I like little bookshops. It reminds me of the old world and there’s something comforting about that except for the war in Algeria, Vietnam, the Cambodian genocide, Iraq, etc, etc.

You know what I mean. The comfort of crawling up on mummy’s lap as a child.

But independent bookshops are done like a dogs dinner. In the last 11 years the number of Australian bookstores has halved from 2879 in 2013 to 1457 in 2023.

People – usually publishers and booksellers – say that everything is ‘fab’, ‘all good’, ‘nothing to see here.’

Bullshit.

In 2022, a National Survey of Australian Book Authors put the average annual income of an author at $18,200.

Balderdash. For a first novel its around $4000-$8000. Remember, it’s an average. Markus Zukak has sold more than 17 million books. Try quoting the mode figure.

Australian writers and independent bookstore owners are blaming online retailers and Woolies who flog books at bargain basement prices.

A BIG W spokesperson said in the SMH, “At BIG W, we are proud to make books affordable and accessible to as many Australian families as possible, and the families that shop with us have come to trust us for having everything from new releases to classics all year round.”

Whatever the case, one can make an argument that bookstores make cash from the slave labour of writers. Would you like a rug with that, made by little Pakistani fingers?

I knew an independent bookshop owner in Newtown who was involved in wage theft.

Another only started the bookshop to earn kudos and cultural credit for being involved in an intellectual activity (or by product). As shallow as a bird bath.

An article in the SMH flagged that fixed book pricing (FBP) might help solve the problem.

FBP restricts physical and online stores from selling newly released books below the recommended retail price for a period between 6 to 18 months.

Look, if my Mum wanted to race in the Olympic 100 metres, you could start her at the 80 metre mark but it wouldn’t do any good.

The horse has bolted.