Signs of a changing market?

Time for a different post, I want to talk about the Borders / Angus and Robertson issue. I’m the first to admit I don’t know or understand the business dynamics of going into receivership however I want to look at this alarming issue from my point of view. The aspiring author who walks past these huge bookstores, especially the multi-level Borders at Chadstone shopping centre and marvels at all those delicious books, with their exciting covers and what not!

All those authors who once sat where I sit. Books written and a desire to push them out to agents and publishers. Wanting to see their name on the spine of a book…

I must admit when I heard of the receivership it felt like a blow. A sudden moment of clarity at the realisation ‘there goes half of the Australian printed shop front’. As I mentioned above I certaintly don’t profess to understand the details of this however its probably fair to say the stores will at least halv and if some other business comes along and buys up their stock of books, at a discount of course, we would see more of the Dirt Cheap Books no frills stores flood the market. This also means any cut down version of these traditional stores will have less floor space which means far greater competition to get a book up on a shelf.

All in all I would expect publishers to be even more hesitant to take on new work. Commit to the costs of initial print runs, plus promotional marketing and pay advances to the Authors? I say nay nay…

Does this spell the end of hard copy books for new Australian authors? Probably not, there are lots of small run presses all over this country however it might be the end for 1st time authors in the stores. Perhaps new authors have to now prove themselves with strong online sales and have a loyal fan base before they would get picked up for a minimum print run of say 5,000 books?

Book prices in Australia are ridiculous anyway. A friend of mine, an avid reader with always a dozen or so books in front of him, in the majority buys his books from Kmart and the likes as parallel imports. Less than half price of the larger book stores for the same book. I’m sure he isn’t the only one.

I might have more to say on this topic in the coming weeks as it all unfolds. Overall I think its sad when Angus and Robertson have been in business for 125 years!

Anyway for all my rambling, my selfish point of view, I guess I can always e-publish my content. The employees of these book stores might very well lose their jobs in the not too distant future, so yeah, a little perspective adjustment and I guess I’m not so bad off after all.