Australian eBook news - Page 2

neilmarr · 03-10-2010, 09:23 AM

There's a very neat new novel by Australian Andrew Thelander up for grabs for free or whatever you want to pay if you follow the link in my sig line below. It's called 'Last Birds' and is set in the 1960s Australian wilderness.

Also on the same free-or-whatever terms, we have others by Australian authors: 'The Bad Seed' by Maurilia Meehan is a creepy novel set in small-town Australia. Then there's two historical fictions, 'The Playmakers' by Graeme Johnstone and 'Treason' by Meredith Whitford (but both set in olde England).

And Brian Kavanagh (editor of that great Oz Movie, 'The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith') has 'Capable of Murder' in the freebie deal (his two others in the BB Catalogue are paid-for titles). Magdalena Ball from Sydney has 'Sleep Before Evening', a novel set in New York, and a unique poetry anthology, 'Repulsion Thrust'.

And there are about twenty other BeWrite Books novels in the Read an Ebook Week deal if you just scroll down ... but those weren't written by Aussies.

Happy reading. Neil

grabit · 03-10-2010, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Ha ha more like "This is Australia so we'll charge a lot more. Ooops no one is buying ebooks in Australia, looks like there isn't a market for it down here".

howdy fellow aussies..

Solicitus is so right. i was livid the day i read (SMH online) a story much along the same lines, that australians do not want ebooks, or ebook readers, that we all obviously preferred paper books. argh....

was there any mention of the sort of prices we are expected to pay for our pleasure here? especially compared to what seems like the rest of the world?

i shouldn't stand on a soap box here, but it makes me so mad/sad to see a new release hardback at $AU50 or more in some cases.. reading has become a pursuit only the wealthy can afford.

fugazied · 03-10-2010, 04:30 PM

The problem with Australia is that they have a government endorsed protective shell for publishers which shields them from international competition.

So when they sell those paperbacks at $25-30AUD there isn't any real reason for them to offer e-books at much below that cost. I'd expect to see e-books at about $20 ($18 USD or so).

Solicitous · 03-10-2010, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fugazied

The problem with Australia is that they have a government endorsed protective shell for publishers which shields them from international competition.

So when they sell those paperbacks at $25-30AUD there isn't any real reason for them to offer e-books at much below that cost. I'd expect to see e-books at about $20 ($18 USD or so).

Unfortunately Australia doesn't move with the times. There might be a shield for local publishers from international competition....to a point. As a consumer I can walk into a local bookstore a buy a book, alternatively I can buy the book online, my choice. In this day and age the world is the consumers global market place.

Just to give an example. A book series I am reading, each book here sells for $23.99AUS. I have been buying them from book depository and shipped to my doorstep for just under $14.00AUS. Its not like there is 2-3$ difference, there is a difference large enough for the consumer to go "ok, if I want the book right now am I prepared to pay $X? Or, if I am willing to wait a week or two to be delivered, I will pay the lower amount of $Y".

Ebooks should be priced based on the global market and not the local paper back market. As a consumer I will be buying online, and the best online price wins.

smerrall · 03-10-2010, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

...There might be a shield for local publishers from international competition....to a point....
A book series I am reading, each book here sells for $23.99AUS. I have been buying them from book depository and shipped to my doorstep for just under $14.00AUS...

When the book details lobbied the government for parallel importing the publishers and authors mounted a scare campaign and eventually Garrett perssured the government not to relax the import regulations.

When he announced the result the Productivity Commissioner who tried to change the rules stated that the public would not be affected as they could buy from Amazon!

sabredog · 03-10-2010, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smerrall

When the book details lobbied the government for parallel importing the publishers and authors mounted a scare campaign and eventually Garrett perssured the government not to relax the import regulations.

When he announced the result the Productivity Commissioner who tried to change the rules stated that the public would not be affected as they could buy from Amazon!

How right they are!

Garrett really has no idea. Protectionism is one of the reasons GR and high prices rule the non existent ebook market in Australia. before I went over to reading ebooks I purchased all my paperbacks online or via international mail order before the internet became mainstream.

I have noticed though, locally, the book stores such as Dymocks and A&R are becoming increasingly devoid of good titles, though that may be purely my perspective.

AlexBell · 03-11-2010, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndecisiveMe

While I was searching for my first reader it popped into my head that maybe my local Borders/Angus & Robertson/Collins/Dymocks (you get the picture) might have a couple in stock so I could see what they looked like. I'd never seen an ereader before. Most places I called had no idea what I was talking about

There is already an Australian based ebook/audible bookstore: http://www.readwithoutpaper.com/

and an Australian based ebook reader store:
http://www.ecoreader.com.au/ which is where I bought my ECO Reader with which I'm quite happy. Reader's Feast bookstore in Melbourne also sells ebook readers, but I don't have their URL to hand.

Regards, Alex

lene1949 · 03-11-2010, 03:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

There is already an Australian based ebook/audible bookstore: http://www.readwithoutpaper.com/

and an Australian based ebook reader store:
http://www.ecoreader.com.au/ which is where I bought my ECO Reader with which I'm quite happy. Reader's Feast bookstore in Melbourne also sells ebook readers, but I don't have their URL to hand.

Regards, Alex

I don't go to your site, because you have lots of books not available to Australians...

One is The Touch by Colleen McCullough - she's an Australian writer and the book is set in Australia... Not impressed.

