Rue Britannica

After 244 years, the 32 volume Encyclopedia Britannica is ending - at least, in print form.

Content is now shifting to the online environment. Not everyone can afford 32 volumes ($1490 per set) of hardbacks!


"I understand that for some the end of the Britannica print set may be perceived as an unwelcomed goodbye to a dear, reliable, and trustworthy friend that brought them the joy of discovery in the quest for knowledge." Jorge Cauz, the president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, said.

"In fact, today our digital database is much larger than what we can fit in the print set. And it is up to date because we can revise it within minutes anytime we need to, and we do it many times each day."

"In spite of our long history with print, I would like to point out that no single medium, neither books nor bits, is at the core of our mission," he wrote.

"That mission is to be a reliable, up-to-date, and scholarly source of knowledge and learning for the general public, and I believe that 200 years from now, this mission will continue to be vital and relevant and that the people of the future who are committed to it will use the best available technology to fulfil it."

It is indicative of the times we live in that such a revered volume has shifted its focus to keep up with fast technological changes and demand for instant accessibility to information. The modern generation has no time to open a book and search for required information, it poses a question and expects an answer.

I'm a little saddened, but understand the need for Britannica to keep current and the need for information accessibility.

I can still look up Britannica Online for information, and find myself happily digressing into tangential topics.

So, for Britannica, it is not the end, merely the beginning of a new and exciting future. One that will become an even larger repository of information than the print version.

Cyberspace finds

With downstairs still in disarray - slacker that I am - I decided to bring the broadband modem upstairs rather than laboriously wait on the dial-up. The damn thing kept giving me local access only, not a global environment to explore.

It took me about an hour to realise I still had a split filter on the line. Now I've sorted that, I'm free to roam fast and still take phone calls.

While surfing the gnarly cyber-waves, I came across JM Tohline's weblog post on the 12 biggest mistakes writers make when querying agents. It's a long post, but well worth reading.

Paperback writer has some sub-ops peeps might be interested in, or you can go direct to the source at Ralan, a marvey database constantly updated with opportunities.

And... speaking of Lynn Viehl, I am now going to sit down and read her latest, Frostfire - now that family have departed to their various homes. I'm off tomorrow to find some new carpet.

Kudos and Krims

Okay, colour me impressed.

With the Aussie Dollar nearing parity with the American Dollar, I thought I'd order some books from Amazon - coz, you know, books are way cheaper over there than here. (I refuse to pay $AUS46 here for an imported hardback.)

I decided to order Warriors edited by George R. R. Martin and has stories in by David Weber (squee!), Carrie Vaughn, Diana Gabaldon, Naomi Novik, David Morell, S.M. Stirling, Robin Hobb, the list goes on... and Tanya Huff's The Truth of Valor.

Amazon e-mailed me to say I could expected the books...mmm, sometime in November (sea mail). They would be my reward for finishing Nano.

Except... Warriors turned up today - two weeks after I ordered it. WOOT!! And I live in the country, so it would have taken a couple of days to get here from the nearest major city, Sydney.

The book and postage and handling cost me less than $AUS30.

* * *

Not so impressive, is the phone call I received today regarding viruses on my computer. The heavily-accented Indian woman told me to turn on my computer so they could search for the aforementioned malicious virus. What? I figured the next demand would be for me to turn off the firewall.

When I asked how she knew my computer had a virus, she said an international research group had been compiling information from my area, but would not tell me how she got my phone number, referring to the international group again.

On what planet does anyone think letting an unknown group into a personal computer is a good thing? And why would they think I'd blithely give them access? Security for my computer is my responsibility. I have a firewall, I have anti-virus software. If I want it sorted, I'll contact a local computer expert, not some amorphous overseas group.

I wonder if this is a new scam to invade personal computers for the purpose of identity theft, account details and passwords. It's certainly more brazen than the Nigerians.

I declined her invitation - next time, should they call again, I won't be so polite.

