Do you live in Australia and are confused about the nature of digital book downloads here? You should be. Despite the increased sophistication of the Australian publishing world and the strong market for purchasing books in this country, we are still at the mercy of American and British publishers. As Rosemary Sorensen writes in the October 31 edition of The Weekend Australian Review (“Overflow”, page 21):
As we wait for the Brits and the Americans to decide just what format Australian e-books will be sold in … we’re totally dependent on decisions made in the offices of gigantic corporations far away. It’s like the bad old days ….
Except it is now.
Made more pressing by the recent (October 14, 2009) announcement that Amazon’s Kindle is now available (from October 19) in most countries around to the world – including Australia.
For more discussion on this, go to an excellent summary on Book Thingo, and the news item on Australian Bookseller and Publisher Online.
