HEADS THEY WIN SIR,—As an extremely hard-pressed English author, may
I point out what a friend in Melbourne, Australia, has just represented to me as a scandalous ramp in'the bookshops in Melbourne, and in other Australian cities ?
A recent book of mine published by a London firm at 16s. net (329 pages 8vo.), when exported to Australia is now being sold at £1 6s. 6d. net in bookshops in Melbourne. This inordinate and unjustifiable increase is ruining the sale of the book in the Australian market. The Australian book-buyer, of course, derives no benefit from this ramp; and the Australian importer, who, in accord with a trade custom going back some 60 years: has already been granted by the British pub- lisher a discount of 50 per cent. on the English net price of this book, is not content with that concession---a concession meaning that the English author's royalty is cut by half—hut aggravates an already inequitable trade pro- cedure by raising the net price of the book by more than 65 per cent. above the British net price.
My Melbourne friend writes :
This ramp applies to all UK books of l
sci ntitic and semi-scientific non-fiction ty c: You will agree that this London book racket is exploiting Australia to the limit, and, in any case, London already has almost a monopoly of the Australian book market.
I have told my friend that the victimised British author is just the whipping boy in this Australian book market racket. Any school boy can work out the actual profit of the Australian book shops in this ramp.-- Yours faithfully,
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