And I'm getting more than a little pissed off at people cold-calling me. I'm on a 'do not call' register, damn it!

E-haa!

E-book sales up; mass market down.

According to the Publishers Weekly June Sales Report, e-book sales rose a staggering 204 percent while mass market paperbacks dropped nearly 15 percent.

At Random House, profits doubled in the first half of the business year with a 300 percent rise in e-book sales - helped by the international bestsellers of Stieg Larsson. And Borders has announced a drop in sales from bookstores, but a rise in online orders.

Other publishers have also reported increases in online and e-book sales.

Customers are moving to immediacy with their reading and publishing companies are cashing in - those who have recognised the shift in customer trends, that is.

The e-book publishing industry allows for profits on all sides: cheaper production costs for publishers, larger income for authors and cheaper, faster receipt of books for customers. But negotiations are still on-going within the industry on how to divide the incomes. And while those negotiations keep the lawyers busy, customers are happily downloading and reading the latest in books.

Everyone but readers are playing catch up, mainly because they are the driving force behind the industry. So many books are published each year, that readers can be more discerning in their choices - and it is that choice, e-book or traditional, that dictates the direction of the industry. And the direction is electronic.

The paperless society is on its way.

Last minute

I'm printing stuff - synopses, first three chapters - while trying to remember everything I have to take with me. So of course not only is the laptop making strange noises, I'm about to run out of ink. *sigh* I might have to finish printing in Canberra.

I know I'll forget to pack something - doesn't everyone? - but anything I do forget, I should be able to buy in Melbourne. I have a mental checklist which I know I'm suppose to write down. It's busy up there in my head, with visions of the last WorldCon I went to, the weather, what clothes to take, not forgetting the mobile phone recharger or the camera or the wireless thingie, recalling the lecture on safety since I'm there on my lonesome, planning the drive, wondering if I've got enough money, the panels I'm attending, who to see, what-to-do-when-to-get-there-did-I-pack-the-alarm-clock?

Life's full of challenges, both great and small. I need to relax, but it's a bit early for a glass of vino. Deep breath. Okay. I'll be posting while at WorldCon, and if I remember the camera lead, posting some photos, too.

Meanwhile, back in Hell...

I'm currently touring the Seventh Circle of Writer's Hell; such a fun place after the previous levels, which are:

1. Finding a story arc that will last 100,000 words;
2. Creating the characters that won't burn because they're cardboard;
3. Sitting down and writing the epic, no-way-it-can't-be-published tome;
4. Not being terribly smug about finishing the work and dreaming of bigger things;
5. Editing - nuff said.
6. Trying not to succumb to 'this is shite' and tossing the work, this is where Demons are wrestled;
7. Compressing 100,000 words into a few pages of a SYNOPSIS;
8. This is a secret level - I think it's the anxiety-ridden level of pitching to an agent or editor.

Below these levels are the Doors Of Fate:

Rejection 1 - Beyond this door lies the busy streets of giving up, there's so much more you could be doing, like a nine-to-five desk job and regular pay cheque;
Rejection 2 - Your own computer where you need to sit and revise, again;
Rejection 3 - The internet where you decide you'll post your work anyway, because obviously those pinhead editors and agents don't know a brilliant piece of genius if it smacked upside the head;
Acceptance 1 - A smiling agent who can sell your work if you adjust the manuscript to fit the genre, and the protagonist to be a bit more... sparkly, or sexy, or mysterious, or tattooed, or...;
Acceptance 2 - An office, with a contract set squarely between two slush piles;
Acceptance 3 - A crowd of cheering fans, holding out your book for an autograph, author peers applauding, film producers offering money for the rights, Hugh Jackman offering you the Hugo, the Golden Dagger, the Booker, the Nobel Prize for Literature... mmm... Hugh...

So, anyway, synopsis writing. In between writing the sucker, I'm trolling the 'net for hints. I've downloaded some articles, but I think it comes down to practice.

