Friday 17 June 2011

THE SOUTHERN VERY CROSS AND THE BROKEN RULES OF CRICKET


Upside-down? What do you mean the world’s upside-down in the graphic here? From a cosmic point of view, there’s absolutely no reason why the earth’s poles shouldn’t be reversed this way to give what we call ‘the southern hemisphere’ a fair crack o’ the whip for a change.

The Antipodes has earned its top place through blood, sweat, tears, courage, talent, innovation and endurance against staggering odds over and over again. We inhabitants of the north are guilty of unwarranted and smug elitism.

But they’re stuck at the bottom of our globes and maps, almost as an afterthought, through ancient geographical and cosmological ignorance and petty politics. This artificial positioning encourages unmerited tolerance on their part and an exhibition of blatant snobbery on ours. ‘Down Under’ for the sake of ye gods! With typically easy-going, self-effacing humour and downright good manners, they don’t make a fuss over this in Oz and NZ. But the rest of the world is ‘Up Over’? I think not.

And our Antipodean brothers and sisters get the mucky end of the stick, too, when it comes to the artificially inflated cost of every-day goods – whether imported or home produced. Taxed to the hilt, a couple sharing four jobs and domestic chores to make ends meet ain’t rare.

So (while the world’s upside-down for a wee bit) please excuse Tony, the rest of the BB team, our authors, our readers and me if we’re not exactly leaping in the air with glee at the opening of the new and long-awaited Ingram/Lightning Source print and dispatch base in Melbourne, Australia on Thursday. The base wasn’t so much launched as sprung upon us.

You see, we were sent the contract, conditions and costings charts AFTER the fact and without even a line of official advance notice of the plant’s opening date. This is the courtesy you earn after just over a decade as loyal and good clients of the international print and distribution combine in the brave new 21st Century world of big business. And the LSAus terms are anything but fair dinkum.

Hard to believe that our first LS accounts manager (we contracted the company in its very early days and stuck with them through hard times of their own) used to take an ARC of every BeWrite Books release home with her to read, and then passed editorial comment and critique by us before we gave the green light for print. For her not to send BB at least one personal email a week about progress and development was rare.

And now we’ve been kept so deep in the dark by a new regime that we’re not yet certain if this new Oz deal even plays by the time-honoured rules of cricket. Hold off on popping the corks on those champagne bottles for a wee while Bruces and Sheilas. We might allow bad weather to stop play.

We’ll update this blog in a couple of days when we’ve had time for our legal adviser to check everything out and put in some careful study on a proposal that’s come like a bucket of icy water in the face, like a sneaky googly ball. And it spells in BIG CAPITALS 'significantly increased cover prices' ... up with which, we will not put.

Our well laid and long term plans to immediately set the entire BeWrite Books catalogue and all new titles with LSAus is, perhaps, doable. But it comes at a cost ... to the poor reader, the southern consumer. Yet again, s/he will be cross, possibly even feel double-crossed. My immediate reaction in a note to Tony and some Australian BB author friends yesterday was, “This is not expansion, it’s exploitation.”

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe I don’t quite understand yet. (At least, our lawyer would suggest I add that disclaimer.) Whatever, this blog post will probably land BB in bad books with Ingram/LS when it does the rounds tonight. Quite honestly, I don't give a wombat's ... and after a long phone chat with Tony, I can assure you that neither does he.

All we’re sure of so far is:

a) this is not what we expected and had been allowed to hope for since the Oz depot was first mooted seven years or so ago

b) we won’t see Australian production for at least two months ... if ever

c) print book lovers will be sorely disappointed

d) we’re struggling to tell our three Rs from our elbows and can’t honestly say which way is up.

Watch this space folks. Fingers southern-crossed.

Never fear, we’re on the case and – one way or t’other – she’ll be right. That’s BeWrite, mates, playing from a square bat. But it’s a bat of old and battered willow and it doesn't take abuse at all kindly.

Bestests. Neil, Tony et al


5 comments:

  1. As expected, the 'blame the greedy publisher' messages are already coming in from the gullible and badly informed innocents. I don't give a damn. BB's folks know different.

    Small indies like BB are likely to lose money big time over the new deal. Authors would gain by royalties paid on higher RRP cover prices in the region. The big winners will be Ingram/LS. The big losers will be the poor reader -- as though s/he's not suffered enough from artificially inflated prices for long enough.

    Happy weekend, folks. Neil

    ReplyDelete
  2. Books have historically been expensive in Australia. The opportunity to turn the industry on its head and supply books at reasonable prices should not be beyond an operation as large and successful as Lightning Source.
    Our fingers are indeed crossed that sanity will prevail, and that publishers such as BeWrite, with a considerable stable of Australian authors - and a mix of others to whom a market like Australia is not to be sneezed at - will be given a fair go.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Rosanne. We have had some LS reaction ... but their emails are so darned ambiguous and sparse in information that we're still utterly confused.

    Hope to be able to update everyone with reliable and meaningful info, invite comments and advice from you all, and to reach a decision assap.

    Currently, we're offered a buying facility from LSAus on Wed June 22, but we still don't if orders will be processed locally or, if so, if they will be at OUR cover prices. Don't know for instance if a paperback copy bought at a third-party retailer like Amazon, B&N, etc will be more highly priced for an order originating in your area.

    No wonder there's such a disproportionately high number or ebook readers in your neck of the woods, Rosanne et al. Bestests. Neil

    ReplyDelete
  4. They aren't exactly shouting from the rooftops about this - a Google search for "Ingram/Lightning" brings up very few mentions of the company in Australia. Beats me why we can have "free trade" on just about everything in Australia except books!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a Travis Tea (if you've read of the Publish America 'Atlanta Nights' blag, you'll understand my use of this spelling, Carol).

    Getting meaningful information from the company these days is like wringing Guinness from an empty Fosters can.

    Rest assured that we will NOT play ball with LSAus until we are assured that our current low cover prices remain in place for buyers in your region.

    Meantime -- and if you don't mind a week or so's delay for delivery -- The Book Depository in the UK offers all BB print titles at current cover-price ... and with free international shipping without an order value limit to boot! There are direct links to BD on the stores pages of our own website at www.bewrite.net. (The BB site is also reached from the link in the right margin of this blog.)

    Bestests. Neil

    ReplyDelete