AlexBell · 03-11-2010, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Also on the same free-or-whatever terms, we have others by Australian authors: 'The Bad Seed' by Maurilia Meehan is a creepy novel set in small-town Australia. Then there's two historical fictions, 'The Playmakers' by Graeme Johnstone and 'Treason' by Meredith Whitford (but both set in olde England).

Thanks so much, Neil. I've downloaded 'Treason' and 'The adventures of Allianore Audley', mainly because I like historical fiction and because I think Richard 3 was one of the most maligned men in history.

Regards, Alex

tech_au · 03-11-2010, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

There is already an Australian based ebook/audible bookstore: http://www.readwithoutpaper.com/

and an Australian based ebook reader store:
http://www.ecoreader.com.au/ which is where I bought my ECO Reader with which I'm quite happy. Reader's Feast bookstore in Melbourne also sells ebook readers, but I don't have their URL to hand.

Regards, Alex

Read Without Paper is the best Oz ebookstore. I have bought a number of titles from them. Their prices are comparable to or slightly better than WH Smiths in the UK for ebooks that are available to Australians. But still I had to buy Matthew Reilly's Five Greatest Warriors from US Books on Board for US$14.98 because of general non-availability or ridiculous Macmillan ebook price here of around AU$45.

lene1949 · 03-11-2010, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tech_au

Read Without Paper is the best Oz ebookstore. I have bought a number of titles from them. Their prices are comparable to or slightly better than WH Smiths in the UK for ebooks that are available to Australians. But still I had to buy Matthew Reilly's Five Greatest Warriors from US Books on Board for US$14.98 because of general non-availability or ridiculous Macmillan ebook price here of around AU$45.

Yes, it's great, unless you live in Australia...

sherman · 03-11-2010, 05:32 AM

You Australians aren't quite alone in your terrible book pricing/availability...
Those of us who live across the ditch have the same problems.

Our book pricing is as bad, or even worse than the Aussie prices

And our books are more often than not non-existant on the tiny shelves of NZ bookstores (although that hasn't stopped whitcoulls from setting aside huge amounts of precious space to the likes of Eddings, Jordan, McCaffrey etc...)

sianon · 03-11-2010, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilmarr

Also on the same free-or-whatever terms, we have others by Australian authors: 'The Bad Seed' by Maurilia Meehan is a creepy novel set in small-town Australia. Then there's two historical fictions, 'The Playmakers' by Graeme Johnstone and 'Treason' by Meredith Whitford (but both set in olde England).
Happy reading. Neil

The Bad Seed is a wonderfull dark book and for anyone familiar with Hepburn Springs , not hard to figure where it is set.

IndecisiveMe · 03-11-2010, 05:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexBell

There is already an Australian based ebook/audible bookstore: http://www.readwithoutpaper.com/

and an Australian based ebook reader store:
http://www.ecoreader.com.au/ which is where I bought my ECO Reader with which I'm quite happy. Reader's Feast bookstore in Melbourne also sells ebook readers, but I don't have their URL to hand.

Regards, Alex

The price of the EcoReader compared to the price of the Astak EzReader was one of the main reasons I decided to order a reader from the US.

sabredog · 03-11-2010, 05:56 AM

How did you go ordering the Astak?

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03-10-2010, 09:23 AM	#16
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	There's a very neat new novel by Australian Andrew Thelander up for grabs for free or whatever you want to pay if you follow the link in my sig line below. It's called 'Last Birds' and is set in the 1960s Australian wilderness. Also on the same free-or-whatever terms, we have others by Australian authors: 'The Bad Seed' by Maurilia Meehan is a creepy novel set in small-town Australia. Then there's two historical fictions, 'The Playmakers' by Graeme Johnstone and 'Treason' by Meredith Whitford (but both set in olde England). And Brian Kavanagh (editor of that great Oz Movie, 'The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith') has 'Capable of Murder' in the freebie deal (his two others in the BB Catalogue are paid-for titles). Magdalena Ball from Sydney has 'Sleep Before Evening', a novel set in New York, and a unique poetry anthology, 'Repulsion Thrust'. And there are about twenty other BeWrite Books novels in the Read an Ebook Week deal if you just scroll down ... but those weren't written by Aussies. Happy reading. Neil

03-10-2010, 04:30 PM	#18
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	The problem with Australia is that they have a government endorsed protective shell for publishers which shields them from international competition. So when they sell those paperbacks at $25-30AUD there isn't any real reason for them to offer e-books at much below that cost. I'd expect to see e-books at about $20 ($18 USD or so).

03-11-2010, 05:32 AM	#27
sherman Guru Posts: 856 Karma: 2676800 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Taranaki - NZ Device: Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Forma	You Australians aren't quite alone in your terrible book pricing/availability... Those of us who live across the ditch have the same problems. Our book pricing is as bad, or even worse than the Aussie prices And our books are more often than not non-existant on the tiny shelves of NZ bookstores (although that hasn't stopped whitcoulls from setting aside huge amounts of precious space to the likes of Eddings, Jordan, McCaffrey etc...)

03-11-2010, 05:56 AM	#30
sabredog Geographically Restricted Posts: 2,629 Karma: 14933353 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Perth, Australia Device: Sony PRS-T3, Kindle Voyage, iPad Air2, Nexus7v2	How did you go ordering the Astak?

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