Quote:
Originally Posted by sabredog
Good post. You are echoing my concerns as well.
You go into a shop like Dymocks and the Science Fiction section's range is abysmal. There are a lot of SF books that they have not got for sale and have never heard of. These books are easily available online in paperback or ebook format.
This sort of restrictive practice is widespread. Just consider Kogan's online and locally based estore and the scathing vocal hatred of his business emanating from Gerry Harvey.
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Thanks sabredog. I used to buy my SFF from the local specialist shops (wherever I was living or visiting at the time - I know where the SFF shops are in most capitals!) and other books at Dymocks. I used to check the SFF shelves at Dymocks just out of interest, but they hardly ever had anything I wanted. In their defence, they are a generalist store and it just wouldn't be feasible for them to carry that kind of range. However I always found them really good at ordering in something, as were the specialists. Nowadays, it's book depository for pbooks, or ebooks. And I haven't paid attention to Gerry Harvey for a very long time. :P
Dark Roast, Dymocks and A&R are still very overpriced, but you are not restricted to them. I have been buying from Kobo lately, who have good prices and regular coupons, and I have my eye on a few titles from Baen as well. I have downloaded freebies from Borders US and Smashwords, and Borders AU have reasonable prices listed. THere's any number of smaller publishers selling direct that will also sell to you. And with a Sony you can borrow library books if you happen to be able to join one - I'm a member of ACT library.