of not being on the ball; the sleepy syndrome.
Most days I spend lashed to a computer so I view reading a book as a break from this so I haven't gone down the kindle track yet, but I might in the future.
I think the market will decide who survives in the book trade and the best bookshops will be here for a while, even while on-line shopping and e-books increase."