It's hot here on the seventh level, but I think if I keep sweating away at this last piece, I'll give myself the opportunity to hit the eighth level next week. And who knows? Maybe I'll face the doors and one will be open.

Storyboarding

While skimming the latest e-mail from Writers Digest today, I came across 4 Ways to Improve Narrative Drive in Your Story, by historical novelist, Sara Sheridan.

What leapt out at me was thinking of your story in a storyboard format, like a graphic novel, a comic book. I'm a visual writer, I see the scenes unfold in my mind as I write them, like a film. That means everything is written, even the stuff the readers doesn't need to know about. It's why editing is such a pain for me. What do I keep and what do I cut? What could I expand on and what doesn't quite fit?

But storyboarding... I'm not an artist - in no way, shape or form can I draw - but to create squares with a few words in them so I can visualise, or better yet, search the web for the images I need, that sounds like a plan.

According to Ms Sheridan, it's a great way to see if your story is balanced. Can you imagine a comic book with squares and squares of scenery rather than action or meaningful dialogue?

I can already imagine the opening sequence of my current WIP in comic-book format. It might seem like doubling my workload, but if storyboarding smooths out the rough edges, then it's another useful item in the writer's toolbox.

I think I'll go play with the shiny new toy, if only for the first three chapters. Maybe it will make writing the synopsis easier.

Now I can plan...

The Aussiecon program is now posted, so I can sort out what and whom to see. Go, look and be jellus!

There's the 'work' stuff, Pitching the Novel, Editing the Novel, How to Review, The Secret Life of Literary Agents, but there's room for the fun stuff, too, Why Australia is More Horrifying Than Anywhere Else - you know, our weather, the many poisonous and deadly beasties, Vampire vs Zombie Smackdown! - oh, yeah (I wonder if LKH will be mentioned?), The Baen Travelling Slideshow - ooo, shiny, In conversation with the likes of George RR Martin, Robert Silverberg, Kim Stanley Robinson, Jonathon Strahan, Seanan McGuire, Whores and Virgins - yes, well..., and who knew Mary Poppins was written by an Australian? I didn't. But do I want to know more?

Then there's the Dealers Room and Fan tables and Koffeeklatsches, I could go on - there's so much to chose from - but I need to stop being a squealie fan-girl and look at the program objectively.

And I need to get my shit together to take stuff down. Even if they don't look at the work, I'll count the convention a success if a) I get business cards, b) learn new stuff, c) laugh - it's all about having a good time as well as making contacts.

Articles of interest

I can say, officially, that I've started my CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!!! Yeah, it's August, but if you see something a sibling, niece, nephew or parent might like... why not? I'm jes sayin'.

Anyway, Writer's Digest has a most excellent article on The 10 Commandments of Fiction Writing by Raymond Obstfeld. Number one is 'Take Yourself Seriously' and the reasoning will probably resonate with most new authors - published or not.

Number two, 'Act like a Professional'. This one should be obvious, but...

The next eight are equally as illuminating.

Also of interest in this edition is: Five easy tips to strengthen your scenes by James Scott Bell.

Found this too: Best writing advice in ten words or fewer and 11 Plot Pitfalls - And How to Rescue Your Story From Them by Laura Whitcomb.

So now, I'm off to watch the Ravens and Panthers... Yay! Football season!

Hugo and I go...

If I'd been thinking right, I'd have gone to the Hugo Awards site to find out how the nominations were decided. I'm guessing I'm a little over-tired from all the reading I've done in the past week, including all the works of the John W. Campbell Award nominees.

But I've voted now. All done. Buh-bye. Off hugo. My votes are in cyberspace...

I swear, the next time I decide to go to World Con, I'm doing it early, to give myself the space to read and see everything. (Yes, I take my voting seriously, as anyone should.)

