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Book prices are not in crisis

Monday, Oct 01, 2007 at 4:42pm

Current book pricing in Canada is actually a huge good news story for readers.

The exchange rate is raising a lot of hackles, and booksellers are at least as angry as book buyers. Not only are we taking flak from customers because prices are not dropping fast enough, we’re enduring revenue deflation as prices do fall.

And they are falling. Long term, the news on pricing is actually wonderful for Canadian readers and, by extension, for the literate culture we like to think we’re promulgating here in Canada.

Here’s a random example, using the last five hardcovers from Kathy Reichs, a part-time Canadian author of forensic thrillers, to illustrate pricing trends on books published in the US and distributed in Canada:

2003: Bare Bones, $37.95 Cdn

2004: Monday Mourning, $36.00 Cdn

2005: Cross Bones, $35.50 Cdn

2006: Break No Bones, $34.95 Cdn

2007: Bones to Ashes, $29.99 Cdn

From $37.95 to $29.99 is a 21% decline over 5 years. Name me something else not made in China that has declined that much over the same period.

I know you still aren’t happy. You can check the book and see that Americans buy Bones to Ashes for $25.95.* Not fair, say you.

I have two points to make about this.

1)There really is a time lag--since early 2007 when the book was committed, priced, catalogued, budgeted, and put into production for its August release, the Canadian dollar rose a spectacular 17%. Of course nobody planned for that--these are book people, not currency speculators.

2)Booksellers aren’t profiting--like almost all the dual-priced books we sell, we bought Bones to Ashes from its Canadian distributor in Canadian dollars at a trade discount from the same Canadian price you pay. No opportunity for exchange rate profit came to McNally Robinson. None.

What is not widely understood is that virtually all American books are distributed in Canada by a Canadian entity, even if (as in the case of Kathy Reichs’ books) it’s just a branch plant. Often it is a vigorous and productive branch plant, publishing iconic Canadian authors. Or it may be an independent Canadian publisher acting as agent, or a dedicated Canadian book distributor. At the very least it’s a Canadian sales agency.

Now, on a given title, the Canadian distributor of an American book will have few economies of scale. If a book sells 50,000 copies in the US, it’ll sell maybe 3 or 4,000 copies in Canada. This increases the costs per book and makes prices higher. So it is absolutely true that Canadian distribution costs consumers money, perhaps 10% when the exchange rate settles down. The more obscure the book, the higher the differential.

So why bother with Canadian distributors? Why does Canadian copyright law provide for full protection of Canadian distribution rights?

Well, compare the Canadian book industry (and our world-famous writers) with the Canadian film industry.

If you consider the careers and work of (say) author Margaret Atwood and filmmaker Norman Jewison--two great Canadian artists--you can’t but notice that one is famous for writing Canadian novels, the other for directing American movies.

That’s why having Canadian involvement in Canadian book distribution matters. To those of us who groove on Canadian stories and Canadian culture, it matters, in fact, a great deal.

* As it happens, Bones to Ashes is one of our featured 30% off new releases, so you can buy it from us for $21.00.

Categories: Discussions, Publishing News

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