Are they soddin mad?

[woolybanana]

A new law to rig the prices of electronic books which even tries to control the prices of books sold abroad:

http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/prix-du-livre-numerique-le-parlement-donne-son-feu-vert-definitif-17-05-2011-1454454.php

(translation

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=fr&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/prix-du-livre-numerique-le-parlement-donne-son-feu-vert-definitif-17-05-2011-1454454.php&usg=ALkJrhiQSVP-LZqWcODg34L36Zw6wsHV8A  )

[Clair]

Are they soddin mad, you ask...

Clearly they are.

I have never quite understood the logic behind these price controls.

What is their point?

Who gains from them?

Presumably, publishers earn more per book, but I assume fewer book are sold than if they were cheaper.

I now I haven't bought a book to read ( as opposed to a holiday guide for the gite) in years.

I have bought books from Amazon UK and downloaded a few books too, but I used to buy 2 or 3 books a week when I lived in the UK...

[woolybanana]

Yes, I am sure that is right, Clair.

French publishing is protected in the name of culture which has some sort of sacred status - sterility in my view.

[idun]

How sad this is. We used to buy books at somewhere called Book'in, something like that, they were greatly reduced in price, was that shop illegal?

[woolybanana]

Remaindering books is not easy in France

[Chancer]

In 6 years I have bought one book in France (I am still in shock) and a couple of hundred in the UK.

You dont need to be an economist to work out who has got it right.

The bookshops seem to fill their shelves with stupidly priced new releases and after a period return the majority to the publisher for presumably destruction.

I found an interesting one recently on the history of this area which had quite a bit about my village, but at €30 for something not even the size of Le Bescherelle it wont happen,it may however turn me into a shoplifter.

[cooperlola]

My physio and I regularly discussed the books I read and I was always recommending stuff but she said that they were just too expensive and she couldn't really afford more than one a month.  And this from a professional woman on a decent salary.  Soddin mad is right!

[Chancer]

It is very very rare that I see books in French houses, usually only the well off and well educated, even then university text books etc make up the majority, now they are expensive enough in the UK I dread to think of the cost here.

I chuckle when I hear of people selling English books at boot fairs etc and have even seen a permanent seller at Eymet, I put out English books at a rédérie last year, priced at 20cts and the sign was in French and English, only two people browsed and bought a couple, one a gendarme the other an English langauge etudiente.

This year I tried selling at a rural rédérie, Assevillers the TGV stop on the Lille Paris line, the famous gare de betteraves, there were over 3000 visitors yet no-one even had a look, books even at 20cts just were not on their radar, no-one  not even children remarked "Romans Anglais! C'est bizaare", my friend on the next stand who is well off and educated had lots of books out for sale, OK she wanted €1 each but they were a fascinating and eclectic mix, something for everyone, and the only person to buy any? - Moi!

I kid you not out of 3000 visitors not one person even looked at the titles of her books.