Now, I can get back to what I was doing more than a week ago - and finish a review, read a book or two on my ever-increasing TBR pile, get my own stuff ready for September.

The waiting, however...

Agent Myths

Here's some timely and interesting information from Writer's Digest:


5 Myths You Shouldn’t Believe About Agents

by Jennifer Lawler
Author-turned-agent Jennifer Lawler gives you the inside scoop on what agents really do and how knowing the truth could endear you to one.

Becoming an agent didn’t just teach me a few lessons about being a writer. It also cleared up some common misconceptions about agenting.

No. 1. An agent’s main job is to pitch her clients’ work to editors and schedule auctions. (How hard can it really be?)
It turns out pitching to editors is actually one of the least time-consuming parts of an agent’s job. Working with clients—finding them, recruiting them, helping them polish their projects, answering their questions, keeping them updated—requires the bulk of their time and resources, far more than I ever realized.

No. 2. I shouldn’t bother my agent with my questions; she’s busy.
I’ve been the writer who thought this. I should have seen it for what it was: a huge red flag that the author-agent relationship in question wasn’t going to work. As an agent, I want my clients to feel they can come to me with their questions. In fact, I’d rather know what’s on their minds than not. It does take time, yes, so try not to be too neurotic. But you shouldn’t be sending questions to random agent blogs because you’re afraid to approach your own agent with them.

No. 3. No response from an agent means the answer is no.
I understand that a lot of agents state this as their policy in trying to cut down on busywork, but it’s a mistake for writers to take it at face value. Now that I’m an agent, I’m amazed at the number of times my e-mails have gone missing. That’s why I’d never assume no answer means no. Follow-up is crucial. I once requested a manuscript from a writer at three different e-mail addresses and he never received any of my responses; if he hadn’t followed up, I would have assumed he was no longer interested in pursuing my representation.

No. 4. Agents owe it to writers to explain why they’re rejecting manuscripts they’ve requested.
I agree that a form rejection after a partial or full manuscript has been requested can feel like a slap in the face; I’ve felt that slap myself. But while I don’t use form letters in my rejections of partials and fulls, I also don’t spend a lot of time explaining why I’m rejecting them. Here’s why: This business is subjective; what I think is wrong with your novel may be what the next agent thinks is right with it. I’ve been on the receiving end of enough rejections to know that writers invest way more energy in interpreting what agents and editors say than agents and editors invest in saying it.

If I believe a book could be improved by revision, I’ll make suggestions and ask the writer to resubmit, or I’ll offer representation conditional on certain revisions being made. If I’m not willing to put my money where my mouth is, then I don’t think I have any business telling you where I think you’ve gone wrong.

No. 5. Agents’ inboxes are full of crap, which makes it impossible to spot the real gems.
My problem isn’t how much bad writing crosses my desk. That’s easy to recognize and reject. The problem is how much good writing I see. I have to figure out which of these good projects is most likely to sell, and which of those good authors is going to be best to work with. If you can convince me that I can sell your project and you’ll be a pleasure to have as a client, you’re halfway there.

Coming Up

It's the last day of Autumn and the last day of the story-a-day marathon. One more to write and then I can catch up on some reading and later, some editing.

Coming out in June (apart from the obvious train-wreck Bullet) that will be on my list of things to read:

Dreamveil by Lynn Viehl (Kyndred 2);

Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen (Rizzoli & Isles 8);

Mission of Honor by David Weber (Honor Harrington 12);

plus the next Kate Daniels book (it's already out to rave reviews) Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels 4).

Of course, I may have to wait another month before the books are out here in Aus, but I'm patient, I am Zen, I am... having a birthday in the next few of weeks and see no reason why I shouldn't buy one or two for myself off the 'net as a prezzo.

Now I have to go and write that one last story. I'm trying to think of something brilliant, something pithy and meaningful... but it may end up something, um, just something.

Bullet Points

With Laurell K. Hamilton's new book, Bullet coming out next week, I thought it prudent to give authors, new and published, a little assistance in avoiding the deep, dark pit of Mary-Sue-ism.

