E-book prices have soared due to an international agreement between publishers. But why are non-US customers being gouged even more?
Publishing industry
My Cup Of Tea: Controversy aside, snaps to Australian poets
Australian poetry is suddenly the subject of considerable debate. While there’s controversy over a new poetry anthology by UNSW Press, there’s wider optimism over the health of poetry more generally.
How I made a blank book an Amazon bestseller
Author Shed Simove desperately wanted a bestseller, but even he was surprised when his self-published blank book — titled What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex — sailed up the Amazon charts.
An intriguing read that paints a vivid portrait of the publishing industry
Does a plug by another author on a book cover ever convince you to buy it? Author Bill Morris explains the delicate business of ‘blurbing’, where writers indulge in mutual pats-on-the-back and help aspiring writers get their books onto shelves.
Why men don’t read books: all the editors are chicks
The old publishing industry mantra that “men don’t read” is rubbish, says author Jason Pinter. Men love reading — female-dominated publishing houses just aren’t printing anything they like.
Will Apple save or destroy the publishing industry?
With Amazon offering increasingly cut-price e-books, the publishing industry is looking to Apple’s iPad to kill the Kindle and save the book business. But is Steve Jobs really looking after the interests of publishers, or just his own legacy?
Why authors should write apps, not e-books
Authors shouldn’t just think of the iPad as another place to publish their books, says Cody Brown: they should see it as an opportunity to communicate their stories and messages in new, “mind-blowing” ways.
How the iPad will kill reading
E-books on the iPad probably will replace real books, says Paul Carr, but it’s a shame, because everyone will be too distracted with Flight Control and Twitter to actually read them.
must read 
How I blew publishing J.D Salinger’s final book
Roger Lathbury recounts the fascinating story of how he wrote to famously reclusive author JD Salinger, met with him, was to publish his final book and then… the story hit the news and Salinger walked away.
Will e-Readers kill the book cover?
How can we judge a book by its cover if it doesn’t have one? As the book industry goes digital, we will no longer have images of exploding buildings and heaving bosoms to guide our literary choices.
Video of the Day: The future of publishing
Oh dear. It’s the death of publishing, with young people only caring about what Lady Gaga is wearing and hating the feel of books. Or is it?
Death of the “instant book”
There has long been a lucrative market in “instant books” — hastily cobbled together tomes that pop up after major world events. But the real-time nature of the internet has made them obsolete, says Roger Donway.
must read 
The new economics of book publishing explained
For anyone confused by all the hype about e-readers and the “digital revolution” in the book publishing world, this article breaks it down perfectly: how Amazon makes money with the Kindle, how Apple will from the iPad, and why publishers are pissed off.
Never judge a book by its cover quotes
“Epic.” “A triumph.” “The must-read book of the summer.” Author Andrew McDonald rolls his eyes at some of the horribly cliched reviewer testimonials that repeatedly pop up on book covers.
Destroying the Amazon
After Amazon last week pulled all the Macmillan published books from its online shelves following a dispute over pricing of e-books, Amazon has caved and raised the prices as per Macmillan’s wishes. Is this the first defeat in the Kindle vs. iPad war?
E-Day looms for book publishers
The power relationship between authors and publishers is set to change fundamentally with the coming e-publishing revolution, writes Michael R. James.
E-books: publishers need to get with the program
Book publishers been twiddling their thumbs on e-books for years, but the success of Amazon’s Kindle and the looming Apple Tablet is about to force their hands, writes Mark Davis.
How to write a best-seller: give it away free
The best-selling e-Books aren’t necessarily the ones penned by big-name authors or showered in awards: they’re the ones that don’t cost anything. Heaving bosoms and lusty vampires don’t hurt “sales”, either.
How to go from blog to book deal
Over the last few year, the publishing industry has been increasingly tapping the blogosphere to uncover the next big things. Six bloggers-turned-real-life-authors explain how they turned their online hobbies into bone-fide book deals
The best book covers of the decade
The Book Cover Archive names its top 10 book cover designs for each year of the noughties, from the sweet to the stylish to the downright strange.
Costello: Publishing protectionism is bad — just as Farnsie
The Howard government’s decision to lift parallel import restrictions on CDs didn’t kill the Australian music industry, says Peter Costello, and the local public industry could survive just as well without protectionism.
Where’s the book buyer’s voice in the book debate?
We’ve heard from the ideologues, the book sellers and working authors. So where’s the book buyer’s voice in the book import discussion? Michael R. James weighs in.
PIR decision: Australian writers need to be left the fuck alone, to write
The government’s decision to retain parallel import restrictions on books is a rotten one, most of all for Australian writers, writes author Jack Robertson.
Parallel imports: how the war was won
Tom Dusevic lauds the Australian publishing industry’s “spirited, clever, nationalistic, broad-based and expensive” lobbying campaign to retain parallel import restrictions on books.
Kerr: Rudd betrays his party roots for publishers
Kevin Rudd showed celebrity means more to him than education and ideas by supporting the publishing industry over cheaper books for consumers, says Christian Kerr. His ALP forebears would not be impressed.
