Why Can't we Do This Here?

The Fourth Man by K. O. Dahl - Faber and Faber (2008), Paperback, 320 pages
tags: Crime, MtTBR [Our New Books - LibraryThing]

I've been wanting to get my hands on this book for a little while now - so rather than wait for the thing to come out here I wandered over to http://www.bookdepository.co.uk - found it / ordered it / no postage - cost me less than AUD$12.00.  Now I know it's going to be released here soonish, but I simply couldn't wait - and besides, that was a price to be reckoned with.

But it got me thinking again last night about how difficult it is for our local authors to get readers to do this sort of thing for their books.  There are no online bookshops here doing deals for books from here to "there" that make them affordable / accessible / impulse buys.

My interest in The Fourth Man was triggered by a review of the book - one read of the review / had to have the book / one quick click on bookdepository / one purchase that didn't take my breath away because of the cost of the book + the postage and less than a week later I've got what I wanted.

I've mentioned before that bookshops here seem to be more interested in the one off / bestseller buyers and they seem to totally ignore the mid-list searching, dedicated, obsessive buyers.  The people that regularly look for books to buy (and I know I'm not the only one - there are a lot of members of online book groups who have exactly the same style of willpower - you know the sort- "I will buy that" / "I do want that book" / "I will figure out where to put that book even though I've already got over 100 I haven't read yet").

But the frustration is compounded when you're trying your absolute hardest to be an enabler - to talk incessantly about our great local books - and you know the people you are talking to are feeling teased and cheated.  Take the recent discussion on 4MA about Diamond Dove (aka Moonlight Downs).  A lot of people could participate in that discussion only because the book was published / available overseas. 

We can't initiate discussions about books available here because people can't get them (or the postage costs are simply too prohibitive for the vast majority).

By the same token I realise that you're not going to make a fortune flogging books to book discussion lists - but wouldn't it be nice if somebody would come up with a discount scheme or a special (members of AustCrime ? ) based on the books purchased that could reward hardworking, dedicated readers