For those who don't know what a Mary-Sue (or a Gary-Stu/Marty-Stu) is, here's a definition:

A Mary Sue is a pet character that the author exempts from realism and/or rules that otherwise govern a fictional world. The more that the author exalts this "darling" at the expense of the rest of the story, the more of a Mary Sue the character becomes. Mary Sue is impervious to failure and resistant to all in-story attempts at criticism and humiliation; any attempt at an external critique usually provokes an authorial temper tantrum. With a preference for style over substance, attitude over empathy, and romantic relationships above all others, the Mary Sue is nevertheless a popular character type due to her function as cheap wish-fulfillment. (PPC Wiki)

So, if you want to know if the protagonist you've worked long and hard on is a Mary-Sue, go to The Original Fiction Mary-Sue Litmus Test. Answer the questions and find out if your character is doomed. I got a borderline Sue for one of my characters, so I'll have to work on that.

As an added bonus, you can go to TV Tropes. "Tropes are storytelling devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations."

(There are no official reviews of Bullet, but if you're canny enough to go to Amazon.com, you might find something of a... bullet point synopsis. If you don't want to know anything about it, don't read the discussion. Oops. Did I give it away? My bad...)

Con and condolences

Oh, shiny!

The World Science Fiction Convention is being held in Melbourne (again!) with the secondary name of AussieCon 4 in early September.

Apart from the announced Guests of Honour, author Kim Stanley Robinson, artist Shaun Tan and mega convention veteran, Robin Johnson, there are a number of other luminaries I'm looking forward to seeing.

Oh, yes, I'm saving my pennies!

Lessee, also attending are Australian authors, Trudi Canavan, Glenda Larke, Garth Nix, Kim Wilkins, Jonathan Strahan and others in our industry, but we've got more overseas ones as well.

On the list are: authors Carrie Vaughn, Robert Silverberg, George R. R. Martin Baen Editor, Toni Weisskopf, Editor, Ellen Datlow and that's not all of 'em; maybe there'll be others by the time September comes around.

* * *

We lost a great science fiction and fantasy artist in Frank Frazetta earlier this week. His body of work was remarkable and I send his family my condolences.

Out there

Sometimes, I have nothing to write on the blog, even as I have plenty to say.

I've always thought this by Silvan Engel is appropriate: It is better to be silent, and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

I prefer - mostly - to stay away from the topics of sex, religion and politics; all are personal and all reveal bias, which is why they are taboo topics at a dinner party. Like everyone else, I get bent out of shape with those subjects and I'm unwilling to engage in arguments that descend into rectitude. The topic I refuse to discuss have been the global financial crisis, government debt, climate change, homosexuals in the armed forces, the bestowing of sainthood on Mary McKillop - and the people on the pulpit thundering out their views. Just so you know.

So. Lip: buttoned. And no post for a week.

In the e-mail box today is the latest Writer's Digest. It has some interesting links. Brian Klems at Questions and Quandries informs us of the difference between lay, lie and laid. He also has a nice sidebar list should you need answers to other questions you might have.

How about the do's and don'ts of writing a synopsis? With the global economy still in a slump, writing dollars are hard to come by, so try 5 Ideas for unconventional writing success.

James Plath begins his article on 21 Tips to Get Out of the Slush Pile with some good advice:

During the 16 years that I edited Clockwatch Review, I often found myself wishing that every writer could work as an editor for a year. After all, it's impossible to read 60-plus manuscripts daily and not develop a pretty fair sense of what makes a short story work.

I'm guessing every editor feels the same. Just because you've written a book, doesn't mean it's publishable. The list he presents is excellent.

Writer's Digest, on occasion, has very little I'm interested in; then it hits the jackpot. Go. Read. Inwardly absorb and become the best writer you can be.

