Random Play: Life in the other lane
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Congratulations on the award for the book, Graham. Well deserved.
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<edit> So much so, i tried to tell you twice.
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Regarding Thailand, You might be interested in the posts Simon Grigg included on this thread.
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3410,
Rgarding Thailand, You might be interested in the posts Simon Grigg included on this thread.
Also, these on-the-spot videos on his blog.
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Don't panic, Graham! It's just that you're spot on about news. When I have a holiday away from 'civilisation' I always think I'll need to catch up on important developments when I get back...only to find that the names and details may have changed, but the 'news' is the same old same old violent death and manufactured outrage.
Important things happen all the time, of course. It's just you don't usually see them in the news. Or if you do, it's too late to do anything.
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Congratuations on the prize!
And this ...
The book, ironically, still isn't available at Whitcoulls ...
Is so sadly typical.
but of course, if you are interested, it is through Public Address Books.
Right here, in fact.
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Congrats Bro, as they say in circles I rarely move in. I shall be badgering Borders and Whitcoulls, even though I have a copy already.
Oh so true on so many levels on the News front. I swear I can sit there some nights and recite (presite?) the the guff as it flops from the mouths of the talking heads, so predictable, so impotent.I was engaged by life on many other levels (notably learning my way around an Apple Mac) and currently just weep for Thailand
I know what you mean. Last time I had anything to do with a Mac I had frustration for Africa.
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Congratulations, Graham. That's fantastic, and you thoroughly deserve it.
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3410,
Yeah, congrats, Graham.
Care to comment on the difficulties of getting Whittcoulls to stock it?
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One of the reasons Graham may be having problems with Whitcoulls is simply that it is no longer a New Zealand company and is managed by & large from Australia. They are not interested in stocking or promoting New Zealand titles any more.
And, congratulations & well done Graham!
Will be ordering a copy from here (along with Emma's title) v. shortly...
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even 25 years ago I had a pretty low opinion of Whitcoulls.
it is ironic, because in countries where Amazon is available with either no shipping charge or a very small cost, the bookshops are going to all sorts of lengths to get people through the door, browsing and reading, drinking coffee, seeing books up close and intimate. lectures and other events are also seeing a revival. bookshops are in trouble worldwide, but it seems some shops in NZ are happy to serve up whatever they can be bothered with.
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Good news! About two weeks ago I filled out a lot of paperwork to become a vendor to Whitcoulls and never heard any more about it. I gave up. It had been hard enough to get to that point.
But this very day I have heard back from a woman there wanting to know some small detail (was it the e-mail I sent the other day, or the PA posting I wonder?) and so maybe we could get copies there sometime soon.
I guess I now have to get into that whole sale-or-return thing -- although if I can find the right person there I might mention that my previous book also won their Whitcoulls Travel Book of the Year so maybe we could give this baby a bit of a push -- and maybe even a window display? (ho ho ho)
Lee Childs doesn't need to sell many more books, does he?
Book sellers . . . I am available for in-stores and have a nice line of jokes. And I can read my own words with expression and clarity.
It is a struggle getting interest (let alone the damn thing reviewed). I have approached some book shops directly and they simply don't get back in touch.
Andrew at Dymock's on Ponsonby Rd is noble exception.
I commend him and his store to you. He is an absolute gentleman and has been very supportive. -
Good luck with the Whitcoulls thing - it would be nice to see a relevant, local-writer display in one, rather than the generic "big name publishes new book" ones.
On the subject of book shops, has any one else noticed a drop in quality of stock at Borders since they got taken over by Whitcoulls? Time was I could go in to the science fiction section of Borders here in Christchurch and find 10 or 15 things to buy just like that - nowadays I seem to be lucky to find 1 or 2.
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Congrats Graham- blimin' good!
And... jeebus- Whitcoulls owns Borders? Where have I been- and how did that slip past the commerce commission?
Strange they have shops so close. And even stranger that Whitcoulls (I still don't get this) sells most of the same books on-line (actually a bigger stock) for approx 2/3rds the price of getting it from a shop (or from Borders, in the two I've rung about recently) - and that includes postage to your door.
The downside is it seems to take 2 weeks or more to get 'em. Perhaps they've been rowed over from Oz? -
Perhaps the lack of range in Whitcoulls and Borders is because of things like this.
Or perhaps Angus and Robertson are accountants who have grasped that 80% of the profit comes from 20% of the books, but who have drawn the incorrect conclusion that you can maximise profitability by only stocking that 20%, not realising that it is the range and the possibility of serendipity and the pleasure of inhaling book-smell that draws punters in to a real bookshop.
My normal book buying policy now is recherché books online (excellent exchange rate at the Book Depository these days), bestsellers at Borders, and browsing for impulse buys at Unity or Parsons, depending on which end of town I'm at.
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Congrats on the award Graham, it's well deserved.
The book, ironically, still isn't available at Whitcoulls ...
Is so sadly typical.
You think that's bad, you should have seen me trying to buy Dimmer's I Believe You Are a Star a few years back. The staff at the music store told me there was only one copy in stock at any time and that a staff member had that particular copy at home.
Unfortunatelly for me (and Dimmer, for that matter) I was on my way back to Vancouver and had stopped in to buy several copies of the CD as gifts for a number of friends back in Canada who'd been diehard Straitjacket Fits fans.
I eventually bought the CDs online and sent them to the intended friends when I got back to Auckland, but it's not quite the same thing as bringing them with me.
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Stephen Judd - yep, Pacific Equity, strangling every publisher & book-seller they can...*
I support my local bookshops (TakeNote in FJG, PaperPlus in Oamaru) and buy selectively on-line (e.g *not* Amazon any more.) I also haunt secondhand booksellers and 'bookarama'-type sales. Those latter dont help current writers & publishers but...
*And you have to wonder why-
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Pacific Equity, strangling every publisher & book-seller they can...*
Oh come on I, That's not all they do and They've been doing it a while too
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Well done.
what we call “Rocket Park” in Mt Albert
I doubt many call it the "Mt Albert War Memorial Reserve".
Perhaps the lack of range in Whitcoulls and Borders is because of things like this.
Love that response letter.
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Love that response letter.
Me too.
Funny, the phrase "core incompetencies" came to my mind unbidden just the other day, and there it is in the letter. Synchronicity? I wonder how widespread the turn of phrase is.
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Well aware of the range of PEP controlled entities, Steve Barnes...I'm just curious as to why they have targetted publishers and bookstores in quite the way they have (almost as though other mass entertainment - and especially that which can have an electronic platform - is the way they intend the future to be.)
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(almost as though other mass entertainment - and especially that which can have an electronic platform - is the way they intend the future to be.)
Well it does make sense from their point of view. All they have to do now is monetize the web which is what the ACTA thing is all about.
It could work out well, as long as you write what they want to sell. Have you given any thought about a "The Jews weren't slaves when they left Egypt, they were the accountants that built the pyramids and buggerd of with the prophet" sort of novel?. That could go down a storm. -
Will deeply consider this - O! wow! nanoseconds pass so fast!
Tho' buggering off with the prophet could have potential...hands this on to one of my former acquaintances on the IPT- -
Not this guy I hope.
IPT
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Eeeeek!
No way!~
Indecent Publications Tribunal...we met some very interesting people at those sittings...
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