No, I'm not talking the National Basketball Association. I'm talking about the Net Book Agreement.
According to Sam Jordison in the British paper,The Guardian, “the net book agreement (NBA) was a cosy arrangement put in place in 1899 to allow publishers to set the retail price of books. The big houses agreed that they would collectively refuse to stock anyone that tried to discount – not that they had to act very often because most retailers thought that the system worked in their interest too.”
This agreement was reviewed by the restrictive practices court in 1962 and declared “in the public interest because it allowed publishers to subsidise works of important – or potentially important – authors.” But by the 1990s the world had changed and after court cases, the agreement was declared illegal.
Jordison claims, “It's probably now harder for good writers to get into print – and definitely harder for them to receive the long-term support from publishing houses necessary to nurture their talent. Literature remains one of Britain's biggest exports – but for how long?”
In the end, he concedes that a call to bring back the NBA is “all pie in the sky.”
Is it better to continue with Costco and Amazon setting the price of books? If you’re a reader, it probably is. Not so much if you’re the author.
11 months ago
I've only heard about the basketball-NBA, not the book-NBA.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm willing to pay a reasonable price for good books. After all it's not a major cost on a family budget, compared to the house loans, and an active teenage son, eating piles of food and spending money like crazy on all kinds of entertainment.
In our family, I'm the one who earn most and spend least, so I don't hesitate if I find a book I want >:)
Cold As Heaven
When I saw your post's title, I thought who hasn't heard of the NBA, but then I saw you were talking about a different NBA. I don't like amazon and Costco setting prices, so I don't buy books there. I feel like you miss out on so much of the book buying experience when you buy your books from a place like that.
ReplyDeleteI also thought basketball :)
ReplyDeleteThere's always something to think about when I visit here, Helen! I tend to buy almost all my books from my local store.
Publishing is a business, pure and simple. The business is making money. What they hand out to authors amounts to lip service. What's happening now is that authors have choices to make for themselves. Publishers aren't happy with that idea and neither are some authors.
ReplyDeleteThe author should be more active in all phases of his career. Stop saying who should or shouldn't and find a way to do something. Proactive rather than reactive
I don't purchase from those places.
Very true Mary. In the past, authors turned the responsibility for growing their careers over to others. We can't do that anymore. We have to do so much more than just write and show up for signings.
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven, you can solve that problem by not feeding your son.
Bermudaonion, we're buying more and more of our books online. It's fun to browse a physical bookstore, but so much easier to go to B&N or the iPad store.
Living in the town of the NBA runner's up, the Boston Celtics, those initials hurt a little bit this week. Now they hurt a little more.
ReplyDeleteOo, interesting! Though I would say, unless you like reading mostly James Patterson/Stephanie Meyer/ Stephen King,etc, having big conglomerates set the prices won't be so great for readers either.
ReplyDeleteLiza, sorry for causing pain. I was rooting for Boston,too. I don't have a stake in either, but Boston seemed like the underdog and I always root for the underdog.
ReplyDeleteOoh Miriam, what a sad world it'd be if we only had those three authors.
I don't buy from Walmart or Target or Costco or any of those places. Most of what they carry are the best sellers anyway - and I read few of those authors.
ReplyDeleteI was pulling for the Celtics as well. All I could think of during the finals was the rivalry between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird back in the day.
Yes, that's a good point, Helen. If I stop feeding the kids, I would save quite some money >:)))
ReplyDeleteCold As Heaven
I read that article in The Guardian this morning and thought it was really interesting. I just hope the industry comes to a consensus but I don't see that happening any time soon!
ReplyDeleteIt's an idea, Cold As Heaven. Save on food, college, clothes... But then, no Father's Day cards. Never mind, go ahead and feed him.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting dilemma. As a reader, there's nothing I like better than picking up an inexpensive book. Otherwise I'm often forced to just borrow books from the library. But as a writer, I want to see the authors (and publishing houses because after all, they need to be making money in order to keep going in order to publish more books) making the money they deserve. +
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of the NBA. Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI love it now English books are in Cyprus. I walked into a bookstore and the staff must have thought I was insane. I was like a kiddy in a candy store.
Now all I want is the price to be realistic, they are twice the price of the UK and US because of import.
When I return to the UK, I head for my old bookstore and buy several to bring back. If they are cheaper elsewhere I would never know, I am programmed to walk into my old haunt. I also now value the author as much as the book. :)
It's funny, as much time as I spend online, and as often as I go to Amazon to find out about a book or author, I usually end up going to my local Barnes and Noble (yea, not an indie - my bad) and buying at full retail. Go figure.
ReplyDelete~jon