Bad torrent

Jeez, I'm a lazy snot, but in my defence, I have been a wee bit busy to update the blog.

My mother once told me I analyse stuff to death - then analyse why it died. Which is pretty much true. In the interests of upholding the vice, I'm being nagged by the success of Winter's Heart over on the Scribd page.

And yeah, I've mentioned it before and it's still nagging. The book has enjoyed a recent spike in readings and I'm at a loss to work out why, since the prequel and sequel aren't doing much at all.

There's a big gap, however, in reading and downloads, so all I can do is speculate that peeps are reading all or a part on-line and not keeping a copy.

I also know that the books are listed on other torrent sites (places with fast downloads) - along with other author's works that I doubt they know about.

This is going to be a major problem for the publishing industry. For free works, no big; for just released in the book store, yeah, it's big. I imagine some of the people are either typing or scanning in books to post free, and I did see a Nora Roberts book freely available less than a week after it came out in the stores.

Add to that an argument I saw last year on Amazon where a poster was offering a book - can't remember whose - free to anyone who e-mailed him. His position was that, since he'd paid for it, he could do whatever he wanted with it. Others rightly said he was infringing copyright. The poster resentfully stuck to his position, ignoring the suggestion that if books were constantly being bought and offered free, there was no financial incentive for authors to continue writing. Eventually, the poster disappeared - no doubt to a torrent site.

How does an author protect their work in this age of electronic sophistication? How much money would it take to shut down the torrent networks?

One suggestion could be to halt traditional book publishing and encode e-books with a limited use security code. If people want an actual book, print-on-demand companies could print up the book, say, a year after the e-book came out - like the hardback/paperback system.

The downside would be the death of bookstores; they'd have to move from the traditional market to an ordering market - and how successful would that be?

As a new writer who hopes to be published one day, the future actually looks more bleak and scary than ever. I can post a book to Scribd or any of the other e-book sites, have six thousand reads, and not make a red cent for it. If I put it up for sale, the future will be six thousand reads and still not make much money because it's listed for free somewhere else.

I think, for now, I'll ignore what's going on and keep trying for the sensual feel of my first traditionally published book in my hands. It's a dream.

Rizzoli

I'm not a squealie fan girl, but I've followed Tess Gerritsen since her days at Harlequin writing romance.

Gerritsen isn't a romance writer. Not anymore. If you've read The Surgeon and the books that follow, you'll know it's all about murder; gruesome, wicked murder. I love all the books, probably because happy endings aren't necessarily guaranteed. And the intricacies of the medical side of it (Gerritsen's a doctor) which reads much better than Cornwell's Scarpetta.

Now, the Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles series is about to make it to the TV screen. Wheee! The pilot Rizzoli is being made by TNT.

Angie Harmon (Women's Murder Club, Law & Order)is Jane Rizzoli;
Sasha Alexander (NCIS) is Maura Isles;
Bruce McGill (Wolf Lake) is Vincent Korsak;
Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos) is Rizzoli's mother, Angela; and
Billy Burke (Twilight, 24, Wonderland) is Gabriel Dean.

The cast sounds great and I hope they do justice to the books. Fingers crossed.

Newbies

Over at Shadow and Fang, Kait Nolan has a post on Why Do Pantsers Get So Riled Up About Planning? It got me thinking about new authors.

Not the writers who clutch their first published novel in palsied hands, but those just starting out.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an idea must be in want of a novel. A truth acknowledged by anyone who ever set pen to paper, or finger to keyboard.

There are other universal truths, but I shan't go into the argument of whether a writer is born or develops - both are true.

Do you remember the moment when that first shiny idea popped into your head and you had to write it down? Do you remember the moment you realised it wasn't working and set it aside? Do you remember the next brilliant idea and promising that this time you'll finish it? And setting it aside.

Do you recall thinking that maybe you need to do some research on how other, published authors worked and deciding that their way was the gold-paved road to success? That you went out and bought 'How To...' books that now fill your shelves? That once you'd read those book, it all became clear and you set about writing that great novel you dreamed about.

