tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104325489255308564.post1141770092293901583..comments2014-02-17T09:19:24.428-08:00Comments on The Evenloder: Turns in the roadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104325489255308564.post-58745859783309625322013-06-27T10:02:33.549-07:002013-06-27T10:02:33.549-07:00Oh Dear Jon,
I have only recently discovered your...Oh Dear Jon,<br /><br />I have only recently discovered your bookshop, and now it seems it will disappear.<br /><br />I'm sorry to hear it, but of course I understand your reasons.<br /><br />On bookshops generally, isn't the original problem with the demise of the Net Book Price Agreement (or whatever it was called)?<br /><br />That allowed the large bookshops (and supermarkets and chains) to offer massive discounts which the small bookshops could not hope to compete with.<br /><br />We lost swathes of small independent booksellers that time around, and this was long before Amazon got a hold.<br /><br />Now Amazon is even putting the big boys out of business. Sic transit gloria mundi.<br /><br />As you suggest, Germany (I don't know about the others) did things differently. The Germans love their books (and e-books and audiobooks), and they also make more use of acid-free paper than we do, I believe - my German paperbacks seem to last longer than my British ones anyway.<br /><br /><br />On e-books: they have their strong-points, but they also have their problems.<br /><br />It means people will be at the mercy of technology, and Kindle users at the mercy of Amazon's whim, since technically, they haven't purchased the book at all, merely leased the right to read it. And Amazon want you to read your e-book only on their Kindle and not on another maker's e-reader (although there are unofficial ways round this).<br /><br /><br />Well, best wishes, and I hope whatever plans you have come to fruition.<br /><br /><br />Regards,<br />Mike Ellwood<br />montmorencyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12879422255762834319noreply@blogger.com