By Edward Nawotka While the recent recommendation by the Australian Productivity Commission seeking to lift the ban on parallel importation ultimately threatens to flood the country with cheap US and UK editions of books — the changes won’t take place for three years. At the moment it is still possible to get reasonably priced editions shipped from overseas. The biggest …
Bookselling in a Pacific Island Paradise
By Andrew Wilkins NUKU’ALOFA. TONGA: With an economy based on farming, fishing and some tourism, there’s not a huge demand for consumer books in Tonga, although the country has the highest literacy rate in the Pacific (over 98%) and a good primary and secondary education system. Still, it’s enough to support a handful of small publishers and a bookstore chain …
EBF/IBF Director Dubruille on Bookselling’s Future
by Edward Nawotka BRUSSELS: “The problem in Europe is that booksellers don’t know what strategies to use when coping with digitization,” says Françoise Dubruille, director of the European Booksellers Federation and the International Booksellers Federation, “There are 25 languages for 27 countries, there are 27 national cultures and literatures, and not all have the same challenges.” She adds, “One thing …