And then came that magical moment when you wrote... The End. Oh, the thrill, the glee, the happy dance and wonder. It's done! It's brilliant! My God, you're a genius! And visions of book contracts, adoring fans, awards and money start dancing in you head.

Oh, well. Lucky you. Me, I was tired, chuffed, but tired. Even had myself a celebratory drink.

I handed the piece around, received various comments and thought it good. And, as you can imagine, reality slammed my fingers in the door when I hunted up a professional comment. It was certainly as painful.

Well, that sucker now dwells in a bottom drawer, unread, unedited, but a reminder of how the gloss can quickly tarnish under real scrutiny - and that book was severely scrooted.

I wallowed in self-recrimination for some time until I realised the criticisms had nothing to do with me, but the work. It's a hard lesson to learn and it takes time and intestinal fortitude to move on to the next work. I mean, what if this one sucks, too? And the next one? How will the ego survive such hammer blows?

Answer: by learning from your mistakes, but understanding that writing is in a constant state of flux, by knowing that the more you read and write, the better you'll become.

It matters not whether you obsessive plan a novel, or think of an idea and run with it. New authors cannot afford to precious about their work, or their attitude.

Learn from the masters, but do not mistake their way of writing for the best way; there is only your way.

I like to think I've improved since that first piece of nonsense. Writing it taught me a lot, most importantly that I could finish writing a novel. I understood the good and the awful about it - and set it aside for new work. Not as bad as the first, but again, in the drawer to keep The Saracen's Apprentice company, and so on until I felt confident enough to release work out into the wild world.

How good is my work now? I leave that to the readers. I'm constantly working to update my skills, because unless I'm happy with the piece, it ain't goin' nowhere.

As Yoda said: Do, or do not, there is no try.

Say goodbye...

...to the Australian publishing industry.

The Productivity Commission, a body set up to "help governments make better policies in the long term interest of the Australian community" handed down it's recommendations into the Restriction of Parallel Importation of Books yesterday.

Australian publishers are currently given 30 days to publish a local version of any book published in the world. Bookshops must then sell the Australian version and cannot import a cheaper alternative.

Without this limit, local publishers will have to fight harder for market share - and will fail. And in failing, new authors will find it more difficult, if not impossible, to find a publisher here.

It means an influx of poorer quality books at yes, reduced prices local publishers cannot hope to match. Worse, Australia will become a dumping ground for 'remainders' and any non-profitable book from overseas.

The most contentious issues is that Parallel Import Restrictions (PIR) leads to higher prices for the consumer. Maree McCaskill, chief executive officer of the Australian Publishers Association, said New Zealand was the only other big market to do away with restrictions on book publishing, but there was little evidence that it had led to lower prices.

One underlying factor is that books here attract Goods and Services Tax, while ordering books online does not. But I saw no discussion of exempting books from that tax. Another factor is the exchange rate, but there's little anyone can do about that.

And who initiated this pile of excrement? Why, the Coalition for Cheaper Books headed by one of the largest book retailers in the country, Dymocks and the two major supermarket chains, Woolworths and Coles.

The industry has three years before the recommendations take effect; that is, if the Government goes head and adopts those recommendations. It's now up to Prime Minister Rudd to save a vibrant, culturally significant industry, or see job losses, exports reduced and new Australian writers go elsewhere for publishing.

Or is the Labor Government comfortable snuggling up to Big Business at the expense of the small?

LB & LI up and running

Big weekend - too much fun, I think, because I am knackered.

Anyway, it's time for S. L. Viehl's Left Behind & Loving It workshops; for those who aren't going to the Romance Writer's of America convention.

Plenty of workshops to learn stuff - not only from Sheila, but those linking to the site as well - on how, what, when, where, who and why of writing and the publishing fields.

Go, comment; you might even win something.